Disclaimer: This humble author owns nothing but the laptop from which he types his story. As such, Digimon and Code Geass are both a bit out of his reach. Just a bit.

Well, let's get this party started.

Was there some sort of contest out there to make his mornings as weird as possible? Lelouch was honestly beginning to suspect it at this point, because lately he'd come to dread waking up in the mornings simply because there would be something bizarre for him to put up with before he could move one with the rest of his day.

Waking up with the naked form of Kaguya practically draped over him wasn't unexpected, and it was actually quite pleasant. So that wasn't a surprise, and taking the context of last night into account it wasn't strange that she was there, or that the both of them were nude.

The way he actually woke up that morning was where the peculiarity began, because someone had called his name. Loudly. And repeatedly. So he could safely assume that whoever it was, they wanted something from him. And whatever it was, they couldn't bring themselves to wait until a more reasonable time.

As such, his sleep addled mind quickly tried to match a face to the voice on the other side of his door. A pair of mischievous blue eyes and a devilish grin came to mind immediately, and the teen resisted the urge to just go back to sleep on the grounds that this may actually have been important.

With that in mind, he was about to try and wake Kaguya discreetly so that they could figure out just what to do about the fact that the two of them were stark naked in his bed, but something about that impish little grin of hers let him know she'd already been awake even though her eyes remained closed. She certainly seemed comfortable, pressed tightly against his side with her head resting on his chest.

Lelouch sighed. "Enjoying this, aren't you?" He whispered to the girl, who stifled her giggles. "Since you've been up, care to tell me what's going on out there?"

The girl peered up at him, replying just as quietly with a tiny smirk. "Apparently you've gone and played prince charming again, because whoever's out there said they were going to, and I quote, "hug you until Sayoko sees you start to turn blue and makes me stop." Sayoko, by the way, appears to be blocking the doorway on your behalf otherwise she would have just barged in." Which would have been hilarious, but caused several problems for Lelouch.

Well that was a solid play-by-play of the events thus far. Excellent, he actually knew what was going on now. That was always a good thing. "I see. Thank you, Kaguya." He chuckled softly at the beaming smile that he received, before leaning down to give her a quick kiss, much to her appreciation.

She sighed dreamily. "I could get used to waking up like this." But for the moment it had to end early, with much less cuddling than she would have liked, because someone was really intent on getting their hands on Lelouch this morning.

Speaking of which... "Lelouch I know you're awake by now, I've been out here for like five minutes yelling at you! Get out here so I can hug you!" A shout rang out through the door, putting an exasperated smile on Lelouch's face. "I would've already gotten in there if Sayoko wasn't giving me that sugary sweet look that makes me know something's up." Ah, that look. The one she put on whenever she was being painfully pleasant about stopping you from doing whatever it was you were doing. He knew it well.

Sayoko was such a wonderful woman, covering for him in this kind of situation. He would need to remember to do something nice for her soon. Lelouch could only imagine what kind of problems Milly walking in on this scene could cause, especially considering she could figure out who Kaguya was fairly easily.

It wasn't like such a thing would be difficult; Milly knew who Sumeragi Kaguya was, but she'd never met her. If she walked in on the two of them and spotted the younger girl of clear Japanese descent, it would be easy to piece things together knowing his history at the Kururugi Shrine, because he wasn't the type to go sleeping around with random girls.

And that was without taking into account the fact that he and Nina were supposed to be dating. He could only imagine how painful it would be to explain to Milly just how this entire series of events had come to be. It probably wouldn't even be possible to do so without revealing at least some things that he would much rather remain hidden.

"I'm sorry Miss Ashford, but Master Lelouch needs his rest after the tiring night he had." A softer voice announced firmly, the smile clearly apparent in her voice.

Lelouch sighed again. She really would say that, wouldn't she? Milly wouldn't think anything of it, especially after she heard about the little get together they had last night, but it was clear to him what she was talking about. Sayoko got a kick out of letting him know just how much she knew about the goings on of the household, and his newly existent sex-life was one of her favorite subjects to poke fun at.

"... I like your maid." Kaguya spoke up in a whisper, a kittenish smirk on her lips. Though the woman was all around pleasant and very helpful, it was more to do with the fact that she seemed to enjoy taking subtle shots at Lelouch whenever possible.

Giving her a sideways glance as he rolled out of bed to locate his pants, the boy offered a simple reply. "Of course you would."

"... hey, where did Lunamon and Keramon go?" Kaguya mumbled under her breath so as not to announce her presence to the people outside, though one of them was clearly aware of her being there. "I remember they left to talk about something, but I don't see them."

"Keramon took his pillow with him when he left." Came the whispered reply as the boy slipped into his pants, fastening them before glancing around the room for whatever other articles of clothing he would need to greet Milly. "They probably went to the guest room with C.C. for the night." Keramon had probably expected this to happen.

Nodding her head in understanding, Kaguya sighed and looked around the room. "I should probably get dressed and find somewhere to hide." Her clothes were scattered across the floor, having been thrown there the previous night and left without any regard until this moment. Why would she need clothes in her lovers room, after all? But of course something had to come up and now she would have to get dressed and go about her day without the significant amount of cuddling she had intended. Unfortunate, but worse things had happened.

With that in mind, she also slipped out of the bed, gathering the clothing she had strewn about the room the previous night in her arms. Offering a coquettish smile and a wave, the Sumeragi heiress disappeared into the bathroom with her clothes tucked under one arm.

Lelouch sighed as he put on his shirt, making certain to cover the hickey that Kaguya had left on his neck. He frowned a bit. '... I think she put it there on purpose.' The boy thought to himself, noticing that the placement of the mark would make it quite difficult to conceal without his jacket. And considering the fact that it would be odd for him to have thrown on his entire outfit before greeting Milly, since he had only just gotten out of bed, he would need to make due with his shirt unless he wanted to draw suspicion. Sighing again and throwing a dirty look towards the bathroom, Lelouch resigned himself to his fate.

Milly was almost guaranteed to see the mark, because it would be concealed poorly even if he took the time to button his shirt all the way up.

It was just how his luck was lately.

So, then, the only really "valid" explanation at that point would be to let her assume it was from Nina.

He didn't really like that particular outcome, because the bespectacled girl would be absolutely mortified.

Hiding the marred skin as best he could with his shirt collar, Lelouch trudged towards the door with an exhausted air about him, before releasing one last sigh as he opened the door.

Only to immediately fall flat on his back as he was tackled by a yellow blur. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" His head was pressed between two soft mounds as his oldest friend practically smothered him with glee. "Thank you so much Lelouch!" Milly announced joyously, before straightening up from her previous position as she released her embrace.

The only clear response she got from the dark haired teen was a deadpan stare as she continued to straddle him, beaming down at him with tangible joy so intense that that not even his dullest look could dampen her mood.

"... good morning to you too, Milly." He replied after giving her a long look, turning his head to the left. "I'd like to point out that your decision in shortening the high school outfits skirts was both impractical and unnecessary." In short, he caught a glimpse of her panties.

And much to his relief, it would appear that someone in this world still had the decency to blush when such a thing was pointed out. Would wonders never cease?

"Ah... right. Maybe I got a little too excited..." She reached down to the skirt, which had rode up, straightening the cloth and covering her modesty. Despite this, she made no real move to leave her position. Blinking as she noticed something, the blonde leaned down closer towards the dull-faced boy to confirm what she was seeing. "Is... is that a hickey?" Milly questioned in genuine awe, which grew into a profound, mind shattering shock as she realized the most likely candidate for leaving such a mark.

Immediately, images of Lelouch and Nina began to dance through her head, with her shy friend nibbling sensually at the exposed flesh of the dark haired boy's neck, uniform unbuttoned and tie hanging loose around her own neck as the boy regarded her actions with a sultry, half lidded gaze.

Pulling back from her brief fantasy, she noted the flush on his cheeks from her observation. "I didn't expect you two to get so... physical." Milly giggled at the increase in the intensity of Lelouch's redness.

"... So I assume this is about the chat I had with Earl Asplund last night?" Lelouch guessed as to the reason she had been so affectionate today, navigating away from the subject of his bedroom activities.

Smiling widely, Milly nodded. "Yep! I got a call from him last night. Something like," She proceeded to attempt to mimic the eccentric Earl's speech pattern,""Why hello miss Ashford! I've got big news; we're not getting married! Have a nice night!"," The girl shook her head, returning to her normal method of speaking. "And then he hung up immediately." She shrugged. The man was certainly eccentric, but who was she to judge? At least she wouldn't have to put up with it.

"Wonderful. Now could you get off of me?" His mornings were so odd lately. Everything was getting weirder, honestly. He'd hardly expected to live a normal life after diving headfirst into a conflict with the largest nation in the world, but this wasn't what he had in mind when he pictured the abnormality of fighting Britannia while attending a Britannian private school.

Milly chuckled a bit, before making a move to stand up. Blinking after noticing a hand held out to her, the girl belatedly remembered that Sayoko was around. She offered a small smile towards the maid, before accepting the offered hand and standing up, leaving Lelouch laying flat on his back staring pointedly at the ceiling with a dull look on his face.

He was probably doing so to avoid catching another peek at her underwear. Such a gentleman, that one.

After a few moments, the dark haired boy sighed and began to stand up himself, also accepting the hand that had been offered by Sayoko. "Thank you, Sayoko." He offered a grateful smile to the woman, knowing she would catch the double meanings in the statement. He could only imagine how difficult it would have been to deal with Milly if she'd walked in on him that morning.

"It is my pleasure to serve, Master Lelouch." The woman replied with a warm smile. Her tone was perfectly normal, but Lelouch caught the glint in her eyes and recognized the innuendo for what it was.

Before any further conversation could be held, the prince was once again wrapped in a bone crushing hug from the exuberant blonde. "Didn't get it all out of my system." She offered as an explanation, seemingly doing her best to squeeze him to death. "You have no idea how relieved I am!"

"I could guess." He was happy she was free of that burden. Allowing Milly to get the rest of the hugging out of her system, he simply accepted the embrace without complaint. Lelouch despised his friend's parents putting her in such positions, but there wasn't anything he could do about it more often than not. All things considered, this was the first time he'd ever helped her escape one of her suitors.

Honestly, it was beginning to get to the point where he was considering just using Geass on her parents to put an end to the whole issue. Yes, it was a mystical power that he hardly understood, and the consequences of it's use were almost entirely unknown to him.

But if Milly came to him again with fears of being married off to someone she'd never met, if she was unsure of her ability to drive them off, if she asked him for help once more...

These dark thoughts were interrupted by the blonde in question. "So now that I'm actually thinking about it, does Nina have a little love bite like that on her neck too?" Milly asked with a lecherous grin, pulling back from the embrace enough to regard him.

