Chapter 1

Akeno Himejima was, on the outside, a perfectly normal girl. She attended high school, received high marks, and had a group of friends that she normally met with. By all accounts, she was a gentle girl, if a little sheltered by her life at Kuoh Academy, but that's what attracted most of her admirers. Well, that and her looks.

She was blessed with an impressive bust, which complimented her long black hair tied up by an orange ribbon that seemed to run in beautiful ebony waterfalls down her back and her piercing violet eyes that somehow managed to seem kind and smoldering at the same time. Coupled with her rather carefree expressions and omnipresent smile, it was no wonder that she was considered to be one of the Kuoh Academy's Great Ladies along with her best friend, Rias Gremory, who was no slouch herself in the same departments.

However, what people didn't realize about her was that she was also an extremely powerful servant of Rias Gremory, who was herself a devil. Outside of school, she traded in the Kuoh Academy Uniform for an outfit more befitting of a shrine maiden, and her books in for powerful lighting spells that had caused her great infamy as the Priestess of Thunder. And underneath it all, lay a cunning and highly intelligent killer that was willing to do anything in the service of her mistress. Beyond that, there were still secrets more that most of her devil associates did not know.

No, Akeno Himejima was not at all a perfectly normal girl, but she preferred it that way.

Still, she had to keep up appearances to prevent people from discovering the truth about her, which is why she found herself at the mall with Rias. They had made a big deal of their meeting today, just to ensure that everyone in the class was aware that they associated with each other like regular people, and not just inside of the Occult Research Club.

"So, Akeno, is there anything interesting you want to talk about?" Rias asked awkwardly as they strolled along the endless rows of shops, occasionally peering at a window or two.

"Do we really need to do this?" Akeno responded, still with a smile on her face. They both knew that they had nothing to really discuss, as they already spent most of their time together in the Occult Research Club.

"Well, I believe that it is important for us, as perfectly normal girls," Rias stressed, knowing that someone was likely listening, "to spend time together talking to each other about things that we enjoy, such as television programs or boys." She stressed again, to which Akeno shook her head at her friend's lack of common sense.

Obviously, no one would actually talk like that, and it was even more ridiculous to think that anyone would believe her, although, judging by the amount of idiotic rumors that she had heard lately, the girls of their school would believe anything that they were told.

"Rias, let's just go inside this store right now." Akeno suggested, attempting to make their trip seem more believable.

"Good plan my queen, as expected of you." Rias noted before looking around for an appropriate store.

"How about that shop?" She asked Akeno, pointing to a mysterious looking store that she could not remember seeing before.

Deciding that it was as good a place to start as any, Akeno nodded in agreement and followed behind Rias as she entered the store.

Inside, her nose was instantly assaulted by the scent of burning incense and various herbs that overloaded her senses. The store itself was dark, illuminated by a few select candles placed strategically around the edges, leaving most of the store in a very dimly lit state, although she imagined that the owner had been going for such an effect.

On the shelves lay a wide assortment of occult based memorabilia that Akeno knew was fake from the moment she saw it.

"Hello, welcome to my humble shop." A young black haired woman said sweetly from behind the counter, which was decorated with a fake skull and a lit candle.

"Yes, do you have any sort of holy water?" Rias asked while Akeno began to explore the shop more.

She walked along one of the aisles when something sticky caught her shoe. Lifting her foot off the ground, she was disgusted to learn that it was a chewed piece of gum and decided to keep moving, already wanting to leave the store.

"Excuse me, do you have a restroom I can clean off my shoe in?" She asked, prompting the woman to point in the direction of the back of the store while she searched for the holy water that Rias had requested.

Following the woman's directions, Akeno found herself in front of an ordinary looking door that likely led to the restroom. However, to her right, she saw another unmarked door that she was tempted to try as well.

Deciding on the door directly in front of her, Akeno prepared to open it when she heard a faint sound coming from the other door. To a normal human, the sound would have been unnoticeable, but to her hearing enhanced by her devil abilities, she faintly heard a muffled sound.

Immediately, she turned to the right and approached the door cautiously, ready to unleash her lighting powers if need be, her smile wiped clean off of her face. With each step she took, the sound grew less muffled and more pronounced, although it was still hard to hear without her enhanced abilities. Suddenly, the sound died out and it was completely silent. As she approached the door, she could also feel an aura of strength, although it wasn't exactly that of a devil, although it had a similar feeling to it.

