Lmao well, look who's updated this story after almost two whole years? I had most of this chapter written the last time I updated it, but I had started my first semester of college and that was rough... But I'm doing much better now and I think a break from this story did me good.

I would like to thank all the favorites and follows I have gotten for this story in the past almost two years. I still know where I'm going with it mostly and there's a lot that's going to be going on, so I feel like these chapters are going to start needing to be more than ten thousand words soon.

We're also in the middle of a pandemic, so I have all the time in the world to work on this story now. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe inside.

Enjoy.

Continued Story 8

"Your Highness, it is time for you to leave for school," Daisuke told the dark brown haired princess who had just finished buttoning up her school jacket.

Lilianna gave him a small nod before turning back to the mirror to check her appearance one last time. "I suppose Mother isn't going to see me off?" she asked quietly.

The assistant could hear the bitterness in the princess's voice. She had been locked up in the palace for almost two weeks and now that she was back in school, her security was doubled. He couldn't imagine how she was feeling at this moment; she could only do as mother said or the consequences would be greater.

"She's busy, Your Highness." He answered her in a voice filled with sympathy.

"I thought so," Lilianna scoffed under her breath. She grabbed her bag off the hook it was hanging on and her phone. She didn't say anything else, only quietly walking past the Japanese man and exiting her room.

She was finally able to return to school, but what was the point when she wasn't free?

…

"Princess, I missed you!" Anna shouted, running up to the princess to hug her, but was cut off when her female guards had both stood in front of her protectively. The blue haired girl pouted. "Is there something we don't know?"

Lilianna gestured for her guards to stand back and she gave Anna an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you already are aware of what happened."

Anna grinned brightly. "It's okay," she assured her, finally moving in to give the princess a tight hug. "We're just glad you're back. It's been a bit hectic on the school grounds lately with the festival coming up, but everything is good."

"Everything is as good as it can be," a voice muttered in distaste from behind them.

Takeshi walked up to them with a look of deep annoyance on his face. In his arms was a familiar white cat and she cast him an odd look. As far as she heard from Fumiko, Celeste and Takeshi didn't get along that well. It confused her that he'd want anything to do with her. "It's… It's Celeste's cat," he told her, answering the question on her tongue. "She's helping out Fumiko with some papers."

Lilianna nodded in understanding. She was kind of excited to see the girl she hadn't seen since that night in the warehouse. Celeste had opened up to her some in the forest, but the way the golden eyed girl worked, she wasn't sure if the girl would just close herself off again. If anything, she'd just go back to purposely doing things to annoy her and the rest of her council despite what she had promised her.

No one was to know of that promise, though.

It was between them.

"Alright, Princess," Anna started, grabbing on to her hand, which caused the guards to give her a look of warning that she did her best to ignore. "We have some work to do after lunch today and run you down on everything you've missed!"

The princess did her best to muster up a full smile, but only half of one would cross her face. "Of course."

…

"Ah, the princess of Britannia has returned. How nice."

Lilianna would have chosen to ignore the mischievous sarcasm in the raven haired girl's voice, but that nearly impossible when the girl made her presence so well known in a room. She was sitting on the desk with a stack of papers in her hand. As most times when she saw her, her jacket was removed and the sleeves of her white school shirt were rolled up to her elbows. Takeshi's jacket was also removed as he sorted through the decorations in the box along with Artemis around his shoulders. Anna sat quietly on the ground, trying to decide which colored streamers she liked best.

Fumiko, who was standing next to her, gave her a flat look and Celeste shrugged dismissively. "Welcome back, Princess."

She bowed in apology. "I'm so sorry for being gone as long as I was."

The half-Britannian smiled. "We know you were under certain circumstances, so there's no need for you to apologize to us, Princess. You aren't obligated to."

"New company?" Celeste smirked, nodding towards the two guards behind her.

Lilianna sighed, knowing she shouldn't have been expecting any change from Celeste after that night. She was acting the same way as usual; nonchalant, sarcastic, and mischievous. "They're her guards, Celeste. Maybe you wouldn't know that," Takeshi spoke up in a defensive tone.

"Of course you'd know that, though, pretty boy," Celeste shot back to him, causing both the red haired boy and princess to blush.

"You're so infuriating," Takeshi growled.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. I do my best."

Noticing how Takeshi had crushed one of the plastic decorations in his hand, Lilianna spoke up. "It's okay, Takeshi. She didn't mean anything by it."

Celeste made a face as if she wanted to say something, but turned back to looking through the papers in her hand instead. Lilianna pouted slightly, not liking the fact that Celeste was acting as if they didn't just get out of another life or death situation last week. She sighed tiredly. It wasn't as if it was important or that they were trying to have everyone else find out.

Lilianna stepped into the room properly before motioning to her guards that she was fine. They gave her a hesitant nod before closing the door to the council room behind them. She sat down at the head of the table and removed her jacket to make herself more comfortable. She saw Celeste glance at her from the corner of her eye before she quickly looked, tapping her fingers along the edge of the papers.

"So, did you decide on a theme for the festival while I was gone?" the princess asked, deciding to ignore Celeste all together now. It was better for her to focus that way.