Lelouch replied with a dry look aimed at her curiosity, drawing away from unpleasant thoughts. "No, Nina does not have a similar mark on her neck." Though the one who'd given him his own was certainly going to be sporting a mark, he'd at least been courteous enough to place his lower so that it would be much easier to hide.

As it was, in his uniform the collar was high enough to keep the mark out of sight for the most part. So that was some consolation. But not much.

"Oh my..." That made Milly's grin wider. "Didn't think Nina would be so possessive." She was going to have so much fun teasing her about this. Nina and Lelouch getting together was such a surprise, but the more she thought about it the more Milly realized that the two of them were downright adorable together.

It was unfortunate that they were hiding their relationship, because she could just imagine how Lelouch would act if they were open about it. If he was half as doting as she suspected it would be hysterical.

In the bathroom and out of the view of the occupants of the bedroom, Kaguya was just short of breaking down into a fit of giggles. While it somewhat miffed her that credit was being given to someone else for her handiwork, she had been made aware of the ruse of a relationship between her darling and one of his friends and so obviously the blonde would mistake the mark as belonging to her.

And if what she knew about the Ashford heiress was true, that Nina girl would never hear the end of this. It was almost enough to make the young heiress feel bad, but not quite.

Ignorant of the mischievous girl's entertainment at his situation, Lelouch gave Milly a brief glare. "Don't make a big deal out of this, Milly." Seriously. The last thing he needed was anyone else finding out about his newly found night-time activities, or the supposed relationship between himself and Nina. While it was annoying that Milly had spotted the hickey, she was already being misled to believe that he and Nina were together and so it didn't really change anything as far as secrets getting out. She was aware of just as much as she had previously been. The only difference was that now she thought that he and Nina were much more intimate than she had originally believed, which didn't reveal anything important.

But still... "We still don't want anyone to know, Milly, so if you want to bring it up then leave it until the two of you are alone." Because that meant he would have plenty of time to inform Nina about the circumstances and apologize profusely for the trouble this was going to cause her, as well as likely explaining just how this happened in the first place, which would be quite awkward considering the situation.

How many people have had to call their pretend girlfriend to let them know that their real lover, who the pretend girlfriend had no idea about, had left a visible mark from their intimacy? Which, furthermore, was going to be blamed on them, because their best friend had learned about it and would absolutely not leave something like that alone.

Damn that feisty little minx of a girl for marking him in such a visible area. He'd probably brought this upon himself for starting it, but he hadn't expected Kaguya to try and one up him in such a spectacular way.

But what's done is done, and now he had to deal with the consequences. Offering a warm smile to Milly that completely hid his annoyance with the situation, Lelouch spoke up once more as the blonde pouted at his stipulation. "Now that you've got the hugging out of your system, how about you allow me to actually dress myself and prepare for the rest of my day?"

Milly blinked. "Wow. That's the nicest way I've ever heard anyone say "get the hell out of my room, woman." Good job, Lelouch." Despite the sarcastic response, the girl released him from her embrace and gave him a radiant smile. "Lelouch, really, thank you so much. I didn't know what I was going to do, and I thought they had finally found someone I couldn't scare off..." She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself with a small sigh. "I... thanks." Cutting herself off lest she get too sappy, Milly just shook her head. "I'll leave you to get dressed now. Unless you'd like me to stay?" She offered, her smile slipping into something more playful.

His eyes rolled in exasperation. "I'm fine, thank you." Lelouch sent a shooing motion her way.

The blonde snickered, but left the room with a cheerful wave over her shoulder.

Sayoko gave a brief bow, before casting a knowing gaze towards the bathroom and offering a sly smile towards her charge as she turned to leave the room. "Since Miss Ashford's visit was so early, Master Lelouch should have time to spare this morning." With those innocuous words, the woman stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose. That woman took far more satisfaction at poking fun at his sex life than she had any right to. Was it really that amusing to her?

Moments later, Kaguya stepped out of the bathroom with her clothing under her arm, uncaring of her nudity. "So they're gone, then?" Of course she knew they were gone, it was just a good a way to open up the conversation as any.

"Yes. Milly's likely gone off to see if she can't get Nina alone in order to tease her about someone's little love bite." He tossed her an annoyed glare. "You could have made your mark a little bit lower, you know." As mentioned, he'd been considerate enough to leave a mark on her low enough that her usual clothing would completely cover it. Her own mark was going to be partially visible even in his uniform, but it would be slight enough that he should be able to go until it disappeared without any other accidental discoveries.

Kaguya beamed at him, completely unrepentant. "It's not my fault. By that point I wasn't really thinking about the next day, you know." She offered him a sultry smile, bringing a finger to her lips. "I was a little bit... preoccupied." And that wasn't even just an excuse, she was being completely serious. Throughout half of that little incident she'd been a quivering puddle beneath him, and the other half she'd been busy trying to get him addicted to her just as much as she was to him.

Judging by the looks she was receiving from him, she had been successful in that endeavor. The girl was pleased to know that her body drew such attention from her lover.

Despite the fact that he was enjoying the view, Lelouch sighed. "I suppose that's a fair enough point." It was his own fault, as he'd realized earlier, for putting the idea in her head in the first place. She probably never would have considered it if he hadn't done it first.

This brought a small giggle from the girl, before she glance towards the clock on his dresser and frowned. "I didn't need to be awake for a while, you know." She did have a few things that needed to be taken care of today, but nothing this early in the morning. As a matter of fact the earliest matter she had to attend to was going to be around ten in the morning. It was six currently.

"Neither did I, honestly." Classes began at eight. He took, at most, thirty minutes to get ready. Meaning he could have stayed in bed another hour and had thirty minutes to spare before class. "As a matter of fact, I had around another hour before I really needed to wake up." He admitted.

Kaguya pouted at that. "So you're telling me I could have had another hour worth of cuddling?" Damn that blonde for choosing such a horrible time to show up.

"So it would seem." Lelouch replied with a small smirk, shrugging at the thought. "I could certainly have used the sleep, I'm sure, but now that I'm awake there's no real point in going back to bed." There was only an hour before he had to wake up in the first place, and that was not going to help him much as far as sleep went. His original intent to turn in early last night had completely disregarded, but considering just what had kept him up the teen couldn't bring himself to care.

"Fine." She huffed, crossing her arms and glaring petulantly at the floor. "I guess I'll actually go accomplish something today." Her first actual planned event of the day wasn't until ten, but she had a few other things that could be done. Perhaps Lelouch's opinion of "accomplishing" things would be different than hers, though, considering she was going to go compare notes with C.C. on their mutual lover's ability in bed, before moving on to things that she would grudgingly admit were more important.

Such as the meeting regarding the Guren and just whom it would be passed off to. It wouldn't be difficult to convince the others. Despite the difference in age, the other members of Kyoto regarded her as their equal and in many cases their superior. Kirihara was the only one among them that held greater sway, and that was almost solely because she tended to defer to him in a great deal of situations.

Kirihara Taizo was a man who she respected greatly, and only partly for his wisdom. It was almost entirely thanks to him that she had grown to become the young woman she was today, and that was something Kaguya could never repay him for. Rather than remaining a burden, he had enabled her to grow into her own.

"So." Lelouch's voice cut her out of her musing. "Weren't you supposed to be putting your clothes on?" He could understand why she hadn't done so while Sayoko and Milly were actually in the room, as she may have made enough noise to draw attention. But then immediately after they had left she had just pranced right back out without a care in the world, stark naked with her clothes tucked under her arm.

The Sumeragi heiress blinked at that. "Do you want me to put clothes on?" She asked him incredulously, taking a moment to gesture towards her body with one hand. "From what I gathered, you seem to be enjoying the view." Shamelessly, she twirled around to show off her figure.

Lelouch shook his head. "You're something else, you know that?" It wasn't like C.C., who's flirting tended to be at least partially intended to taunt or goad him. Kaguya just genuinely wanted his eyes to be on her. If he could compare the green haired witch to a cat, with her habit of demanding attention whenever she damn well pleased, Kaguya would be more like a puppy in that she always wanted the attention.

He would keep that observation to himself lest the girl take it upon herself to purchase costumes for roleplay purposes, because Lelouch honestly wouldn't put it past her.

"... y'know we do have like an hour before you would have to do anything." The girl noted idly, glancing again at the clock.

"And you're implying what, exactly?" Lelouch asked obliviously, despite knowing exactly where this was going.

"I am already naked after all, and you're not wearing anything under those pants." She continued without outright expressing her intent.

Nodding, Lelouch replied. "These things are both true. What of it?"

The girl gave him an exasperated pout. "You're mean, you know that?"

"I'm fully aware." He admitted with a small smile and closed eyes, before the smile evolved into something a bit more intense. Without another word, he strode forward and placed his hands on the wall on either side of the surprised girl. Leaning down by her ear, he spoke again. "Shall I spent the next hour making it up to you?"

Kaguya shivered, but her grin widened and she dropped the bundled clothes to the floor, where they would remain for the next hour.

Rivalz couldn't help but feel there was something off about Lelouch today. It didn't seem to be anything negative, judging by the smile that his best bud couldn't seem to wipe off his face, but whatever it was there was something different.

As a matter of fact that smile was a serious factor to the oddity of the situation. Lelouch was normally a bit inexpressive outside of the council room, but today he'd had that same little smile on all day and it was weird.

However, judging by the increased amount of swooning and hushed murmurs from the various girls of the school it was a serious improvement to his normal demeanor.

As the friend of the boy in question, Rivalz wasn't quite sure what to make of it. This wasn't like the fond smiles that found their way to Lelouch's face during times of relaxation with friends, it was the kind of expression that seemed to have a set cause. He'd done something that was making him happy enough that it was showing through his usual detached look.

He'd certainly been normal as they parted ways from the bowling alley; yeah, he'd been smiling then too, but it was one of those smiles that meant he was going to cherish that memory. Lelouch was kind of a sappy guy sometimes, and Rivalz had been around him long enough to discern what that particular expression meant.

Because Lelouch didn't tend to say these things. Reading his expression was crucial to understanding Lelouch Lamperouge in any fashion, because very rarely would he actually tell you how he felt. So Rivalz had gotten better and better at it until it became clear to him that with his best friend, a smile wasn't just a smile.

The fond look he gave to his friends whenever he was around them, a silent signal that he genuinely enjoyed being around them, that he was content to simply bask in their presence for as long as he could.

The devious smirk the boy often shared with him on their excursions, one that showed the ruthlessness of a predator who had just found it's prey, a smile that lay beneath the placid facade he often greeted noblemen with before viciously crushing them at chess and making off with their cash.

The grin that found it's way to his lips whenever someone presented him a worthy challenge, be it at chess or anything else he was confident in.