As she reached the door, she braced herself for an attack, as it was a possibility that the sound was used to lure her in and the silence would have served to lull her into a sense of security. Faintly, in the back of her mind, it occurred to her to call Rias for back up, but she was too occupied with her current task to pay that part of her brain any heed.

Slowly, she gripped the brass handle of the doorknob and twisted slowly, hearing the metal creak as she did. Once the handle could not turn anymore, she gently tugged, noting that it wasn't locked. Taking a deep breath, she flung the door open with one hand and electricity crackled in the other.

However, when nothing appeared, she closed her hand, extinguishing the electricity charged up there. The room itself seemed to be a regular supply closet, with a broom and several cleaning products on wooden shelves. She tentatively stepped inside, searching with her foot as well as her eyes. When she did not feel anything out of the ordinary, she took another step, suddenly feeling a lump on the floor.

Instinctively, she jumped back to assume a defensive position and approached the object once more. When gently tapping it with her foot garnered no response, she knelt down, skirt rising up as she did so. With her enhanced vision, she saw a human leg, and as she followed it up, she found its owner leaning up against a wall, head slumped into his chest and limbs splayed out.

At this sight, she gasped and immediately placed a hand on the man's neck, noting that he still had a pulse. She gently reached behind his head and tilted his head upwards so that she could see his face. As she touched him, she suddenly felt the aura increase in intensity, making it clear that it was radiating from the figure in front of her.

The man had an extremely youthful face, suggesting that he was still a teenager or in his early twenties. His skin was pale and his facial features were foreign, clearly not Japanese. Messy ebony hair, which she confirmed as being extremely soft, covered his head and came down in bangs over his face, which was completely emotionless, with closed eyes and even lips.

The rest of his body was unimpressive, to say the least. He was on the scrawny side and was rather thin, but at the same time, his limbs had considerable length, giving her the impression that he was lanky. His body was covered by a black outfit with gold trim that seemed to be some sort of uniform, likely for school.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, revealing them to be a light violet that resembled her own, although they were not as striking. Instead, they seemed to have a calming effect on her and were almost hypnotic in a way.

His eyes darted around in a nervous frenzy and he tried to back away from her, hitting the back of his head on the wall behind him. Pressed up against the wall, he scrambled to his feet, revealing that he was almost a head taller than her as she stood up to her full height.

"Akeno! Come on, let's visit another shop! The holy water here is fake." Rias whispered as she turned the corner, surprised by the presence of the boy.

"Who is this?" Rias asked in confusion, pointing to the teen, who looked around, confused by his location.

"I don't know, but I can sense some strange power emanating from his person." Akeno replied softly so that he wouldn't hear her.

"Is he a devil?" Rias questioned, but Akeno shook her head.

"I don't think so. The energy signature is not exactly the same, but it is similar."

Rias sighed, "Well, what do we do with him?"

Akeno shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe we should take him along with us."

"All right, take him." She replied, nodding her head.

Akeno walked over to the man's side and clasped his hand, causing him to jump back in surprise.

"Just come with us." She whispered in his ear, giving him no time to respond before she pulled him along and out of the store.

As they walked outside, Akeno was suddenly assaulted by a chorus of gasps and squeals. She whipped her head to the sound of the noise, which was a group of younger girls wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform.

"Akeno-senpai! Is that your boyfriend?" A girl with light brown hair asked.

Looking down and realizing that she was still holding the teen's hand, a blush came to her face.

"Ara ara, this is an embarrassing situation." She stated, reverting to her "normal" appearance.

"Look, he's wearing a different uniform. He must go to a different school." One of them whispered, while another groaned, "I always thought that she was going to date Yuuto-sempai."

"So, what's your name?" The same brown haired girl asked, approaching the man, who still looked confused.

The black haired teen closed his eyes, as if deep in thought, before replying, "Lelouch."

The girl seemed confused, "Just Lelouch?"

"I-I don't remember anything else." He stammered.

"Wow, she found a pretty boy with amnesia." One of the girls whispered, which led to vigorous cheers of approval from the group as a whole.

"Well then, we wouldn't want to get in your way." The girl said with a wink to Akeno before leading her friends away.

