This is your only warning that the following story:

1) Contains themes of an adult nature and references practices and behaviours that are either immoral or illegal. Said practices and behaviours are not endorsed by the author.

2) Is an alternative universe where some things are different to the canon timeline that you know and love. These changes will become evident in time if/when the story is continued.

3) It is not a tale for people who cannot appreciate jokes about human sexuality and/or sexual deviancy. Remember, this is just a bit of fun.

Non Zero Sum Game

By Lord Raa

Disclaim-me-do: There's some schmoo on the backside of these balls. Story of my life.

Chapter 01

Charles zi Britannia, was a powerful man in all definitions of the word. He was a tall, strong man. He was the ruler of the Holy Britannian Empire, the largest single political entity the world had ever seen. He had the intelligence and motivation to shape the world to his vision.

He was also concerned that one of his sons was not like the others.

There was no doubt that this son was his offspring, as might be the case with certain other generations of the Imperial line. He had all certain inherited traits that Charles had. Intelligence, cunning, blood type, not to mention that the DNA testing, all confirmed Lelouch was indeed the Emperor's scion.

No, it was not Lelouch's lineage that concerned the Emperor, it was his behaviour.

For the past hundred generations, the upper classes of the Britannian race were hedonistic. Everyone on the planet had their desires, but it was different with the Britannians. During the Dark Ages, the aristocracy made the Romans look like Puritans with their debauchery.

Incest, bestiality, BDSM were common, and often all simultaneously committed before breakfast time!

A few hundred years later, more moral behaviour prevailed. The public fornication under the guise of a religious offering for bountiful harvests was long gone, instead, the upper classes used modern technology to be more sophisticated with their predilections.

Oh, it was common knowledge that the Imperial family and its friends were all degenerates. That hedonism was part of the control that the Empire used on conquered people. It was a form of soft power, similar to that of the Roman Empire. A carrot to encourage compliance, instead of just using a stick. The conditions for the entry to the "Princess Lottery" had caused a great deal of the rebellious sentiment in South America to die down.

But Lelouch vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince, wasn't depraved at all. He wasn't even remotely lecherous with any of the stunningly attractive women that the Emperor kept around for his entertainment.

His fraternal twin sister, Nunnally, was more like the rest of her extended family. She expressed an aptitude for dominating others in the most subtle of ways, usually in the form of tricking people to expose themselves in public.

Not that certain other family members needed any coercion to get them to get naked in front of others. Marianne vi Britannian, Nunnally and Lelouch's mother, was known as Marianne the Flash for good reason.

But nothing seemed to cause so much as a twitch in the trousers or bring a blush to the cheeks with Lelouch.

Even the most boring of the Imperial family, the Crown Prince Odysseus eu Britannia, was at least aggressively vanilla with his sexual desires – and he wanted only a single woman to love for the rest of his days, only daring to have sex for the purposes of siring the next generation.

Charles sighed. There was something wrong with the eleventh prince, perhaps he was too desensitised to things in the Palace? Would sending him away to where there were… fresher, less familiar options help?

He called for his second son, Schneizel el Britannia.

"Yes, Father?" the blonde asked as he prepared to take a seat. He snapped his fingers and a figure clad in royal blue latex positioned itself so it could be used a chair.

"I'm worried about Lelouch. He hasn't shown any inclination to indulge his desires. Even Odysseus had talked about holding a girl's hands at this stage!" Charles complained when his son was seated.

Schneizel nodded in contemplation. He cared for his younger brother, as Lelouch was shaping up to be something of an intellectual powerhouse. But this lack of sexual desire was unsettling the entire Imperial family. An asexual Britannian prince? Had it not been for the DNA testing proving the parentage of the boy, people would have been questioning who in the Imperial family liked cuckoldry.

"You're not planning to have Lelouch… Removed, are you?"

"What? No! This isn't the middle ages, I can't just have a son killed because I don't like his sexual preferences!"

"That's a relief. However, removal might be the answer. Consider this scenario – Lelouch is too crowded by the Imperial lifestyle. A little space might allow him to grow," Schneizel suggested.

"Yes... space…" the Emperor nodded. "He could be feeling cramped living in the nest. He wouldn't be the youngest member of the Imperial line to strike out for new experiences. But where could he go?"

The prince looked thoughtful for a moment. "I've heard some interesting things about Japan. They have some intriguing ideas when it comes to sex."

Charles' eyes lit up as he realised he could kill two birds with a single stone. The Japanese archipelago was the biggest producer of Sakuradite in the world, controlling that production would ensure a firm hand on the tiller of fate.

Sending Lelouch to study there would give the Japanese people some reassurance that an invasion wouldn't happen any time soon.

Not to mention that he would come into contact with some of their culture, and if Schneizel's comments were remotely true, Lelouch might finally develop a sex drive and acquire a fetish.

Even a mundane fetish, like peeking at a woman's underwear, would be an improvement to the current situation.

"Make the arrangements, Schneizel," the Emperor commanded. "I'll go talk to Lelouch myself."

Lelouch was concerned that this "study abroad" idea was more like a ploy to get him to "study a broad".

Why couldn't they just accept that he didn't want to leer at people? And grabbing someone's ass was just plan rude, not to mention creepy.

Why did the Britannian nobility have to be like this? They were all perverts who, in a more moral age, would have been taken to either the guillotine or the pyre.