The exasperated upward tilt to his lips whenever Milly coerced him to go through with some harebrained scheme of hers... sans those that involve cross dressing in any fashion, he had a very different expression for those situations.

And most of all, that positively radiant smile that found him every time Nunnally was near.

It was clear to each and every person that knew Lelouch; Nunnally Lamperouge was his world, and he cherished her more than anything else on Earth. He would do anything and everything in his power to protect her, to provide for her, and to love her. Because she was just that important to him, and the expression of tender love and caring that he reserved for her was something that was almost surreal.

Having seen all of these expressions and more from the dark haired teen, Rivalz could safely say that this was the first time he'd ever seen Lelouch with that particular smile on his face.

One thing he could glean from that look, though, seemed like a profound sense of satisfaction.

Shaking his head, Rivalz decided to just let it go and concentrate on his class work for the moment.

The boy then sighed audibly as he looked down on the papers. He hated math with a passion.

Thankfully for him, the bell rang to signal class had ended. Which meant it was time for lunch.

Mm. Lunch. Not a moment too soon, either, because he now had a valid excuse to not bother with his classwork.

As he stood, stretching out and appreciating the therapeutic cracking noise, Rivalz offered a glance to his best friend just in time to catch a message from him.

Ah, an old favorite. "Meet me on the roof." The time had come for their little discussion, then. Rivalz was glad for that much. It would let him get a bit of clarification on just what kind of secret Lelouch had been hiding away from him.

He didn't want to pry or anything, but at the very least he wanted one suspicion to be confirmed or denied. And if he asked for just that, Lelouch would relent.

It wasn't as though he absolutely needed to know, or anything, but it would be nice if he actually had someone else to talk with about the bizarre creatures known as digimon.

Throwing on a lopsided grin, Rivalz began his trek to the roof.

In the back of the classroom, another figure sat idly as she watched everyone file out, deep in thought as she slowly gathered her various materials. "Lunch time, finally." Kallen mumbled to herself.

The redhead may not have looked it, but she didn't get much sleep last night. Despite her intent to do so, since they had a night free, she had been distracted by something.

Said "something" was still following her, and it genuinely annoyed her that she hadn't the slightest clue where the hell they were watching her from. What the hell kind of Rookie digimon was able to shadow someone so perfectly without the ability to become invisible?

As she stood up and made to leave, the redhead sighed as she remembered the events of the previous night.

Home life was the same as usual, Kallen couldn't help but notice dryly as her klutz of a mother managed to shatter yet another decorative vase. Why that woman had stuck around, she would never know. Was she really so desperate to be around the man who had thrown her away that she would willingly become a servant in his household?

Apparently so. Ignoring the hurried apologies of the frantic woman and the piercing shriek of the banshee she was forced to call her step-mother, Kallen strode past them without offering the slightest regard for either.

Her objective was simple; get to her room, and go the fuck to sleep. Because the Black Knights wouldn't have a target on this night, she was going to make good use of that and catch up on some much needed rest.

And with that thought in mind, the girl pushed open her door with a content smile, before stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. A relaxed sigh slipped from her lips as she quickly unbuttoned the blazer of her school uniform, throwing it haphazardly across the room. Undoing the tie, she proceeded to fling the obnoxious piece of cloth off in the general direction the blazer had flown.

Nimble fingers quickly went about the task of unbuttoning her undershirt, but about halfway down the girl realized that she was being watched. It was nothing more than a feeling; there was no sign of anyone in the room when she had last checked, and she always gave at least a cursory glance due to her paranoia, but something felt off.

She quickly turned on her heel, one hand slipping into her desk to retrieve a pocket knife, to regard the direction the bizarre feeling was coming from.

What she found almost made her drop the knife out of sheer surprise.

"Hello, human." A small bundle of bluish-black fur gazed calmly towards her with a pair of cobalt eyes, settled in quaintly on her bed as though it belonged there, as if it hadn't only just arrived to it's location. Before the small creature was a device that she had become quite familiar with as of late, a sapphire blue digivice of the same shape and size as those possessed by Lelouch, Nina, and Tamaki. "I am Viximon," the puff-ball announced neutrally, "and it appears the two of us are to be partners." The device seemed to react to this statement, a brief flash of blue occurring on it's screen.

"... you've gotta be kidding me." The redhead mumbled to herself at the absurdity of the situation before her. Was this actually happening? Another flash from the device drew her attention, as though to answer her question. "That's a digivice like the others." That much was undeniable. It was clearly of the same ilk as those held by her allies, just with a different coloration than the others, which held to the theme.

The creature nodded. "Yes, it is." She, or Kallen assumed it was a she by the voice, nudged the device forward. It flashed briefly again. "Please, place your hand on it."

Unsure of herself, Kallen stepped forward, still carrying the knife. It was unlikely that tiny creature like this Viximon, which was clearly an In Training digimon, would be able to harm her... but she was still reasonably wary of the bizarre being that had infiltrated her room with apparent ease. Reaching one hand out to tentatively prod the odd little gizmo, not entirely sure of why she was even doing so, she kept her gaze one the little digimon.

Another flash, brighter than the last two, lit up the room briefly.

Kallen dropped the knife, eyeing the the digimon on her bed in bewilderment. "What the hell?" All of a sudden, any inklings she had of distrust or apprehension had faded as though they had never existed. In just a moment she had gone from being prepared to stab the little creature to wondering why she had ever considered that an option. This tiny ball of fur was her friend, and she could trust it with her life if need be.

That kind of change was incredibly abnormal, but it was firmly set within her mind that this creature was no threat to her. The fluffy little thing stared up at her with a cool gaze, though she could clearly spot the curiosity hidden beneath those eyes.

"Interesting..." Viximon noted, clearly fascinated with the sudden shift in the human. Kallen would have agreed with her if she weren't currently struggling with the internal crisis of having her views fundamentally altered so suddenly. She was supposed to be cautious, wary, guarded. She wasn't supposed to trust this random creature that she had never met before, especially not the kind of unshakable faith she found herself suddenly facing.

"Ahg!" The redhead growled, clenching her fists tightly as she glared down at the digivice. "What the hell did that thing do to me?" Ever since learning of Lelouch's mind control eyes, she had been very cautious of anything that seemed even remotely abnormal. This situation easily ranked in her top ten abnormal events, and that included the whole shower incident which had previously ranked at the top.

Never before had she felt such a conspicuous change take place in her thoughts take place in a single instant.

The furball spoke. "Please calm yourself, Kallen." Great, the little thing knew her name too... "The digivice's effect may be disorienting, but you mustn't dwell on the changes it evokes in you. It has not drastically altered your way of thinking; merely enlightened you to the bond the two of us now share."

"I don't know who you are, where you're from, what you want, or anything even remotely related to you other than the fact you were trespassing in my bedroom for who knows how long." Kallen announced firmly in an even tone, finding it difficult to be angry with the creature seated on her bed and becoming more and more annoyed by that fact. "Why the hell should I not be concerned?"

Viximon nodded again before speaking. "I understand your confusion. You are correct; the two of us know nothing of one another... aside from the fact that we can trust one another unconditionally."

And as much as she hated to admit it, Kallen did trust this creature. It didn't make sense, and it was jarring and even a bit frightening, but she could see herself trusting this digimon to protect her with everything she had. Just as much as Kallen would protect her. Somehow, the two of them shared a bond; not of family, not of camaraderie or of friendship. It was a profound sense that hadn't existed even a moment before she had come into contact with the digivice, but one that felt as though it had every right to exist.

Simply put, it felt right.

That scared Kallen, but turning her gaze towards the little ball of blue-black fur on her bed she couldn't help but feel that it would pass, though that thought also brought it's own sense of unease.

She sighed. "Alright. I give up." With that announcement, Kallen collapsed onto the bed.

In doing so, she had accidentally launched both the digivice and digital monster into the air from her impact.

Both landed safely on the bed, one of them slightly disorientated. "... you're going to sleep?" Viximon asked curiously.

"No. I'm going to lie here and wonder why the hell I got involved with Lelouch, because I'm sure this is his fault somehow." Kallen replied in annoyance. She just knew that jackass had something to do with this, though she had no idea how. All of the weird things in her life were his fault recently.

"Oh." The puff-ball responded, as though she didn't know what to say to that. "Alright."

Kallen rolled over to regard her new partner. "So just how did you end up here?" She asked, figuring there was a story behind this whole thing.

A growl echoed out from the little creature. It was more cute than threatening despite the fact that it was clearly intended to be a vocalization of anger. "I was a servant to an empire that cared nothing for me. When my usefulness expired, my life was meant to follow behind."

"But that's not what happened, clearly." Kallen remarked.

A devilish gleam appeared in the digimon's eyes. "Indeed. It all began..."

The rest of the night had been spent swapping stories and all around getting to know one another better, because Kallen was not comfortable with the fact that she trusted her new digital partner so completely without any idea of her history. If she was going to have to deal with the little puff-ball she had at least wanted to get to know her so that the mutual bond of trust was a bit more justified.

Renamon was absolutely awesome, Kallen couldn't help but admit as she continued to glance around in an attempt to spot the digimon following her around. There was something undeniably amazing about being friggin' impossible to find, and Renamon was practically a ghost when she didn't want to be seen. How a giant, black, bipedal fox could go completely unnoticed in the human world was a mystery she couldn't even begin to explain.

Sighing again, Kallen shook her head. She needed to let Lelouch know about this new little development as soon as possible.

Stepping out into the hallway at last, she began to make her way towards the usual seating for the student council during lunch time. While she'd been against joining the little club in the first place, Kallen would admit that it wasn't a decision she regretted making. The council members were all pretty great people and she enjoyed being around most of them, with the exception of Anya and Suzaku primarily due to their status as the enemy.

Suzaku was a naive fool who was going to get some of their people killed for standing up for what was right, all for his bullshit dream of changing the empire for the better from the inside, and that grated on her.

It was one thing to stay out of the conflict altogether; Kallen couldn't fault anyone for remaining a bystander rather than getting involved, this was a war and people would die. Not everyone was able to risk their lives like that, but that didn't make them cowards. It just meant that they had their priorities organized differently.

Actively participating on the wrong side of the conflict was a wholly different issue.

Kallen would say with full conviction that Britannia could not be construed by anyone sane as being the right side of the war.

And yet Kururugi Suzaku continued to slave away under the Britannian military, doing everything in his power to halt progress and the liberation of his own people. Worse still, he thought that he was doing the right thing.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back for her. How in the world could he possibly think he was doing good?

Lelouch had explained a bit of his backstory, enough for Kallen to understand that Kururugi was just incredibly gullible, naive, and misguided rather than being a malevolent presence... but it didn't really help his case, in her mind.