"We decided on a costume theme!" Fumiko told her in excitement, snatching the papers from Celeste's hand and putting them out in front of her on the desk. "At first we were going to go with cats, which was Anna's idea by the way and Celeste here kind of subtly agreed with it, but we decided that some of the students might go wild with the idea of cats, so for the costume theme, we decided on knights and ninjas!"

"A mix of Britannian and Japanese history! We thought it would be nice to join them since many of the students here are one or the other, or both," Anna joined in excitedly, standing up from her seat on the ground. "Like Fumiko, Takeshi, and I!"

"That's a wonderful idea," Lilianna smiled sweetly to the other council members.

"And we thought maybe you could be the princess for the day," Anna said.

"We said no to that idea, Anna!" Fumiko hissed.

"But it's such a cute idea! Besides, it works because she's really a princess!"

"I'm sure Lilianna has many princess duties she does outside of school. I'm sure wearing her formal clothes to school would be a bother for h-"

"I don't mind." Lilianna cut off Fumiko while twirling a strand of dark brown hair around her finger. "It's only for the day."

"But that means you would need your whole security team that day. The empress always sends them with you on occasions like this," Takeshi pointed out to her.

He was right. During events like school festivals, her personal security team was doubled in numbers for her safety because of the many different people that would be out and about on the school grounds. Not only was she sent with guards following her around and closely once again, but her mother went overboard during special events and there was nothing she could do about it.

Lilianna gripped the edge of her skirt under the table, but kept a perfect, charming smile on her face. As a princess, she was trained to keep her emotions under check, no matter how she felt. "It's okay," she assured him.

Takeshi raised an eyebrow as Artemis brushed against his cheek. "It doesn't bother you?" he asked.

"Of course not. I'm accustomed to it."

Celeste turned to look at her, a nonchalant but knowing look upon her, before she let out a low scoff and turned back around. The raven haired girl was the only one in the room who knew she was lying, but Lilianna knew she wouldn't mention it. There was no need for her to.

"That's great!" Anna squealed, pulling the princess into a tight hug. She let go of her and turned to Fumiko with a look of giddy pride. "I told you she would say yes!"

Fumiko let out a huff, but let a smile cross her face anyway. "As long as the princess doesn't mind then. What do you think, Celeste?" she asked the girl who had been quiet throughout the whole exchange.

"It'll be so interesting."

Everyone caught the sarcasm in Celeste's voice except for Anna, who looked mildly confused by her answer. Fumiko only sighed in exasperation and pat Lilianna's shoulder. "So that's our idea. Everyone's been working on costumes, workshops, and decorations for the past two weeks."

"Well, that sounds excellent," the Britannian princess smiled. She stood up from her seat and put her jacket back on before turning to Celeste, her smile still present but tight. "Can I speak with you, Celeste? It's about some council things."

"Council things?" Celeste scoffed lowly. "How accurate is that, Princess?"

"Do you make everything difficult for her?" Takeshi growled.

"It's quite alright. I'll be waiting for you on the roof if you decide to come."

With that, Lilianna left the room, nodding for her guards to follow her along to the school rooftops. She'd try to somehow get rid of them, but that would only end up with her causing trouble once again. She was already in enough trouble as it was and Celeste wouldn't try anything with guards in front of her.

…..

Lilianna waited patiently on the rooftop for Celeste, leaning against the railing of the roof and letting the wind blow lightly in her face. She closed her eyes when she heard the footsteps behind her. When the footsteps came to a stop, she opened her eyes and looked over at Celeste, who was staring at the rest of the school campus with her arms crossed under her chest.

"And what would you like to talk about to a poor, old peasant like me?" the raven haired girl asked lowly.

It was a few seconds before Lilianna gave her answer. "You're acting… You're acting as if nothing ever happened last week."

"Am I supposed to act like something happened?"

"You've been ignoring me all day."

"It's not like that isn't something I don't do already."

"Celeste."

"Listen, princess. We might have had a heart-to-heart the other night, but that doesn't change anything between us. I said I'd be nicer to your friends and I have, but that doesn't mean anything else. We aren't friends and I don't think we ever will be," Celeste told her firmly. "In my eyes, you're still a Britannian princess and nothing good ever comes from your family."

Lilianna frowned deeply, confused by the raven haired girl's sudden change in attitude. "But-"

"I know what I said." Celeste finally turned to look at her, eyes slightly narrowed and her fist wrapped tightly around the railing. "Whatever we had started… It ended there in the forest. I'm sorry, princess."

"That's it, then?" Lilianna asked softly, hugging herself. "I thought you were going to put effort into changing your attitude, but I guess not."

Celeste let out a loud snort. "What is there to change? You want me to change to fit in with the rest of you privileged students? I'd rather not."

"That's not it-"

"And you know what you have a problem with? You said it yourself; you're not used to people defying you or not kissing your feet. You might not act like most royal Britannians, but you have the mindset and thought process of one. You're a princess, you're popular, everyone loves you because you're kind, and you expect everyone to like you because of that." She looked away as she crossed her arms under her chest. Lilianna couldn't tell what she was going through her head. "I'd rather not bother myself with you at all."

The last part came out harshly.

Lilianna sucked in a sharp breath, taking a small step back away from the other girl in front of her. Celeste was wrong. She wasn't like that at all… She might not be used to being treated like the average commoner, but she didn't let her royal status get to her head. She didn't treat anyone as if they were beneath her; they were equals and deserved to be treated as such.