Once they were gone, Akeno and Rias grabbed Lelouch, each by an arm, and led him straight back to the clubhouse.

It was already late afternoon, and the sun was setting, shading the sky a deep orange by the time they had returned. Rias took Lelouch and sat him down on one of the couches across from her usual seat while Akeno went off to make tea.

Once Akeno returned with two steaming cups, which she prefaced with a warning about the temperature of the drink, she sat down beside Rias. For a moment, the two parties stared at each other wordlessly before Rias spoke up.

"You said that your name was Lelouch back there, and that you don't remember your last name?" She asked, blowing softly on her tea.

Lelouch nodded slowly, "I think so, at least, I'm pretty sure that's my name."

Raising an eyebrow in interest, Rias continued on, "Do you remember anything else?"

Lelouch shook his head, "No, not really. I can sort of remember a weird shape, or maybe a symbol, but it's kind of fuzzy."

"I see." Rias replied softly, taking a sip of tea.

"Your uniform, where did you get it from?" Rias asked, noticing his manner of dress, "It's not from any high school in this area."

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I just woke up with it on."

Nodding, Rias turned to Akeno.

"Do you think he's lying about anything?" She whispered into her best friend's ear.

Akeno shook her head, "No, I don't think so. He doesn't really have any reason to lie to us."

"Do you think he's aware of his powers, whatever they may be?" Rias asked, and again, Akeno shook her head.

"He probably would have exhibited them by now, although I suspect that they have something to do with the symbol he remembers."

"Well, what do we do with him?" Rias whispered.

"What can we do with him? I think it would be a good idea to observe him more if we could." Akeno whispered back.

Rias agreed. If he could discover his powers, he could very likely become a very powerful ally, or better yet, a member of her peerage.

"All right then, we will help you try and rediscover your memories. Until then, you should attend Kuoh Academy with Akeno and I. We will try our best to help you as much as we can." Rias announced, standing up out of her seat.

"Also, because you do not have anywhere to stay, I want you to go and stay with Akeno for the time being, at least until we can find you somewhere more adequate to live."

At this, Lelouch's eyes widened in surprise, while Akeno giggled, "Ara ara, how interesting."

Lelouch felt extremely disoriented and confused as he exited the Occult Research Club at Akeno's side. He focused hard, hoping that it would yield some answers, but nothing resulted from it except for him receiving a mild headache. His memories were gone, and he had absolutely no recollections of anything save for his first name, which he wasn't even sure was correct.

For some odd reason, he had memories of the world around him, so the world itself didn't seem too odd, but anything relating to his personal life was inaccessible, almost as if they were being blocked by something.

His only memories were waking in a dark store, staring into the eyes of the extremely beautiful woman walking next to him, a little smile on her face as she led him to her home.

Why was he even in the store in the first place? It was an odd store with items relating to the occult, but he didn't have any involvement in that, did he? Was he some sort of magician or something?

But he also woke up wearing the uniform of some high school, so it was safe to assume that he was a student, right? But then why wasn't it a high school from the local area? Where was he from? Why was his memory gone? Was there a specific reason, or did he get into some accident? His head hurt just from all of the thoughts racing through his head.

"How do you feel?" Akeno asked with a hint of concern.

"Oh, I feel fine. It's just frustrating to me that I can't remember anything." Lelouch replied sheepishly.

As they continued walking, Lelouch noticed that the buildings were getting farther and farther away from each other. As they continued on their way, he suddenly felt his feet sink into the ground slightly, and he looked down to see that he was now stepping on dirt, the road having ended. He looked to his right, where he saw one house, but up further ahead on the road, he could see no more buildings. Instead, they were surrounded by trees and shrubs on all sides now, making it clear that they were in the forest.

By now, the sun had almost finished setting, and the sky was getting darer by the minute. If they didn't hurry, they would be stuck out in dark in the forest.

"Say, Akeno-sama, are we almost at your home?" Lelouch asked, getting worried.

"Ara ara, is Lelouch scared of the forest?" Akeno giggled, leading Lelouch to look away in embarrassment.

"Not at all. I was just wondering how much farther we would have to walk." He replied, not wanting to show her the pink that dusted his cheeks.

"Well, we are here now." Akeno replied, causing Lelouch to look up.

However, all he saw in front of him was a Shinto temple, made up of two rows of small buildings lined up along the sides of an enclosed stone courtyard. At the center of the courtyard lay an old looking building that he assumed housed the main shrine.