And while Lelouch had agreed fully with her opinion on the matter, he still saw Suzaku as a close friend.

Kallen would admit that stumbling through a warzone with only a single capable companion would do a lot to endear said person to you no matter how long you went without seeing one another, and she would probably be just as sentimental if it had been her in that situation.

But it wasn't her, and Kururugi was a pain in the ass that the Black Knights would need to deal with. Unlike Anya, Lelouch had been clear for how Suzaku was to be treated.

She remembered clearly how painful it had been for Lelouch, the grimace on his face had been hard to even look at, but he had confided in her alone one night that if it came down to one of them or Suzaku, then she was to strike him down without hesitation.

"Much as I hate to admit it," He had forced out through grit teeth, "Suzaku has chosen his side willingly. If I cannot convert him to our camp, he will need to be dealt with at some point." It was clear in her mind even now just how hard it had been for the teen to swallow the lump in his throat before he spoke his next words. "If you are unable to subdue him, then do not hold back."

Of course she had immediately asked about Anya as well, because that was just as relevant.

He'd simply shook his head silently, unable to give her a solid answer. When she inquired further about why, his answer had chilled her to the bone.

"Suzaku made his own choices, Kallen, but Anya was never given a choice to make."

Hearing that put things into perspective a bit better as far as the girl was concerned. She had been forced into that life, and it was all she had known. If anything, Kallen pitied the girl after learning more about the situation. Her own life had taken a rough turn with the death of her brother, but even then she had been in control of her life. It had been her own decision to join in this conflict, and that kind of freedom was something she wouldn't dream of living without.

And yet this girl had that very same freedom of choice ripped from her at a young age, she'd been forced to fight and kill on behalf of her nation, groomed for her current position from childhood without any say in the matter whatsoever. Fifteen years old and this girl had more blood on her hands than anyone else Kallen had actually spoken with.

But, still, she couldn't bring herself to get closer to the girl for the simple reason that the two of them would be losing friends and comrades to the other, and that pity did not endear Anya to her in any way. She was still of the mind that eliminating her would be the safest idea.

'Uhg...' Kallen groaned to herself internally. 'Why did this whole war suddenly get so complicated?' It used to be simple. Fight the Brits, protect your friends.

Now it had gotten so much more complex. Her friends were her leader's friends, yes, but some of her enemies were also her leader's friends, and he wanted to protect them despite the fact that they were enemies. And all of those friends of his were dangerous, incredibly so, which meant they couldn't just be ignored in battle.

The redhead sincerely hoped Lelouch figured out what he wanted to do with Anya fast, because that girl may as well have been a ticking time bomb for their side considering how powerful her partner's strongest attack was. She could wipe out each and every one of them in a single shot with that monster, all it would take was one wrong move and they would be destroyed in an instant. And even if it didn't kill all of them in a single blast, the sheer damage it could cause would be crippling to their organization.

But despite being so close to that girl so often when she was seemingly most vulnerable, there was no way to harm her whatsoever because of one simple thing.

Seemingly vulnerable, yes... but there was one absolutely massive line of protection preventing anyone sane from attempting to harm that girl, her own digital partner notwithstanding, in the form of a single dark haired teenager who had both the power and ruthlessness to slay anyone who dared to hurt his friends.

Considering that, she could make no move on the girl to try and take her out, and she pitied anyone stupid enough to make the attempt because Lelouch would slaughter them for it without mercy or remorse.

It was kind of scary to realize that Lelouch had transitioned from a normal high school student to leader of one of the most successful resistance groups in Japan literally overnight. Shinjuku had given him the powers he employed to even the odds, the soldiers he would command to wage war with the world, and the opportunity for a debut all in one day. And after that day, he had no longer been Lelouch Lamperouge.

Or perhaps it was better to say that he was no longer just Lelouch Lamprouge, because she could tell that only so much of his normal persona was an act. Unlike her, he really was not wearing much of a mask. The laid-back genius act wasn't entirely an act, in a lot of ways he was like that even in the persona of Zero, nor was the emotion he displayed to his friends false.

But by night, Lelouch became a different man. Zero. Calm and collected, intelligent and vicious. Capable of great destruction and more than willing to make use of that ability, Zero was quickly becoming the epitome of the word danger, a veritable boogeyman to the Britannians who he had declared war upon. With good reason, she would concede, because Zero had already proven to be far more capable than everyone but Tohdoh Kyoshiro himself at this point... and even that was only a matter of time, she suspected.

Sighing, Kallen gave up trying to wrap her head around the mystery that was Lelouch. It did nothing but give her headaches. For the moment she would just go on with her day and stop thinking about it so hard. Lelouch would figure out what they needed to do, and then he would do it. That was all she needed to know for now.

"Oh, K-Kallen. How are you today?" A soft voice called out, drawing the redhead's attention and providing a very welcome distraction from her line of thought.

She blinked as her train of thought came to an end, focusing on the girl who had greeted her. "Oh, hello Nina. I'm fine, you?"

Nina, who had probably been making her way to the courtyard for lunch, offered a small smile as she replied. "Ah, I'm fine." Despite saying this, Kallen couldn't help but feel there was something off about the green haired girl. She seemed sort of distraught over something, but not overly so.

It was probably nothing, Kallen assured herself as the two descended into casual conversation on their way to the courtyard. If there was something serious, Nina would probably tell her about it anyway so it would be fine.

"So what's up, bud?" Rivalz asked with a grin as he leaned up against one of the railings on the roof.

Lelouch, who had taken to leaning forward on the railing as opposed to Rivalz leaning with his back, offered a raised brow. "You seemed to space out last night over something, and then you made up a lie to cover yourself." He frowned slightly. "I don't mean to pry, and if it's nothing then I'll simply leave it be, but I'm somewhat concerned." With the way things had been going recently, Lelouch didn't want to leave anything out-of-place alone with his friends. It was distinctly possible that he might be very occupied soon, and so it was best to nip any potential issues in the bud before they could become serious problems.

Just because he was fighting a war didn't mean his friends could be left behind.

Rivalz chuckled. "Man, you care too much y'know that?" He replied, shaking his head good naturedly. Lelouch was the kind of guy who would do just about anything to help out his friends, and he was pretty active about it too. It almost made him feel bad about manipulating that aspect of his best friend, but he hadn't done it with malicious intentions so it wasn't going to weight too heavily on his conscience. "But yeah, there's somethin' on my mind recently that I wanted to talk with you about."

Brow furrowing slightly, Lelouch gave his own reply. "Go ahead, then." Hm, was this something mundane or would there be more to the conversation? Lelouch honestly wasn't sure just what was on Rivalz' mind today, but he did have theories. Several, in fact, and it was quite likely one of them would be correct due to the sheer volume of them.

"It's about that bag of yours." Rivalz started, taking on a serious expression to make it clear that this wasn't like before when he'd accepted a joking answer without issue. "Like you said earlier, I'm not lookin' to pry. But I have an idea what you've been carrying around, and I just want to ask you a yes or no question about it. Is that fine?"

Sighing, Lelouch straightened from his relaxed posture. "Go ahead, Rivalz. You're always free to ask me anything you like." He never had qualms with people asking questions, no matter their nature, just so long as they accepted that he may not answer. But in this regard, Rivalz was asking more specifically if it would be okay to expect an answer.

Pulling his digivice out, Rivalz held the device forward for the other boy to inspect. "This is my digivice. I got it during the mass breach when my partner and I met." He explained idly.

The device was a shade of blue similar to it's owner's hair, a greyish blue, but otherwise identical to the one Lelouch himself possessed. Par the course for those who had been named "digidestined", the device was fairly standard issue aside from color. Lelouch was quite certain he knew where this discussion was going, and as predicted he had foreseen this possibility. "I believe I know what you're going to ask, Rivalz, but just to be sure..." He vaguely waved his hand at the other boy, giving him a smirk as he motioned to ask the question.

Rivalz snorted. "You're a jackass sometimes, y'know that? But the question is simple; you've been carrying that bag around ever since the incident in Shinjuku, and you always have it on you no matter what. You're carrying something important in there, and I have a guess. So just a simple yes or no question, answer it truthfully will ya'?" Seeing the other boy nod, he continued. "Are you carrying a digimon around with you in that bag?"

"Yes, I am." Lelouch replied easily, shrugging his shoulders. "It's only fair I give you an honest answer since you revealed your own secret to me, after all." Revealing that he had a digimon to Rivalz wasn't a major loss in any real way, especially considering the boy himself was hiding the same secret. Yes, another person knew of his partner, but Rivalz was never going to give that piece of information away to anyone and so it would be fine.

The major issue came from the fact that his partner could very well know Keramon's evolution path, and be able to pinpoint him as Zero.

That was where things would get iffy, but, well... Rivalz wouldn't be such a painful person to reveal that to. Unlike Nina, who had been just short of blind panic, Rivalz would take the whole thing much better considering their borderline criminal exploits. It would be a situation he would have to deal with as it came, but he would be able to handle it. Rivalz would come to him if that particular suspicion was raised, and if so he could deal with it then.

Perhaps it was a bit of a nonchalant way to look at things, but Rivalz trustworthy and he wouldn't turn on him over that. Regardless of how he felt about the decision to wage war against Britannia, Rivalz would not rat him out even if he did learn who was behind the mask.

And really, lying straight to his friend's face when the other boy was clearly quite serious about the whole thing just wouldn't sit right with him. Right now Rivalz was struggling with the fact that he was in possession of a great deal of power, but had no real idea what to do with it and no one he could talk to who would understand his issue. That would be maddening for someone like Rivalz, who constantly sought advice from those around him.

"Man... I knew you were holding out on me." Rivalz snorted. "So what kind of partner did you end up with, Lelouch?" He was genuinely curious as to whether or not his buddy had ended up with a gem like his own partner. As far as personality went, Motimon had it in spades and Rivalz had a riot conversing with the lackadaisical little blob.

Smirking lightly, the dark haired teen replied. "Certainly an interesting one." As he said this, one hand moved to unzip the duffel bag. "Care to introduce yourself, Tsumemon?"

After an exit large enough for him was made, Tsumemon hopped out of the bag, greeting the blue haired boy cheerfully. "Yo, I'm Tsumemon." Unlike his partner, Tsumemon didn't really care who learned of him. He trusted Lelouch enough that he would take it in stride whenever he got to meet another friend of his face to face.

"Oh, neat!" Rivalz exclaimed, kneeling down to get a closer look at the hand-shaped creature, who's single ruby eye was inspecting him. "Hiya, I'm Rivalz."

Lelouch rolled his eyes as the two introduced themselves brightly, amused by the absurdity of the situation.