"You have nothing to say?" Celeste questioned her.

"I… I…" She felt as if she could burst into tears any second, but instead, she stood straight and lifted her head while casting Celeste a calm, firm look. "There's no need to say anything else to you or even try. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

Lilianna turned on her heel, preparing to head back into the school building without another word to Celeste until the girl spoke up again. "Princess?"

She didn't answer.

"Tatsuya is fine."

"Thank you for informing me," was all she said before heading back in the building, her guards following silently behind her.

…

"Your Highness."

"Yes?"

"Is everything alright?" the first guard, Madeline, asked her in a voice full of concern.

"You've been awfully quiet since you talked to that girl," the second guard, Andrea, joined in. She immediately frowned. "Do you need us to go deal with her for you?

"No!" Lilianna snapped at her guards. She then coughed in embarrassment and put her head down in slight shame. "I'm- I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get back to being in school. That's all."

"Of course, your highness."

Lilianna would prefer to be anywhere but here.

As she always did.

There was no way she could get out of the eye of her guards who were watching so closely. She needed a breath of fresh air. Just by herself for a few minutes. It would take her mind off Celeste. The girl had a way of strangely bothering her no matter how much she tried to ignore her.

She thought they had gotten somewhere that night in the warehouse and forest; she thought they had gotten just a little closer, but that was in her dreams along with the feeling that she felt she was connected to Celeste somehow, yet she couldn't quite pinpoint it.

"Madeline. Andrea." Lilianna called, coming to a stop and turning around to face her guards. "I left something back on the roof. You mind if I go get it?"

Andrea rose an eyebrow in suspicion. "Your highness, we're under the orders of the empress to keep an eye on you. I can't trust you to come back by yourself. I'll send Madeline to go fetch it for you. Is that alright?"

Inwardly, Lilianna cursed. Now she had a reputation for causing trouble over one incident, didn't she? Sneaking out of the palace grounds was easier than trying to outrun her guards right in front of her. "I'll just retrieve it tomorrow. I think… I'll go ride a horse."

"Yes, your highness."

Later, as Lilianna was preparing to bring one of the school horses out onto the field, she heard a sound come from nearby. She narrowed her eyes. "Who's there?" the girl slipped a small pocket knife out of her sleeve, letting go of the horse's reins and walking forward.

She heard another shuffle from behind and quickly turned around to face the sound. An intruder being in the horse stalls was the last thing she needed to deal with today; not if it would only increase her security and her mother's paranoia. "I command you to come out. Now."

"As you wish."

Lilianna's senses alarmed her and as soon a hand had moved to reach out for her, she grabbed it and flipped the person onto their back. She climbed on top of the victim and put her knife to their neck. "Who are you and- T-T-Tatsuya?" the princess asked in confusion.

"God… Who the hell is teaching you that stuff.. You're a motherfucking princess..." the Japanese boy moaned in pain.

"I went through training." She merely shrugged, but narrowed her eyes again, being sure not to remove the knife from his neck. "What are you even doing here? How dare you show your face here when you tried to kill Celeste and I the other night? I should call-"

"Hold o- Agh! Damn it!" he tried to roll over slightly in pain, but remembered the Britannian princess that was currently straddling him. "I'm still injured, you know…"

The explosion suddenly replayed in her head and Lilianna gasped. "Why are you even here?! You shouldn't be here! You're hurt, and you're not even okay!" she scolded him, removing the knife from his neck and lifting a little of her weight off of him.

A small smirk crossed Tatsuya's face. "I appreciate the worry, princess.. But I'm fine. It was just my head and a few burn marks on my arm, hence the bandages…"

"Oh, thank goodness…" she breathed in relief.

The sight of seeing him bleeding on the floor still hurt her.

"But what are you doing here?" Lilianna repeated once again and Tatsuya let out an annoyed groan.

"I came to…" he coughed. "I came to thank you for the other night… For worrying about me. Genuinely."

Her eyes narrowed ever more. "I don't believe you. If I learned anything that night, you're a liar. Why would you come all the way here just to thank me for worrying about you?"

Tatsuya faked a look of surprise. "You caught me. I'm a liar who manipulates people and would never want to thank you…" he spouted sarcastically.

The princess gave him an unimpressed look. Being with Tatsuya was almost like being with Celeste, but she had a much more pleasant time around the raven haired girl. "You do exactly that."

"You don't let go, do you?" he scoffed.

"Not with low people like you." Lilianna hissed. "Tell me the real reason you're here. I have this-"

"A knife you wouldn't dare to use. You're just like Lucas. You have the power and even the physical abilities to hurt someone, but you refuse to do so because of your beliefs. You're strong, but you for some reason, you believe you're weak, helpless, and incapable of doing anything for yourself," Tatsuya told her.

"You're doing it again."

"I'm just telling you the truth."

She's heard too much truth today.

"I-It's not the truth. I just prefer to not hurt people because-"

"You think of yourself as being better than others. You do one thing wrong and in your eyes, you're the evil one and you're the hypocrite. That's not always the case."

Lilianna stood up quickly, pocketing her knife back into her pants. The princess took a step back with a brood look. "But that is always the case, isn't it?"