"But this is just a temple." He said, confusion plastered on his face.

"Right. I live here since the last priest passed away." She responded happily, leading him to one of the buildings on the right of the shrine.

She opened the door to reveal a rather ordinary looking room, with paper sliding doors and tatami mats laid out upon the ground. A small shrine was set up along one of the walls, while the wall directly opposite to it housed a closet. Aside from that, the room was completely empty save for a lamp on the roof of the room.

Akeno dropped her bag down at the entrance and removed her shoes, prompting Lelouch to remove his shoes as well.

With a skip in her step, she waltzed over to the closet and slid it open revealing that there was a large assortment of clothes inside. She grabbed a futon from the bottom of the closet and slid it out, laying it out in the middle of the room.

"There is a shower in the building next door in the men's bathroom." She replied before also grabbing a towel and happily shuffling out of the door, presumably to the women's bathroom.

Lelouch looked around at the room once more, confirming that nothing else was in the room before heading to the closet to grab a towel of his own.

He entered the men's bathroom to find it completely spotless, which he was not at all expecting.

"She must take good care of this place." He said to himself before he began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing the milky white skin underneath. His body was lean, yet still slightly toned, though for what reason, he could not remember. He took a look in the mirror, searching for any clue at all for what had happened to him, but he could find nothing. As far as he could tell, his physical health was perfectly fine.

After taking a relaxing shower, he wiped himself down with a towel before realizing that he needed a change of clothes. He worriedly walked towards the exit of the bathroom to see that a clean white t shirt and boxers were laid out for him. Thanking Akeno internally for being so prepared, he gratefully slipped on the clothes and returned to the room, where Akeno was waiting for him, dressed only in an undershirt and her underwear.

"Thank you for the clothes." Lelouch said as he closed the sliding door behind him, trying not to look at her while she was dressed so indecently.

"No problem. Now just try and get some rest." Akeno said, slipping under the covers of her futon while Lelouch just looked around awkwardly.

"What's the problem?" She asked.

"Well, I don't have anywhere to sleep." Lelouch said, hoping that she would point him to where he could find more sheets.

"I only have one futon, so you'll have to share with me." Akeno answered, as if it was obvious.

"What? I can't do that!" Lelouch replied, shaking his head.

Akeno smiled from her position under the covers and lifted them up until they covered everything but her head, as if to cover her body, "Ara ara, is Lelouch thinking of erotic things right now?"

"Of course not." Lelouch responded, although the flustered look on his face said otherwise.

"Then don't be afraid to climb in." Akeno responded, challenging him.

Tentatively, Lelouch lay down next to Akeno, who shifted over, giving him more than enough room to sleep, as the futon was rather large. However, the middle stayed empty as Lelouch immediately turned his back to her and tried to keep a good distance from Akeno.

He heard rustling behind him and suddenly felt two soft objects press up against his back, making him gulp in a mix of nervousness and excitement. Then he felt her hand lightly touch his shoulder and he could feel her hot breath tickle his ear.

"Good night." She breathed before returning to her side of the futon, leaving Lelouch's heart beating at a million miles per hour.

With some difficulty considering that he didn't want to even graze Akeno, he rolled onto his back and stared up. He would try and remember more in the morning.

For those of you who have been reading Beyond Zero, I am still working on that story, but as I stated last time, I have a lot more work to do, and I have started several more stories, so my time to work the newest chapter has been hard to come by. A large part of that is because I have to constantly use the light novels as reference for that story, which makes my process on it significantly slower, but on a story like this, where I will be following a story line that is original, I can work faster, hence the upload.

I intend this story to be as sort of my second version of Beyond Zero, but instead, I will follow an original story line and focus more on the characters of Akeno and Lelouch, as I find that focusing on two or three characters alone generally makes my writing stronger and my thinking process faster. So, for those of you expecting a harem story, don't, at least, not at first.

Also, I know that Lelouch is OOC in this chapter, but that is due to him not having his memories. As he begins to regain them, he will start to look more and more like the Lelouch that we all know and love.

Please leave any and all feedback you can! I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts and ideas about this story so far. Is it interesting? Or should I jsut give up on it? Please leave any thoughts or ideas you can, either in the form of a PM or review!