No matter how many times he saw them, digimon were such an incredible mystery to him. Just how in the world did they work? For so many years there was no such thing as these bizarre creatures, and then suddenly they appear in a flash one day with no real explanation, with abilities that defied common sense in such blatant ways.

Some Mega level digimon were forces of nature. For instance, Omnimon could single handedly strike down an entire army of humans with conventional weaponry, and do so without any difficulty whatsoever. And Bismark's partner was not even close to the most powerful digital monster in existence, there were beings within the digital world who's power could be compared to the mythological gods of old.

But unlike such mythos, these creatures were real. That was a horrifying thought. How had humanity managed to actually create these digital monsters? Was there any truth to the popular tale of scientists working on a different project accidentally creating new life, life which proceeded to evolve far beyond what human beings could begin to comprehend?

It just seemed so bizarre that there were creatures out there that could do the things digimon could do. Had they truly been created by humanity on accident?

A light poke to his flank drew Lelouch from his thoughts. "Pssst, hey bud. What'cha thinkin' about?" Rivalz whispered. He had remained in his crouching position, having waddled over towards the other boy to get in range for the poke. Looking down to regard him, Lelouch made note of three eyes peering up at him inquisitively, as Tsumemon was now perched atop the blue haired boy's head.

Lelouch gave a raised brow at the rather odd sight, but in the end he simply shook his head and replied. "I was thinking on the various levels of power digital monsters possess, and just how bizarre it seemed that they were created by humanity."

Rivalz and Tsumemon blinked. It was fairly surprising that the two of them managed to do so at the exact same time, but that was an entirely different matter.

"Meh." Rivalz began, falling backwards fully to settle on his rear end, one leg bent to give him a place to prop up his arm, which he then rested his head upon. "I don't tend to think too much about that kind of thing anymore. Too much like work." His dad had been one of the scientists who's accidental slip-up had created digimon, so he didn't really like to think too much about what went into their creation. Too many sad memories drew up from it. He hadn't actually let Lelouch in on that little tidbit, despite their closeness. He just... well, he didn't like to talk about it really.

"I mean, it's kind of normal for me." Tsumemon admitted, remaining atop the boy's head with little trouble despite his sudden movement. "I am a digimon, after all, so the amount of power we possess is actually quite normal to me considering I spent my entire life in the digital world up until recently." So what if the Seven Demon Lord digimon could probably wipe a continent off the map? They were the Seven Demon Lords, beings who's power was so extraordinary that they were held on a level similar to that of gods. Where did that power come from? Who cared, it was there and that was all there was to it.

Nodding lightly, Lelouch replied. "I suppose both of those are fair points." Thinking about it hadn't done anything useful for him, anyway. He didn't really need to know why they could exist in such a state, only that they did. And from there, he had to find a way to one day match or exceed that power.

Because if creatures with that level of power existed, Lelouch wanted to be damn sure he could ward them away should the need ever arise... and knowing his luck, it probably would one day.

"Lelouch, bud, I get where you're coming from when it comes to the weirdness, but I'd just accept it and move on." Rivalz supplied helpfully, chuckling at the dry look he received.

The dark haired teen sighed in response. "... I probably should just do that, shouldn't I?" He'd done that once already when it came to the absurdity of his relationship status, why not again with this?

A cheerful nod from Rivalz answered him.

"Meh. Hey, Rivalz, is your partner hiding out in your room?" Tsumemon asked curiously, scuttling forward to peer down at the boy questioningly.

"Yep. Wanna meet him?" The boy offered with a grin.

"Kind of, yeah." The claw shaped digimon replied. "But we'd probably have to find a better time for it."

Lelouch chuckled. "Go ahead, Tsumemon. Rivalz has gym next and I know for a fact he's not going to attend." It wasn't like he did either, though, so there wasn't much room for him to talk.

Gym was awful, really. You would think with a school as known for ridiculous events as Ashford that the gym classes would at least be entertaining, but no. The most interesting thing they had done in the past several weeks had been a game of dodgeball. Perhaps the absurdity of the rest of the school had to be countered by the overly strict and boring gym classes.

Tsumemon blinked. "You sure, Lelouch?" That would be pretty much the first time they had not been together since their original meeting, with exception to the previous night... but even then, he had been sleeping in a room that was still nearby. The boy's dormitory wasn't terribly far away or anything, but usually during the day the two of them didn't really deviate from their particular routine much.

He wasn't really worried or anything, Lelouch could definitely take care of himself, but it just felt sort of weird.

Quirking a brow curiously, Lelouch replied. "Yes, I'm certain. There's not really much else for you to do, and I'm sure you're interested in making another friend." His partner was a social butterfly when allowed to be. For a creature rated at the very top of a hit list he was actually quite amiable, despite the rather ferocious appearance of his Rookie form.

Grins were not meant to stretch that far. It was actually really creepy. As a matter of fact he could imagine using Keramon as a jump-scare in a haunted house.

... Milly was never to learn of his partner's existence, Lelouch decided after coming to that realization.

"Well... alright then." Tsumemon mumbled after a moment of hesitation. "I dunno. It feels kind of weird to deviate like that from the norm, but I guess you don't really need me around do you?" He didn't need a babysitter or anything. Lelouch was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, especially just for a few hours.

"Not at the moment, no." Lelouch admitted with a smirk. "We are in the middle of my home turf in case you forgot." This wasn't even in regards to the idea of nothing bad happening because he was at Ashford, because it already had. Rather, it was because Ashford Academy was his home and he knew this place like the back of his hand, which meant that with even the fairly remedial training he had he would be more than capable of making that knowledge useful in any situation.

He was also armed rather heavily for a student, considering he had a handgun and several throwing knives on his person at all times. Less knives than when he was in his Zero costume, which had been made with hidden weaponry in mind, but still more than enough to defend himself if need be. The handgun was not his first option in any case, but... well. If you throw enough knives at someone, it stood to reason that they usually would not expect you to shoot them.

Unless they were Sayoko, in which case it was more trouble than it was worth to even attempt the necessary sleight of hand to get a gun in hand. If you didn't have it out already, any weapon on your person was nearly useless against her because the time it took for you to grab it was more than enough for her to exploit.

That woman was legitimately terrifying. He probably would never have realized just how scary she was if he hadn't actually been forced to fight her for the sake of training, but he was glad that she was the one who would be watching over his younger sister for that same reason.

"Right-o, then. Pass me your bag, bud." Rivalz held out one hand with a cheerful grin. Motimon was gonna be really happy to have someone else to converse with after so long of being restricted to either his room or his workplace. Rivalz could tell that it was bugging him to be cooped up like that. At the very least some company would brighten his day.

Lelouch returned the grin with a smirk of his own. "Be sure to bring him back before nightfall." He said, passing the bag to the other boy. The Black Knights were going to be hitting another drug dealing operation tonight, but that would be far later in the evening and so he could afford to let Tsumemon meet with Rivalz' partner for a bit.

Nodding energetically, the blue haired teen laughed. "Man, this is gonna be great. I can tell Motimon has been bored as hell lately, but this is gonna surprise him."

"Motimon, huh." Tsumemon mumbled eagerly. He was excited to meet another digimon that he could socialize with. Dokunemon was fun to bug, and Guilmon was quickly turning out to be a riot, but he never stopped wanting to meet new digimon to interact with. Humans were great, too, but there was something to be said about kinship between digital monsters, and he was especially interested in them because they may have information on the state of the digi-world.

That was fairly important, because even the littlest things could cause significant change in the situation in the human world. It wasn't like he got a weekly paper of events in his old world, so Tsumemon needed whatever info he could get his claws on.

"Alright, let's get rollin' little buddy." Rivalz called out, holding the bag open for the small creature settled upon his noggin to hop in.

Tsumemon blinked briefly, before scampering forward and hopping into the bag. "Yeah, let's head off. See ya' in a bit Lelouch!" He offered as a goodbye, before the blue haired teen zipped the bag closed.

"For reference sake, Rivalz, I keep schoolbooks in that bag and you lost one of yours. I loaned you the bag itself rather than just the book so you would have a harder time losing it." Lelouch stated matter-of-factly, inspecting his nails with a much too innocent smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Always have to be an ass about it even when you're helping, huh bud?" Rivalz griped, slinging the bag over his shoulder as he fell into the act as well. As if he would actually lose a book someone loaned him. Hah!

... okay actually... maybe he would have... maybe.

The two of them had grown used to simply falling into their parts in whatever act Lelouch cooked up for their cover stories, at this point it was practically second nature to treat falsehoods of that sort as though they were reality. Really, it was rather impressive just how well they acted out their parts; an observer would have no idea they weren't being truthful unless they had caught the entire conversation.

Waving farewell over his shoulder, the blue haired boy began his trek to the dormitory. "See ya' later, bud."

"Goodbye for now, Rivalz." Lelouch replied as the door to the stairwell closed entirely, turning once again to look over the academy from the rooftops. A soft sigh slipped past his lips as he allowed himself to relax and bask in the silence.

So much had changed in such a short time, but some things remained completely normal. Even after the Mass Breach, Ashford still looked the same as it always had. This place was something of a sanctuary to him, and some of his fondest memories had been made within this academy's halls. Close friends had been met, one of whom had gone on to become a trusted ally and one of the most powerful members of his organization and it's fight against Britannia.

"... I still feel bad about that." Lelouch mumbled to himself guiltily. Poor Nina was probably being harassed by Milly every time the blonde got her alone, and she hadn't even done anything to warrant it. Their supposed relationship was also not something he'd really wanted to put her through, but that had been due to the circumstances and he really couldn't have come up with anything better at the time. Anything else he said would have given Milly far too many ways to disprove the story.

But this one was entirely his own fault... well actually it was Kaguya's fault mainly, but he would take the blame for it because he had started that entire incident.

And speaking of Kaguya, she and C.C. had been speaking while he was being briefed on what Keramon had learned from Lunamon, who had at the time been sitting in on the conversation between the young Sumeragi heiress and the immortal witch.

What the two of them were speaking about, he had no idea... well, actually he did have some ideas, but he didn't want to think about those. Moving on.

It was rather disappointing that Lunamon hadn't been able to provide much information, but not everything could be so simple; digivolution was practically a mystery to everyone, even those who had reached the highest peaks of power through it.

All she had been able to reveal was that digivolution was most likely to occur during times of emotional highs, such as in the middle of battle or after a great achievement. Emotional responses that were far too profound to control yourself seemed to be the most common cause of digivolution from her own experiences.

That was not a reliable way to go about it, though. Lelouch was not going to throw himself into dangerous situations like an idiot in order to try and achieve a higher level of strength, it was just not practical. And relying on the power to come to him when he needed it wasn't satisfactory either, because there was always the chance that it simply wouldn't.

All he came away from that bout of information gathering with was a profound sense of irritation with the mysteries that digimon had brought into this world.