"You're a princess; you have power, and you come from a long line of evil," the Japanese boy continued. He stood up quickly, wincing in pain at the movement, but kept the smirk on his face. "You're trying to avoid being like them when you can. You believe your mother is a good woman, don't you? For the last twenty years, she hasn't shown any signs of being like her brother or father yet. You can do the same."

"Stop it."

"You wouldn't have much of a problem if you were more true to yourself."

"I said to stop."

"How sad is that."

"I said to stop!" Lilianna yelled, moving faster than Tatsuya could even process, and once again, knocking the Japanese boy into the horse stall and finding a knife to his neck again. She grit her teeth.

"You-" Tatsuya started in surprise.

"I what?" Lilianna hissed and pushed the knife further into his neck.

"You move like Zero."

This caused Lilianna to drop her knife to her side. "I-I don't."

"You said you were trained earlier. You were trained by Zero… Weren't you?" Tatsuya finally realized.

"And if I was? What does it matter to you?"

Tatsuya only smirked at her in response. "Nothing. It's just interesting information to know about the princess that's known to be coddled by her mother on the daily."

"I'm not coddled."

"You like to lie, don't you?"

Lilianna didn't answer, deciding that she had wasted enough time with him. It was more than she had intended. "Leave, or I will call my guards," she threatened.

"Huh, are they as good as you when it comes to kicking ass?"

"I said leave and I will not repeat myself."

Tatsuya, smirk still spread across his face, gave her a mocking bow. "As you wish, Your Highness."

She moved out of the way for him to exit the stall, and didn't even bother to see if he really left once he did. She leaned against the wall of the horse stall they had been in, sighing and letting down the ponytail she had hair up in. It fell down her back and across her shoulders as it always did; just like her mother's hair did.

A scoff came from her mouth about the thought of her mother - the empress of Britannia for the last twenty years. As busy as her mother was - the lack of time she actually spent around her - the woman always knew when Lilianna was in danger and had no problem putting her on lockdown if she thought things were getting too dangerous. Lilianna was completely capable of taking care of herself, but her mother thought otherwise. In fact, her mother didn't even know she could take care of herself.

If it hadn't been for Zero, she would have never known how to protect herself. It was all the more reason she didn't need a knight.

Zero was always at her mother's side twenty-four-seven, but he had strangely found more time with her than her mother did when she was a young child. As a young child, when she had nothing to do around the palace or when he was off duty for a short time, he would teach her self-defense; and out of boredom, she would always practice it. The only thing he told her was not to say a word about it to her mother, so in her eagerness to continue learning, she never once let it slip that she knew martial arts, how to wield a knife, or to cause unconsciousness. The only thing she never quite learned how to do was pilot a Knightmare, which had been a first for her that night at the warehouse.

One of the constant things she became frustrated about was that she couldn't remember Zero's face. He'd remove his cape and mask around her when she was younger, but would always leave the black cloth around his mouth, so as she could not see the other half of his face. As she grew older, he would keep on his mask, and she noticed, so she never bothered to ask him why.

She only remembered green eyes.

"Your Highness?"

Lilianna jumped at the voice of Andrea.

"Are you alright? You've been in here for awhile."

"I was feeding the horses." Lilianna put on the best smile she could muster at her guard when she walked out of the single stall, a low bucket of carrots in her hand. "I was just getting ready to come out."

Andrea cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure that was all?"

"You know I prefer not to lie, Andrea."

Maybe she did.

"If that is all then, Your Highness." With that, Andrea gave her a bow before heading back out of the stalls.

The smile slowly dropped off her face and she tightened the grip on the bucket in her hand.

….

"Can I leave?" Celeste asked, annoyed and bored with the preparations for the school festival.

Fumiko didn't even bother to look at her as she answered the raven haired girl. "You live on campus. There's no reason you should be in a hurry, should there?" the mixed girl asked as she placed another piece of paper on the stack next to her.

"But I don't have all day sitting here with you," Celeste replied.

"Want me to ask where you come from again?"

"You wouldn't guess."

"How do you know?"

"Would you know?"

"I know everything, Celeste."

The raven haired girl let out another scoff and didn't reply, choosing to continue their comfortable silence once again. If she had to hesitantly admit it to herself, she was bored without - yes - Lilianna around. Maybe she somehow was involved in the trouble Lilianna - maybe even the trouble she caused - half of the time, but at least it gave her something to do.

Not sit here with Fumiko unwillingly.

"You know," Fumiko started, breaking their silence once again. A small grin played on her lips. "I'm the daughter of the Prime Minister. I can give us access to certain places," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, I don't do wealthy people," Celeste scoffed.

Fumiko let out a small laugh. "It's okay, Celeste. I'm not going to get us in any trouble at all. It's my privilege as your vice president and the daughter of a former Black Knight's member."

"Can't you just say Prime Minister?"

"It's no fun that way."

"Well, since you're so privileged, what do you have in mind?" Celeste asked in slight curiosity.

"We're going to go to a historical memorial."

Celeste blinked before abruptly standing up and heading towards the door. "Oh, we are not doing that. I'll be damned if I go to a museum."

Fumiko just let out a small laugh. "And why not?"

"I… Just don't like museums," Celeste said, even though she herself knew it sounded like a terrible excuse just to not go.

"Well, you're going to go still. You don't have anything better to do. At least, I assume so, is that correct?" Fumiko's voice was full of amusement and it irritated Celeste highly.

"I do," was all she said, twisting the doorknob in a hurry to live, but she was met with a tall, red haired figure standing at the door. "Takeshi?"

He ignored her, choosing to look past her and at Fumiko, who was surprised to see him. "I just left some of my stuff earlier and came back to get it. Sorry for interrupting… You both."

He had said the last part with a slight sneer as he pushed past her into the room. Celeste didn't even bother to let anything smart slip out of her mouth, but she pursed her lips, her grip on the doorknob tight.

"Are you done with practice already?" Fumiko asked him, looking down at her phone with a tilt of her head. "It's rare for the academy to let you out that early."

At her statement, Celeste noticed Takeshi had gone rigid for a few seconds until he continued to pack his things in his bag, this time with a little force. "I… I just left early. That's all. I wasn't feeling well."

"Do you need to lie down? Are you sick?"

Celeste could see the clear irritation spread across Takeshi's face as Fumiko's questions of concern continued. As much as Takeshi annoyed her, something had happened and he obviously wanted to be left alone about whatever was going through his head at the moment.

She rolled her eyes and cringed as she said, "Hey, Fumiko. I changed my mind. Let's go to the museum."

Fumiko diverted her attention from Takeshi to Celeste and opened her mouth in slight surprise at the sudden change in attitude of Celeste. "Really?"

She pretended she didn't see Takeshi staring at her, his blue eyes fixed on her so hard that it almost made her uncomfortable where she stood. "Yes. When are we going?"

"Tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock," Fumiko told her as she grabbed a piece of paper to scribble something down. She smiled at the girl. "I know you're new here, so here's the address for you."

Celeste glanced at Takeshi and back at Fumiko, slowly taking it from her hand. The boy had finally stopped staring at her before he moved out of the room quietly, all Fumiko's attention now on her. "Thanks."

"No problem," Fumiko smiled, seeming to forget all about Takeshi now. "You'll love it. The history there is great and-"

Celeste started to tune Fumiko out as her mind went back to Takeshi. What could have happened that he seemed so… Distant? She in no way got along with Takeshi, nor did she like him. In fact, she found him highly annoying just as she did everyone, but something was wrong. She would like to know, but it was always bigger to not bother herself with other people.

She wasn't supposed to get too close to them after all.

The day came and went, and before Celeste knew it, she was standing in front of the doors of a large museum dressed in denim shorts and an off-shoulder purple top. Her long hair was pulled back into a half-bun, bangs out of her face, and sunglasses adorned her pale face, hiding her golden-purple eyes.

Today of all days was the day they decided to turn another color and she scoffed under her breath. Her eyes were one of the reasons she hates going out - Too many people would ask about her eyes and some would get freaked out by it, always acting like she was too dangerous or even fragile to touch.

"Celeste!"

"Shit," Celeste muttered. She just wanted this day to be over with.

"You're here early," Fumiko said with a bright smile as she came to a stop. She was in a black denim skirt with black tights and a yellow crop top with flounce sleeves. A black purse hung over her shoulder. She grabbed onto Celeste's arm, dragging her inside. "Come on, let's go."

As much as Celeste wanted to snatch her arm away from the girl, she complied. She was stuck here because she decided to help Takeshi out of Fumiko's corner when he clearly wasn't up for talking.

He owed her.

They went inside and Celeste immediately almost blanked at the sight of so many people in one place. It wasn't that it was that crowded, but she hated crowds. Too many people in one place and she hated people.

"I really want to go see the section where the war between Britannia and Japan first began," Fumiko said, slowing down in her walking now, arm still wrapped around Celeste's.

"... Don't we already know enough about that?" Celeste groaned. "It's not exactly unknown knowledge among everyone."

"Oh, it'll be fun. Besides, the history books don't mention anything about Emperor Lelouch, so this is a good opportunity to learn."

"I don't want to learn about him because frankly, I really don't care," Celeste said between grit teeth.

Fumiko let go of her arm and stopped in the middle of her tracks. Celeste wondered why until she saw the tell redhead from yesterday again and almost let the loudest grown escape her lips, risking people causing looks to come her way. Now she was just irritated rather than annoyed at the thought of not only having to spend a day with Fumiko, but with him.

"I thought it was just us?" Celeste emphasized the last word enough for Fumiko to realize the greatly disapproving tone in her voice.

The girl just smiled at her as she started on her venture to Takeshi. "Yes, but if you had known that, you wouldn't have come."

Celeste knew she couldn't leave now and she couldn't believe she was saying this, but she'd rather spend all day with Lilianna than have to sit here and suffer being with Fumiko while Takeshi blatantly threw daggers at her, especially over Miss Goody-Two-Shoes.

"The hell?" she muttered as she walked slowly behind Fumiko, deciding that taking her time to walk over to Takeshi would be nicer so she could enjoy her final moments of peace.

"Takeshi!" Fumiko smiled as she patted his arm. "You made it. Celeste and I just got here as well."

Takeshi spared Celeste a small glance, and the raven haired girl was glad she was sporting sunglasses. His stare could be a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah… I did," he mumbled and then said a little louder, "Which exhibit do you want to look at the first?"