The only good thing that came from those findings was a firmer assurance that his enemies had just as much knowledge on the matter as he did.

Lelouch was no fool; he was waging war with a nation that controlled a third of the world. He needed each and every advantage he could get his hands on. While he was confident in his ability, and he did truly believe that this was a war he would win, there was no such thing as being having too much of an advantage.

"I'm glad to have caught you alone." A calm voice announced all of a sudden, startling the dark haired teen who quickly rounded on the source of the sudden intrusion into his thinking time.

Standing directly before the door was a large bipedal fox with a pair of purple bracers on it's arms, startling blue eyes serving as a distinct contrast to the inky blackness of the creature's fur.

"... ah. I thought I'd felt something that day after the battle with Gladimon." Lelouch mumbled to himself, straightening his posture even as he continued to regard the new arrival warily. "I suppose it was you, then?" Whatever this digimon wanted with him, it had yet to attack despite having every opportunity to do so both now and previously. For the moment, no hostility would be necessary.

Arms crossed before it's chest, the creature offered an amused nod as confirmation. "Indeed. I was not as careful as I should have been." The fact that this human had detected her that day underground, even just momentarily, was impressive. She had put forth all of her effort this time to remain unnoticed, and with that felt safe enough to approach only this far. This human had excellent senses, better than her partner. His seemed a bit more refined than that of the redhead she had fallen in with.

Nodding lightly, eyes still locked on the digimon's every move, Lelouch spoke again. "So, then. I assume you need something from me?" Inconvenient time to have let his partner have a playdate, but he really could not have expected this kind of thing. It was downright absurd that his luck was this atrocious, but he'd gotten used to that by now.

The fox did not move, yet a reply came without hesitation. "In a way. I am Renamon, and through some odd quirk of fate I find myself bound to a human girl as her partner." While it was hard to tell due to the vulpine muzzle, Lelouch could swear that Renamon smirked for just a moment before she seemed to blur out of sight, reappearing atop the doorway to the rooftop.

Startled by the sudden movement, Lelouch found himself immensely surprised as his gaze remained upon the digimon despite her sudden movement. He hadn't been able to see the movement at all, and yet somehow he hadn't lost sight of the fox once she had ceased motion.

Lelouch didn't have time to be startled by that peculiar discovery, as his attention was drawn to the door being thrown open frantically by an angry redhead.

"Damnit, Renamon, I told you to fucking wait for me and not to scare him!" Kallen shouted as she stomped onto the rooftop, immediately looking up to regard the unrepentant digimon. "What the fuck would you have done if he went Champion and started chasing your ass down?" Random digimon appearing on Ashford's grounds without any warning? That would scare the shit out of Lelouch, which could lead to very bad things for her partner.

"His partner is not currently with him, thus your leader would not be able to strike out at me through such means." Renamon explained calmly, though that same amused air seemed to be radiating off of her. Despite her cool demeanor, Renamon was not above amusing herself at other's expense.

A sigh slipped forth from the lips of the boy in question as he covered his face with a palm, piecing together what had happened. "I'm not even going to ask how this came to be, Kallen, but I'd like you to know that you've made things a great deal more complicated." Another digimon on their side was great, but assuming Kallen needed to merge with her partner to get to Champion level that left a rather large question; who was going to be the pilot of the Guren?

Any knightmare that one of their Digidestined piloted would need to be somewhat expendable in case the need to digivolve arose mid combat. In reality, it would probably be best to have them in Champion form from the beginning barring certain exceptions simply to preserve said knightmares, because the last time he had used one of the Sutherlands it had ended rather poorly for the unit in question. They simply could not do that to a seventh generation frame, and yet if the possibility of another Champion on their side existed then that was potentially more valuable than said seventh generation frame, due to the sheer versatility that digital monsters had over knightmares.

... but Kaguya had just gone out of her way to procure the Guren for the Black Knights. He'd received her text around an hour ago. While it would be possible for her to rescind that decision and allow the JLF to get the frame, doing so would be very strange and there was really no adequate explanation for her to suddenly rethink a decision she had made with such confidence. And that could damage her standing in the organization, or otherwise draw suspicion that she really did not need.

Kallen quickly rounded on him, an angry glare shooting his way. "Oi! How the fuck is this my fault?" It wasn't like she had magically decided to have a little black puffball drop into her life and turn her into some prophesied warrior or some such nonsense. This was entirely beyond her control, and she was actually still rather uncomfortable with the whole thing, and now this asshole had the gall to say that she'd done something to make his life harder as though he was the only one dealing with something troublesome?

Pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance, Lelouch replied in a rather dry tone. "I'm not insinuating that this is your fault, but it's something of an inconvenience either way." Kallen was just about the only person the black knights had who would be capable of putting the Guren to any sort of good use.

No one else would be able to make use of the machine due to it's rather unconventional design, being almost entirely melee focused. Kallen was quite proficient in close combat as it was her preferred method of battle, so she would have no issue whatsoever adapting to the new unit... but now that option was less clear, because she may be more valuable if her partner could become a Champion.

"Forget it." Lelouch finally decided, shaking his head in frustration. "I'm going to worry about this later." He announced firmly. Quite simply put, he wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now.

Kallen twitched, entirely unaware of what the hell Lelouch was even annoyed about in general. "Why do you have to be all mysterious and shit? Tell me what the fuck you were so annoyed about!" Was he seriously going to practically throw a fit and then drop the issue immediately? That was not going to fly here.

Renamon simply sat upon the upraised part of the rooftop, looking down on the two humans silently.

Life was certainly interesting, she mused as the two humans began to bicker between one another.

The Student Council Room was the place that many of the more interesting events that made Ashford Academy so well known began. More often than not, student council president got an idea in her head and decided to try and do whatever it was she had thought up, announcing her intentions to the other members of the council.

To counteract the obvious problem with that, the student council relied upon their vice president to veto the more absurd plans, and to smooth out the edges from those that were more workable.

Without the events that the academy so frequently put on, Ashford would not be half as well known as it was. The school was regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions in Area Eleven due to both the high testing scores of it's students and the satisfaction of those same students with the academy itself.

It was a rather simple formula; Ashford was not only a good school, staffed with highly qualified and dedicated teachers and encouraging a wealth of extracurricular activities, but it was also a fun school that any student would be happy to attend because there was never a dull day. There was almost always some festival to look forward to right around the corner, or some sort of little event or other hijinks that kept the passing days interesting.

As of now, the council room was nearly empty. School was still in session and so many of the council members were dutifully attending their classes, with notable exceptions to a few.

Rivalz had gym this period and as such was in his room relaxing.

Lelouch had been excused from class to attend to the festival planning since the class period had been dedicated entirely to a test... which he had blazed through in only a few minutes, before requesting to be excused. Considering his position and high marks in his subjects, the teachers were often willing to allow things like that.

Nina was on a free period, and was at the moment the sole occupant of the council room. Much like Lelouch, her marks were constantly at the top of her class, and it had been that way since her first year. Unlike him, however, she had actively worked to free time for herself through more dedicated effort and was seeing the reward of that effort in the form of extra breaks between classes.

'Truthfully, though, I think I'd rather be occupied with something else.' Nina thought to herself glumly, leaning back in her chair. 'I really shouldn't be so torn up about this. I knew from the beginning that something like this would happen.' Lelouch was in an intimate relationship with someone. She had expected this to happen, or at least something like it. With C.C. as comfortable as she was wearing nothing but one of the boy's shirts Nina had always suspected some sort of interest on her part.

That particular expectation had been blown out of the water thanks to the rather sudden call she had received from Lelouch this morning. Rather than C.C., it had been another girl that had gotten her hands on the dark haired teen.

Sumeragi Kaguya of all people. That had been a complete curveball. How in the world had the two of them gone from a single reunion to an intimate relationship in such a short time? Even with prior history that was still absurdly fast to jump into something like this. She felt bad for even inquiring about that earlier, but it was just so confusing that she hadn't been able to help herself at the time and the question had sort of slipped out.

Lelouch had understood that sentiment, though, and didn't seem offended. He had explained vaguely that Kaguya had always been interested in him, but had never acted due to their young age, thinking she would have plenty of time to consider things more. Which had been made impossible by the invasion. After their reunion, she had decided to throw caution to the wind and just go for it.

A sigh slipped from Nina's lips as she tilted her head towards the ceiling, an arm covering her face. "If only I'd been so bold..." She mumbled wistfully. It was such a shame, too, because she had been given a very good opportunity to try after the two of them had fooled Milly and Euphemia into believing they were dating.

Nina had started entertaining the fantasy that she and Lelouch would move from their pretend-dating status into a real relationship. That really wouldn't have been so unbelievable a fantasy, either, considering the circumstances surrounding the two of them.

Lelouch wasn't going to allow himself to enter a relationship with anyone who wouldn't know of his war; that ruled out Shirley and every one of his admirers at Ashford, and would have ruled Nina herself out if not for an accident with a cat and a mask.

But even with the competition cut down, there was always the obvious competitor in C.C., who was a very large threat indeed considering her obvious proximity to Lelouch and the fact that she was completely comfortable prancing around nearly naked in front of him. Even so, that had been only a single girl she would be competing with for his affections if she had intended to pursue that route.

Sumeragi Kaguya was an unexpected wildcard, and one she really couldn't have been prepared for.

It was unfortunate, but it looked like those fantasies would remain just that.

"But, really... I suppose I knew that from the beginning." She had never been bold enough to reach out and take what she wanted, no matter what that may be. Timid and easily cowed, Nina knew full well that many things she desired would never be in her grasp due to these personal flaws. It was something she had long since come to accept about herself, but... it still hurt to admit that she had lost something like this because of that.

Maybe he would have rejected her. That was entirely possible. But now it didn't matter, because Nina hadn't tried. And she would have to live with the knowledge that she hadn't even made the attempt, and a question that would constantly plague her mind; what if he had said yes?

There was no use being depressed over it, though. This was her own fault, and she accepted that. If she had at least tried to make that fantasy of hers a reality, perhaps she would have more right to be sad... but as it was, she had nothing to blame but her own inaction. Even so, though, it was hard to just move on. But she would get over it sooner or later, and things would move on as they used to.

The sound of the door opening drew Nina's attention. No one else really came around the council room at this time, so it was rather surprising that someone had arrived. It was even more surprising for Nina once she realized just who had actually entered to room.

Dressed in the same yellow top and green skirt that made up the female uniform for the academy, the green haired immortal sharing a living space with Lelouch sauntered in as though she belonged there.

"My, my, someone looks rather down." C.C. announced, sending the other girl a coy smile.