"The War of Britannia and Japan. I've been trying to come see it since last month, but it was busy. My brother was supposed to come with me, but he's visiting India," Fumiko said.

"So you dragged me along?" Celeste commented from behind them as they started to walk, trying to keep any sarcasm from escaping her mouth.

"It would do you good to actually make friends and know the people on the student council." Fumiko just smiled and turned back to Takeski.

"I hate this shithole," she muttered under her breath.

"Come on, Celeste! The exhibit is over here," Fumiko told her, standing on the toes of her orange heels as she stood in front of the entrance, Takeshi right next to her.

Takeshi opened his mouth when she caught up, but closed it back suddenly and turned away from her. Celeste rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses and walked into the exhibit ahead of her two friends.

Her mouth dropped open slightly at the layout of the displays, statues, and readings on the wall from it all, but she wasn't going to let Fumiko know she was impressed.

She still didn't want to be here.

She stepped in front of a reading on the wall that was titled "The Death of Emperor Lelouch - After Events." Next to it was a picture of him on his float the day it happened. Below it was another picture of Zero, standing on the float with a bloody sword in his hand. And the last picture was of Empress Nunnally in despair, mourning over her brother's dead body.

That picture made Celeste frown deeply. She always knew that the topic of the Demon Emperor's death was a sensitive topic to Empress Nunnally, so if she barely liked the events mentioned in history books, then they must have had to be given special permission for this exhibit. The picture was so sad… She knew it was to display the events, but… It was insensitive… Even towards Empress Nunnally of all people.

She lifted her sunglasses atop her head to get a better look at the reading.

On September 28th of 2019 a.b.d, the great Demon Emperor, Emperor Lelouch, son of Charles zi Britanna and Marianne vi Britannia, was murdered by none other than the masked knight and hero to the citizens of Japan, Zero, whose identity remains unknown to the world, in cold blood.

The unexpected event purged Japan into extreme chaos. With the unexpected death of the emperor, Japan was finally free from Britannian colonization after eight years. The unexpected death of the emperor caused riots and chaos - The Japanese suddenly had freedom again and their country was their own, but the many Britannians who had migrated to the country were now without any power. Many citizens of Britannia went back to their home country while some stayed on the island, offering to help rebuild the country that had once been ruled by Britannia.

After the events, Zero became the symbol of hope for everyone, always being remembered as the hero who freed Japan from the hands of the infamous Demon Emperor. Months after the event, with Japan in a little more order, Princess Nunnally vi Britannia was crowned Empress of Britannia, but that didn't come without ridicule, many people in fear that she'd become like her brother or even her father, but the new and young empress proved to be different from those she was once related to.

In return of the damage done by Britannia, the Britannian empress helped to rebuild Shinjuku Ghetto, now a thriving and beautiful area of Japan, and gave them new resources to help with the reconstruction of their country. She also built an orphanage for children who lost their parents during the war and a homeless shelter for those without homes or families to help them get back on their feet.

The great Empress Nunnally vi Britannia has proved that she's working to change Britannia's ways and is still working to help the damage done in not just Japan, but other countries who had been affected by Britannia as well.

Rather than a demon, Empress Nunnally is the angel the world needed.

Celeste let out a small snort at the last part as she reached up to touch the glass that protected the writing and pictures. "Change, huh?" she mumbled to herself.

"Empress Nunnally is different, isn't she?" A voice next to her said.

Celeste put her sunglasses back down before turning her head to see Tatsuya's tall figure standing next to her in his black cardigan.

"You're talking to me?" Celeste snorted, a small smirk crossing her face. "That's new."

Takeshi didn't bother to look at her as he continued to stare down the pictures on the wall. "Maybe when you're not being an ass or a bitch."

"Oh, someone is brave today," Celeste said, impressed."Where's Fumiko?"

"She went to go freshen up in the bathroom."

"I guess this is you talking to me like nothing is wrong after you ignored me just out of boredom."

Takeshi finally looked at her and his eyes narrowed. "You bother the princess. She isn't focused because of you."

"So this is about her." Celeste almost gagged where she was standing. She crossed her arms under her chest. "What does it matter what I do with the princess? I don't like her."

"She asked to talk to you on top of the roof today."

"And that was our business," Celeste hissed out. "The princess doesn't need someone worrying over her. She's a big girl, is she not? Stop bothering me about matters that don't concern you, especially pertaining to her."

"Then why does her matters concern you?" Takeshi asked, his blue eyes still narrowed sharply down at her. "I'm just worried for the princess's wellbeing and I know you aren't. She still won't say who she was with that day of the hostage situation and I feel like you know exactly who it was that put her in danger out there to die."

Celeste's eyebrow twitched. She pulled her sunglasses up, hoping they were golden as she shared a glare with Takeshi. "Are you suggesting that I want to hurt little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes? The princess can take care of herself in many ways that you don't know. She doesn't need a knight in shining army who can't even be her knight."

"What do you mean?" Takeshi asked the question in a whisper, but she knew he knew what she meant.

Lilian had told her after all that as much as she wanted Takeshi to be her knight, the young boy wasn't trained as properly as he could be. Rather than out of thinking of her own safety, Lilianna was thinking of love and Celeste thought she was foolish for doing so.