Nina blinked. "Uhm... n-no, I'm f-fine really." What was she doing here? Was there some sort of emergency or something? She seemed too calm for that, though. Maybe she had just decided to wander about campus? Lelouch had mentioned that the woman was something of a free spirit at times, and that she often disregarded anything he said, as well as her penchant for attempting to annoy him... and other things. He actually spoke pretty often on the topic of this rather unique woman and her antics. "Is there s-something y-you need?" She asked.

C.C. shrugged carelessly, closing the door behind her. "Not particularly, no. I actually wanted to talk to you a bit. You're free for the next few minutes, correct?"

The student briefly wondered where the immortal had gotten that information, but quickly attributed it to idle chatter between her and Lelouch. It wasn't some secret, after all. "Y-yes, I'm free for a bit." Nina would admit to being curious about this woman, as their interactions with one another were quite limited. This was actually the second time she had spoken to her.

"Good." The ageless woman smiled cheerfully, practically skipping over towards the other occupant of the room. "I've been meaning to speak with you for a while now."

"R-really?" Nina was fairly surprised by that. Why would C.C. have any interest in her in particular?

Grabbing a seat from the nearby table and turning it towards the younger girl, C.C. smirked. "Of course. Since back when you first found out about our boy's little secret, actually." She slid into the chair gracefully before continuing. "Did you know that he's hacked into the security systems here so thoroughly that he can practically take control of this school with his laptop?"

"... no." No, she really did not know that. When in the world had Lelouch done that? Was that how he figured out she had been the one to find his mask? She'd never really asked about it before. "N-no, I really didn't know that." She didn't even know he had any skill at hacking. That was a surprise in and of itself.

"Well, he did." C.C. repeated matter-of-factly. "So he found the cat running around with his mask on cameras, tracked it down to the end of it's run, and saw you having your little melt-down."

Nina bristled slightly at the rather nonchalant way that the woman poked at her distress that day. She had just learned one of her closest friends was a terrorist who had committed regicide. How in the world was someone supposed to take that? But seeing the teasing glint in those amber eyes, Nina realized she was being goaded and didn't rise to it, though this seemed to amuse the immortal even more. "So, why exactly d-do you want to speak w-with me?" She asked curiously, ignoring the amused gaze.

"Because from what I've heard you seem to be smitten with our dear Lelouch." C.C. grinned mischievously at the blush that her statement put on the younger girl's face, moving forward to strike while the iron was hot. "Considering how quickly you resorted to kissing him that day after sneaking back on campus, I say it'd be rather hard to deny it." It was probably the most surefire way to keep anyone from questioning the legitimacy of their supposed relationship, but that wouldn't stop C.C. from poking at that particular event.

With her face as red as a tomato, the greenette attempted to stumble through a retort. "I-I, y-you're... i-i-it w-was the best way... t-things hap-happened so f-fast! I w-wasn't t-thinking!" The girl threw her hands in front of her face to cover her blushing visage from the teasing gaze of the immortal as she began to mumble incoherently.

The kiss wasn't something she really thought too hard on, things had just happened so fast. She'd nearly caused Lelouch's cover story to fall in on itself and the first thing she thought of to counter that was to give Milly proof. The fastest, most surefire way to do so was to kiss him. It surprised Milly, it made their relationship seem real, and it allowed her to run off without answering further questions because she would obviously be embarrassed after doing that in front of people.

Looking back on it, that was probably the best way to handle that situation without risking any further scrutiny, and it also set the two of them up with a convenient excuse for both of them to be absent at the same time.

It was still incredibly embarrassing, because Nina had thoroughly enjoyed that kiss. Chaste though it was, it had sent sparks through her. Nina had been tempted to let it linger further, but it was around that point that she remembered there were spectators. There had been no need to feign embarrassment and run off at that point.

C.C. giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "You're adorable, you know? One little kiss has you this flustered?"

Nina groaned in humiliation, hands still covering her face from view. "P-please s-stop t-teasing me..." It was bringing her into the more depressing territory of how she would have to make due with just the memory of that one kiss she had stolen. "W-was this all you w-wanted to sp-speak with me about?" If so then hopefully the woman would just leave her to sulk in peace. Her mood really did not need this.

That brought a bit of a frown to C.C.'s face as she got a better read for the girl. "Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as bullying you." Her intent here was actually a bit different than that.

This girl wanted something, but she was too scared to reach out and take it. And before she could work up the courage to do so, it appeared her window of opportunity had been closed.

Just how deeply that bothered her was something C.C. wouldn't claim to know, but she was interested in seeing just what this girl would do with another chance. "I've actually come here to let you in on something of a secret." Seeing that her words had drawn the grudging attention of the flustered girl, C.C. gave the student a warm smile and leaned towards her. "Your chance hasn't quite passed you by yet, but there are some interesting circumstances..." And with that, she launched into a very detailed explanation of just how complicated Lelouch's love life had become practically overnight.

By the end of this explanation, Nina's face had taken on a shade of red far more vivid than C.C. had believed humans could achieve.

The rats scurrying about the settlement had finally fumbled their way out of hiding, unable to lose any more profit due to their inactivity. As such, a prime target opened up for the Black Knights.

Refrain dealers were awful people, Lelouch couldn't help but note once again as he reviewed the layout of the building. That drug was extremely powerful and just as addictive, with side effects that could lead to losing all mental faculties and becoming nothing more than a husk of a human.

And yet here these bastards were pushing the drug on a people who had all but given up already, people who needed little encouragement to throw away the here and now for a glimpse of the past.

It was tragic, he would admit, but in many ways the blame also lay with the Japanese who accepted the drug. If not for the fact that it was so clearly aimed at them he would place blame higher on their part, but refrain was a drug tailor-made for a situation like this. It was rather coincidental how this psychotropic substance had made it's arrival on the underground scene just about a year after the invasion of Japan.

Britannia had manufactured this awful serum as a way to help control the natives, he was sure. The first few users hadn't been let in on the side-effects, and by the time they realized what this stuff was doing to them it was far too late to stop themselves. Refrain was extremely addictive and most of the Japanese who had used it wouldn't be able to give it up without help... help that they would very rarely receive.

How many victims had Refrain claimed already, degenerating their minds to the point they may as well have been dead? Lelouch didn't know. In addition to the clear number that could be found with a simple search on the internet, there was the startling number of casualties that would never be reported. By his estimate, the official number was likely off by several hundred.

Someone needed to keep this stuff off of the streets. It was a menace that couldn't be allowed to continue on. However, the major issue with that was the simple fact that the Britannians in charge of keeping dangerous substances of this sort controlled could not care less about the Numbers being affected by Refrain.

At that thought, he scoffed behind his mask as he began to estimate the forces they would encounter for this assault. As if Britannians even had a reason to try and use Refrain.

That was not to say it was impossible for a Britannian to have such a horrible here and now that they yearned for the past, merely that it was a much rarer case than that of the Japanese facing that same situation. Most Refrain users were Numbers; typically Elevens, though the drug had begun to spread through other more recently conquered areas and even those few remaining volatile areas.

Yet in the more peaceful areas, where conflict had died down and the natives had all but accepted Britannia's occupation, Refrain was practically a myth. If that didn't paint a clear picture of just what was going on in this situation, Lelouch had no idea what would.

"The more I see of Britannia's methods, the more convinced I am that destroying this nation is the right thing to do." Zero's modulated voice mumbled as he stood from his desk, closing the laptop he had been viewing.

From time to time he found himself wondering whether it was morally right to want to tear down an entire nation until nothing remained of it's former self, but then Britannia provided him things such as this as evidence to the contrary. At this point, leaving Britannia to their own devices would be the worst thing he could do.

If this was how the world was with Britannia in control of a third of it, just what would it be like if they were in control of everything? That was a thought he didn't want to consider.

He wasn't going to let that happen. No matter how long it took, he would put an end to Charles zi Britannia and the ideals that he pushed upon the masses, the ideals that made Britannia the monster it was today.

But for now, clearing the streets of Refrain was a good start. Despite the fact that many of the Britannian masses were unconcerned with the drug due to it's lack of use to them, there were some who didn't appreciate the simple idea of such a substance freely flowing through their cities. As such, the fact that the Black Knights were upstaging the police would garner some support from those Britannians, as well as causing public faith in the police force to drop tremendously. After all, why should those labeled as terrorists be keeping the streets safer than the people who were paid to do it?

"Keramon, it's time to go." He announced, holding an arm out towards the jellyfish lazing around on the bed.

"Kekeke..." The digimon giggled to himself, before quickly retaking his usual place at the masked man's shoulder, hovering behind him like a demented balloon. "So we're not expecting much from these guys?" Keramon asked idly as the duo began to make their way towards the lower floor, where the rest of the group had gathered.

"Not in the slightest." Lelouch confirmed easily. "While we're not going to let our guard down, I estimate the opposition to pose very little threat." It was great to have reliable information coming from the mouths of those who dealt with it as their business. It was even better when you knew for a fact that they couldn't lie to you intentionally, and when they offered their information free of charge.

With those informants in his pocket, it was easy to get a solid grasp of the typical fighting strength of most underworld factions in Area Eleven. "The most threatening thing these thugs possess would be the assault rifles they've managed to get their hands on." Which was fine and dandy when dealing with other underground factions, but even the Knight Police with their unequipped Sutherland frames could smash through an entire gang of armed drug dealers with no issue.

Which made it all the more damning that they couldn't keep Refrain off the streets despite that. Thus far the Black Knights had run across only a single group that the Knight Police could not have handled, and that had been the Underground. The resources of that particular group had been staggering, honestly; three Champion level digimon would have posed a significant threat to even Cornelia's troops bolstered by GeoGreymon, though that was ignoring the presences of Suzaku and Anya's partners.

But nothing else he'd come across in Area Eleven's criminal underworld had been out of the range of the police to handle. Even locating these groups wasn't difficult, they were hardly concealing their operations at all. It wouldn't take a week to locate and exterminate three separate drug operations if the people on the job were even remotely capable; these people were rank amateurs for the most part simply due to the fact that no one gave them a good reason to hide themselves better.

The police force was clearly working with the dealers in some way. That much was blatantly obvious, the only real question was just how much support they were receiving. One way or another, these people were going to find their operations shut down, but if things really came down to it then the Black Knights might have to spend some time revealing conspirators within the police. But in the end, that wasn't really important right now.

Keramon sighed. "I'm glad. Don't wanna deal with another fiasco like the ogre incident." That had been unexpected and annoying to deal with. Not difficult, per se, just annoying.

As the duo began to descend the stairs, Keramon couldn't help but giggle a bit. Life had certainly taken some unexpected turns for him, but the digimon liked where he'd ended up. He liked the people he was around, and his partner had a lofty goal for them to shoot for. Keramon would've gone nuts if he didn't have any sort of purpose, and the fact that he could help his partner with something as worldshaking as the destruction of a world superpower was intoxicating.

It wasn't that he particularly liked war; in reality, Keramon just wanted to do something big. If he'd gotten teamed up with a guy trying to take over the world he would've been a bit put off, but Lelouch had more noble goals. He just didn't think Britannia could exist in the world he wanted to create, and he was probably right. The philosophy that Britannia pushed was downright toxic and he couldn't see any way for that nation to exist in a peaceful world.

And the people he'd met were also quite interesting, all the way from his partners classmates to the men and women that made up his Black Knights. So much happened in a short time, but the results were quite staggering.

With three digital monsters under their control, the Black Knights were one of the most notable factions operating in Area Eleven. The JLF could compete with them in raw firepower due to their resources, but a head-to-head confrontation would be a different story. With three digimon and the assorted knightmare frames that the Black Knights fielded, they could probably handle the JLF easily enough if there were any reason to do so.

The Britannian military was a different story, but they were still within reason. A direct confrontation would not have favorable results at this point, because the Britannians had access to two ultimates with the arrival of Gino Weinburg. Between the threat posed by Firamon, Sealsdramon, and GeoGreymon they had reason to be wary... introducing Butenmon as a competitor was a dangerous addition to the enemy, especially considering Tankdramon was always an option, perhaps more so now that a second Ultimate had arrived to serve as a buffer.

Despite that, though, the Black Knights would not be swayed. And today, they'd been graced with another surprising ally.

"Keep that peanut-butter away from me, Guilmon." A terse voice drew the descending duo's attention as the core members of the Black Knights came into view. "I don't want to spend the next several minutes cleaning it out of my fur."

"Minutes?" A bewildered voice mumbled. "The last time something like that happened it took you an hour. Man. Those Honeybeemon were not pleased, either."

The masked vigilante and his partner arrived just in time to catch sight of Renamon twitching slightly. "You stole their honey."

Guilmon's response was accompanied by a bright smile. "It was tasty!"

"Why are you such a glutton? The first thing I see you doing when I arrive is stuffing yourself with bread and peanut-butter." They had only been introduced to the concept of peanut-butter recently, but Guilmon was already doing his best to "study" the new substance quite thoroughly. If one could learn via consumption then Renamon was certain that he would be an expert already.

Even back in the digital world, the stoic and serious WarGrowlmon had a sweet tooth that forced him into unreasonable decisions. If there was something moderately tasty involved, his decision making could not be trusted and she would be forced to step in.

And now he had a human providing him a steady stream of his newest addiction, because the redheaded man seemed to find it positively hilarious to watch a giant lizard stuffing itself full of peanut-butter.

As of now, there were already two jars of the stuff sitting on the floor, with a third currently clasped between Guilmon's claws as he happily devoured it's contents, using his long tongue to simply scoop it into his mouth.

The redhead in question was grinning, sitting next to a large grocery bag filled with nothing but peanut-butter. At this point he'd decided to just stop with the bread, because Guilmon clearly didn't mind. "Yo, bud, you're gonna need to keep from going through the rest of this. I ain't gettin' any more of it till next week." There were not many supermarkets a Number could easily purchase items without being horribly overcharged, but the Honorary Britannian system was good for some things. One of those things was that some places would actually tolerate them shopping there without bumping up the prices tremendously.

He knew a guy who'd gone and become an Honorary Britannian to help take care of his family in this messed up world; nice enough guy, but not particularly brave. More of an acquaintance than a friend, and not the kind of fella who'd stand up and fight for his country. But not everyone could be as brave or stupid as him. So, this pal of his happened to make weekly runs to one of the few stores that would accept his business, and Tamaki spotted him some extra cash to pick up various stuff from time to time.

In this case, stuff meant peanut butter. He'd been pretty much surviving off peanut-butter sandwiches at this point just cuz' Guilmon was so fond of the stuff.

Tamaki didn't mind it, though. He was the kind of guy who'd eat just about anything.

"Aw. Fine. Last one, then." Guilmon relented, tossing the now empty jar towards the redhead.

As the plastic jar was caught, everyone finally seemed to notice their fairly bemused leader looking on from the bottom of the stairs.

A brief moment of silence passed before Zero cleared his throat. "I'm glad to see everyone could make it tonight." He began, putting the bizarre antics of his group behind them with little trouble. He was far too used to the council acting in such a way to let it bother him.

Their little transport was getting more and more crowded as of late, though thankfully there was still plenty of room for everyone to be seated comfortably. Nina and Kallen had taken seats beside one another on the couch, Dokunemon curled comfortably around Nina's shoulders. For whatever reason, the green haired girl seemed to be casting him odd glances every now and again. It probably had something to do with the incident that morning.

Renamon stood nearby, with Guilmon just a few feet from her. Tamaki had chosen to settle in on the floor despite the seats available, probably to keep from getting peanut-butter on any of the furniture. Judging by the exasperated look on Ohgi's face, he'd been the one to demand that.

The former leader of the group had taken his spot in one of the chairs rather than the couch, though the remaining members of the group had managed to find themselves a spot on the couch. Inoue and Sugiyama had no issue sitting close to one another, and due to that it left more than enough space for Minami and Yoshida.

"Tonight," Zero began once he was certain everyone's attention was on him, "we will strike a refrain smuggling operation on the outskirts of the settlement. I suspect this particular group has some sway with the police force, and so we may need to keep an eye out for any officers on the payroll. It would be easy to pin the entire operation on us if they can get word to their superiors." One call explaining that they had followed an anonymous tip to the warehouse only to see the Black Knights running a refrain ring could have disastrous consequences for their reputation. They would need to keep anything like that from happening.

The Black Knights were on rather shaky ground at the moment; while the group was looked upon favorably by the Japanese, and their efforts in clearing the streets of danger had also endeared them somewhat to the Britannian public, the latter of the two could have their opinion swayed with a little effort.

Honestly, if the Viceroy at the moment were anyone less prideful than Cornelia the Black Knights would already be seeing smear campaigns and false evidence planted to sully the name they were building for themselves.

But Cornelia li Britannia was nothing if not prideful, and to stoop to such lows was simply not in her nature. If this had been Schneizel things would be different, but Cornelia was incredibly predictable in matters like this.

"So you think these guys are going to have better arms than the last ones?" Ohgi asked, which drew the interest of all the others assembled. No one wanted to go into combat without knowing what the enemy would throw at them, after all.

Zero shook his head, mask hiding a smirk. "Not particularly, no. Expect assault rifles and grenades, with the most realistic worst-case scenario being a Glasgow or Sutherland." Of course there was also the non-realistic possibilities, but preparations had been made on his end for most of those already and so there was no need to worry anyone. He didn't expect anything bizarre, but that didn't mean he was going to be unprepared for it.

A few nods answered his statement. "When do we move out?" Sugiyama asked idly, as the group had just been asked to arrive at this time rather than being informed of when the actual operation began.

"I'll expect everyone to be ready one hour from now. Use your time however you wish until then." It wasn't as though they had any spectacular preparations to complete. The only one taking a Knightmare would be Kallen due to their proximity to the settlement. Between the three digimon capable of smashing through a small army of Sutherlands and Kallen's own skill as a pilot they shouldn't run in to any trouble at all.

"Got it." Ohgi replied, running a hand through his hair with a small sigh. It felt really good to be a part of something that was actually working, instead of just beating against the doors uselessly like they had been. Zero had given them a real fighting chance. Sure, they weren't out there storming the viceroy's palace to take back their home in one swoop, but Ohgi understood that what they were dong right now improved their odds.

Not only was it raising the public's opinion of the Black Knights to something more than simple terrorists, but they were improving the quality of life for the Japanese in the meantime by removing some of the more dangerous groups in the area. Drug dealers, weapon smugglers, and even the few remaining human trafficking rings were all set to be destroyed. And if Zero was correct, that would end up hurting Britannia as well. While the nation certainly wouldn't collapse with something so simple, many noblemen in the area turned a profit off of the illegal operations in the area.

And the best place to hit a nobleman was his coinpurse, after all.

More over, Ohgi was having trouble believing just how swiftly their military strength had grown. In such a short time they had accumulated enough power that they were nearly equal to the JLF. While the larger of the two groups was still the JLF, the Black Knights had the raw firepower to stand alongside them as equals due to their digital monsters. Just three digimon of Champion level would have enough strength to pose a threat to the JLF with their outdated technology, and that was without considering the strategic ability of Zero or the other resources they had available.

At this point, the Black Knights may honestly have surpassed the Japan Liberation Front in sheer military might despite the number difference. That was more than Ohgi had ever expected from his little group of freedom fighters.

Looking around, the former schoolteacher couldn't help but feel like he and his friends had found a good place.

'Naoto... I wish you could see where we are now.' Seeing everyone sitting around, with genuine excitement for their next mission rather than the grim determination that used to plague them as the shadow of defeat loomed constantly overhead, it was a sight that Naoto would have loved to see. Especially Kallen's face... it had been a long time since she had seemed so carefree, even before she had actively begun participating in the fight.

But enough thinking about things like that. Now was the time to think about the future, rather than the past. Naoto wouldn't be around to see their country freed and rebuilt, but that didn't matter. He'd given his life for this cause, and so Ohgi would do everything in his power to make sure that the dream he'd held came true.

One step at a time, they were going to free Japan. And from what he knew of Zero, it wouldn't stop there.

Looking again over the assembled group that served as the core members of the Black Knights, from the friends he'd fought with for years, to the surprising addition of a bookish schoolgirl, to the bizarre creatures that carried such spectacular powers, and further still to the masked figure that had brought them all to this point, Ohgi couldn't help but feel like his decision in Shinjuku that day was the best he'd made since leadership had passed on to him.

The Black Knights, headed by their mysterious leader Zero, were going to rock this world to it's core.

AN: And another chapter. I was considering writing further, but I noticed just how large the chapter had become and decided against it. Next chapter is going to be going over the events of their raid on that refrain smuggling group, which I'm sure most of you will recognize as the incident where Kallen's mother gets caught up in things. Unfortunately, no real action went down in this chapter, but you can expect some action moderately soon... er... well... within the next few chapters. "Soon" may be pushing it considering my infrequent updates. I didn't expect this to take three months, but I've had a lot of stuff going on recently.

Anyhow. Thus far no one in the reviews has guessed Mao's digimon, and I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I've chosen something people probably aren't expecting.

While we're still on the topic of things like that, I'm going to throw another question out. We're getting closer and closer to Orange's fateful encounter in the mountains, but sticking with canon would be so very dull when I have a good many other options to explore.

Anyhow. Take some guesses at what's going to happen with our dear Orange-kun, and make note that he is one of my favorite characters due to sheer badass-ocity.