"I know you want to be involved more in the princess's life and closer to her, so the quickest way for both of you would be… If you were her knight come her birthday on June eleventh, is that right?" Celeste continued on.

"You don't know anything," Takeshi hissed, his fist balling onto the rail he was holding. "Stop pretending like you do."

"Am I pretending or do you just refuse to hear the truth?"

Takeshi's head snapped towards her. "What truth?!" he spat out harshly. "You're like everyone else here, yet you believe you're so much different because you're from who-knows-where and all because you don't know how to interact with people properly! Maybe if someone told you the truth to your face once in a while, maybe you'd have some friends, but you're nothing but a bitch who loves for putting other people down all because you were sent here by mommy and daddy who don't want you anymore!"

Celeste growled as she stopped her heelless foot on the ground. "You don't know anything about me, you asshole!" she said, anger rising in her voice.

"And that's just it!" Takeshi locked her between the railings, her back against the medal as he leaned closely down to her face. She moved her head away. "You don't know anything about anyone either. You're pretending just as much as the rest of us to make yourself look good and feel better when all you want to do is run back home to where you belong because you don't belong here. Not here, not with Princess Lilianna, or any of us. You're just an invisible person who can be seen and unfortunately be heard."

Celeste grit her teeth. "Go to hell."

"You first," Takeshi growled in her ear before pushing himself away from her.

He didn't leave. He only leaned back against the railings himself, arms crossed as his face was down in a deep frown. Celeste had to put her sunglasses back over her face to keep refraining from anyone seeing the tears welling up in her eyes.

Her parents didn't have an explanation for sending her here. All they said was not to get close to anyone. It's not like they didn't call or anything, but she hated being here while not knowing the exact reason she was here. Instead, they placed her in some rich and high-classed school full of Britannian and Japanese students that she… That she really did know nothing about.

She was somewhere she didn't belong.

Ignoring Takeshi, Celeste rushed out of the exhibit and to the nearest bathroom. She bumped into Fumiko on the way there, almost knocking off her sunglasses.

"Celeste?" Fumiko asked in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she dismissed with a growl in her voice and stepped into the empty bathroom.

She waited a few minutes to see if Fumiko would follow her in, and when she didn't, the raven haired girl breathed out slowly in relief. She removed her sunglasses and saw that her eyes were still both purple and gold, which means Takeshi saw them, but had overlooked them when he was talking to her.

She blinked away her unfallen tears to clear her vision and get a better look at her eyes.

She hated her eyes. Her regular golden shade was always called pretty by other people back in the village she used to live in, but once they changed colors like this, it wasn't surprising when she got the one or two assholes who called her a "freak."

The sixteen year old stood straight and placed her sunglasses back on her face, ready to head back out to where her "friends" were. Fumiko, she could stand, but she didn't want to be anywhere near Takeshi anymore.

She didn't have to help him out yesterday and she wished she didn't.

She exited the bathroom, dreading having to carry on with Takeshi at her side with Fumiko, until she felt a hand around her mouth that dragged around her into a dark corner. She was ready to bite their hand and run until the hand released from around her mouth and the figure roughly turned her around.

"Lucas?" Her eyes widened at the sight of the tall brown skinned, silver haired teen in front of her. Her eyes then narrowed in caution. "What are you doing here and how did you find me?"

It came out more harshly than she intended, but she didn't trust Lucas or any of his friends. She barely trusted Tatsuya. "Did you hear me? Why are you here?"

"Where's Tatsuya?" He asked her in a voice deep and low, ignoring the question she had shot at him first. It was like his red eyes were sending holes through her head.

"How the hell would I know?" Celeste hissed as she crossed her arms. "Isn't he injured?"

"He was missing from his hospital bed this morning. I figured it had something to do with you," Lucas said.

"I don't know, so leave me alone, you bastard." With that, she turned on her heel, but Lucas had grabbed onto her wrist. She fiddled with his hold, but it was too strong for even her. "Let me go! You're hurting me!"

"Do you really not know where he is?" Lucas's eyes were fixed on her intently, almost like he didn't believe her the words escaping from her mouth. And that's when Celeste realized that… He didn't believe her.

Because of their last encounter.

A small smirk crossed her face. "What? Afraid I'm lying to you again?"

"No." His answer was short and quick, but even she knew he wasn't convinced himself. "I just want to make sure he's okay. She'll have my head if he isn't okay."

"Your leader?" Celeste guessed.

The hold on her wrist tightened. "That's none of your business." He pursed his lips. "Just tell me where Tatsuya is?"

"I don't know." Celeste repeated herself again.

"Tell me," Lucas insisted, his voice growing impatient. She noticed him out a hand in his jacket and she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Gonna shoot me because I won't say? And in public?" Her smirk made a reappearance.

"You don't know what I can do," Lucas threatened.

It was a threat, but it sounded like a half-hearted threat to Celeste's ears. "But you won't shoot. You'll do anything except shoot," she taunted. "And kill."

"I'll-"

She cut him off. "You'll what? Even I know you have boundaries if anything comes from that hostage incident. Women, babies, innocent people, and even children… The thing is, you're a part of a radicalist group when even you know you wouldn't hurt a fly. Maybe Tatsuya will, but you won't."

"You don't know me."

"I've heard that plenty of times today and you're right. I don't know you. I do know you have morals, though. Good morals that you refuse to let go of if it involves innocent lives. You won't hurt me. No matter how much you want to."

Celeste watched Lucas's lips go downward into a deep frown. The hold on her wrist was loosened and then a few seconds later, her whole wrist was dropped back down to her side by the half-Britannian.

She glanced at it, a bruise having formed, but chose to look back up at his tall figure rather than let her guard down around him.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, a small glare still present on his face. "You really don't know where he is?" Lucas asked her one more time.

Celeste shook her head, long strands of her flying in her face. "I don't know where he is, Lucas. You'll have to look someplace else."

"I guess I will," Lucas mumbled and pushed past Celeste to get past her.

"Wait," Celeste called, her eyes narrowing. "What happens if you can't find Tatsuya?"

Lucas only let out a hollow laugh at her question, amusement settled in his eyes. "No one knows. Not even me."

With one last glance at her, Lucas walked off, Celeste watching him until his figure disappeared out of her sight.

Too many people were getting on her nerves today and that was another person added to her list and up in her personal space. She winced as pain shot through her wrist when she moved it and wondered just how hard had his grip been. She pulled down the sleeves on her shirt that she originally had folded up to her elbow all the way down to hide the bruise.

It was better to avoid any annoying questions that would come her way if Fumiko saw her wrist, especially if it came from someone she barely knew, but first… She'd have to go to the souvenir store for any bandages she could wrap around her injured wrist.

…..

Tatsuya limped up the stairs that led to the apartment he shared with Lucas. His injuries still hurt like hell, but he couldn't stay in that hospital bed any longer. He also had no idea what led him to go see the princess of Britanna of all people.

He had been surprised she had shown concern for him the other night despite what he had tried to do. Lucas had thankfully found him a few minutes later after they left, upset that he had let both girls escape, but he had barely grasped anything being said because he was going in and out of consciousness.

He woke up a few days later in the hospital bed of their infirmary at the boss's headquarters and had escaped when everyone was out, hours after lying in the bed uselessly. Nothing had hurt much the day before, but now his body was killing him - He hadn't even bothered to come home yesterday, knowing that he would get an earful from Lucas if he had done so and also just wanting to get away from everyone.

His mind was still stuck on the princess as well, though. She was a fast mover and had abilities that even he didn't have, but the princess the public knew was a fragile and quiet girl who lived in the shadow of not only her mother, but the masked knight, Zero.

It made him wonder further about why Zero… Why would he train the daughter of an empress?

He opened the door to the apartment and slipped in, closing the door shut behind him. He expected a lot of things when he entered the apartment, but it wasn't to get punched right in the face and fall to the floor on his ass.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Lucas shouted, anger deep in his voice.

Tatsuya rubbed his jaw as a dark glare formed on his face. "None of your business, you bastard," he spat out. Blood spilled down his mouth and onto his shirt.

Lucas bent down and grabbed Tatsuya by the collar of his shirt, roughly bringing his face towards his. "Where the hell did you go?! I've been looking for you since yesterday and there was no telling what the boss would do to me if I couldn't find you!"

"Hah…" Tatsuya smirked at his roommate. "How does it feel being number one?"

Lucas growled. "You're one of our aces, Tatsuya. You escaped your hospital bed while injured and no one saw you. Why the hell would you leave without telling anyone?! You know how the boss is!"

The Japanese boy looked away, a scoff escaping his lips. "I just didn't want to be there."

"Tatsuya, wh-"

"Listen!" Tatsuya pushed him away roughly and sat himself up on the wall slowly. His eyes stayed fixated on Lucas. "You're number one. I don't give a goddamn fuck what the boss does to you because of me. At the end of the day, she's going to punish both of us, so why are you so upset?"

"I'm not upset! She sent me to go look for you and you know what happened last time I couldn't do what she said…"

Lucas hissed out the last part and Tatsuya just scowled. He knew exactly what happened last time and it wasn't pretty. He just didn't give two shits about Lucas and his problems with the boss. He had his own to deal with.

He shakingly stood up and tried to walk, but fell back to the ground. His body was killing him and he no longer had any energy left.

He felt an arm wrap around his waist and one of his own arms slip around the neck of his roommate. "Come on," Lucas mumbled, lifting him from the ground with ease.

"You just punched the shit outta me," Tatsuya said, but his voice was full of amusement rather than anger.

Lucas's lips pursed. "You're hurt."

"Obvious-"

Tatsuya was cut short by the ringing of a phone. He realized it was coming from Lucas's pocket. "You gonna get that?" he asked, knowing exactly who the caller was.

"... No."

"She hates when people ignore her."

Lucas didn't answer him.

Tatsuya scoffed.

The boss was Lucas's problem at the moment. Not his.

My writing has become a little rusty, but that's fine for now.

Lilianna met Tatsuya alone, Lucas is lurking in corners at museums, Celeste is being an ass as always, and Takeshi has unspoken issues that will eventually come to light. And while Celeste is obviously slowly warming up to Lilianna, she has her reasons for getting close to her, which includes that she's not allowed to be close to anyone.

I don't have much more to say than... How did you all feel about Lelouch of the Resurrection? It was... Something. Anyways...

Read and Review!