From a brother who got off on humiliation, either his or others', to a pair of half-sisters whose method of showing affection was most definitely not sisterly, his entire social class were degenerates.

Well, not everyone was a degenerate. There was one person in the Imperial line he respected – Odysseus.

The first son of the Emperor was a decent man. He never tried to peek at a woman changing or had wandering hands. He didn't play chess where there pieces were people dressed in latex gimp suits. He didn't expose himself to people. He certainly didn't revel in groping a married woman in front of her husband.

Odysseus was just plain decent.

If only he was the Emperor, then the moral decay of the aristocracy would be wiped clean.

"You won't be alone," a female voice said, bringing the prince back to the here and now. "I'll be with you."

"What was that, Nunnally?"

"I have to look after you, Lelouch," the brown-haired princess smiled reassuringly.

Nunnally had share her father's concerns about Lelouch's lack of development. He might have been older than her by ten minutes, but he was so far behind her when it came to intimate relationships, he might as well have been a monk in a silent order.

The female twin had decided to support her family's plan when she'd heard it, remarking, "I can deal with him not wanting to sleep with a family member, but not wanting to sleep with anyone is where I draw the line."

Nunnally saw him tense up. "I said 'look after you', not 'look at you in the shower'," she sighed.

"Sorry," Lelouch replied, looking ashamed that he'd assumed the worst in his twin sister. Though, to be fair to the hapless prince, his sister had wanted to wash his back during his baths.

"It will be good for you to experience new cultures and new ideas," Marianne vi Britannia opined. "The problem is that I'm unable to stay with you."

"But Mother…"

"I know, I want to go to Japan for an extended trip, too," the consort smiled sadly. 'Those shared outdoor baths they have sound brilliant!'

Marianne vi Britannia had learned that voicing certain things around her son made him incredibly uncomfortable. Nunnally though? She like to hear about how her nipples were showing through her dress during a gala dinner or how she'd walked in on the Emperor while he was balls deep in one of his other consorts.

'So odd how they can be twins from the same father and yet be so very different…'

"There are two news students in my class," Suzaku Kururugi said excitedly. "A girl and a boy."

"That's nice, son," Genbu Kururugi said, only paying his son the bare minimum of attention.

"They're brother and sister."

"I see they like to keep siblings in the same class at your school," that busy man said, not looking up from his papers.

Suzaku frowned. He couldn't remember a day when his father hadn't brought his work home with him. He decided that he would tell his busy parent one last fact about his school day before leaving to finish his homework.

"His name is Lelouch vi Britannia."

"Britannia?" Genbu repeated. "The transfer students are Britannians?"

"Yeah, her name is Nunnally vi Britannia," Suzaku added, thankful that his father was now paying him attention.

Genbu blinked, as he repeated the names in his head. Where had he heard those names before? He turned his attention to the computer on his desk and searched for the names he'd been given.

A moment later, his eyes widened. 'No… it can't be.'

"Suzaku, are these the your new classmates?" the senior Kururugi asked, turning the screen to show two Britannian children with an important-looking man.

"Yes! That's them! How did you find their photo so quickly?"

Genbu smiled. "It's not important right now. What is important is that you make friends with them. They're new to the country and it's a big change for them to live in a different culture."

"They do seem a little nervous about things…" Suzaku confirmed. "OK, Father, if you want me to be their friends, I'll speak to them in the morning."

"You're a good boy, Suzaku. Now, go finish your homework, I need to finish mine."

The following day, Lelouch was still feeling nervous about staying in this new land. While he was smart and had started to learn some Japanese, he was grateful for the spoken English of the boy who had approached him with an outstretched hand.

"I'm Suzaku Kururugi," the boy smiled.

"Lelouch vi Britannia," the prince smiled back and shook the offered hand. "This is all… very different to what I'm used to."

"How is it different?"

"It's… well, I know it's Japan and not Britannia, so obviously everyone's speaking Japanese, but even if we ignore that, it's still different. The adults aren't…" Lelouch trailed off as he realised that he might be jinxing things. "I mean, my school was different. I didn't have as many classmates, for a start."

"I see," Suzaku replied. He wasn't quite sure what to make of his new acquaintance's words, despite leading his class in conversational English. "English has a few strange terms."

"Yeah. It's got a complicated history as languages go. I would say 'at least you've got an idea of how to read something' when compared to kanji, but then I remember that slough, trough, plough, through, though and thorough all end in o-u-g-h yet still have different pronunciations."

"Why do we do this to ourselves?" Suzaku asked, recalling the work he had to put in for his kanji tests. "Why can't we have simpler languages?"

"Because of our histories. If we remove our histories, good and bad, we lose who we are," the prince answered. "At least, that's what my father said."

"I think my father would agree with that," the Japanese boy smiled.

In the year since he and his sister had arrived in Japan, Lelouch had struck up a strong friendship with Suzaku Kururugi. The pair had briefly mentioned having important fathers, but never expanded upon the details.

It felt… wrong to bring up emotionally, and in the case of the Britannian boy, physically distant parents when they could be having more fun exploring the local woods and teaching each other the finer points of their respective cultures' etiquette.

"Suzaku, Nunnally and I have got to go away for a few days," Lelouch said in Japanese. Despite the arrogance of his compatriots, he felt it important to learn the local language. It would help him if something bad was to happen and he was forced to disappear.

"Oh? Is something the matter?"

"Oh no, it's just that my mother is coming to visit. We haven't seen her in a year, and I want to impress her with my language skills. She always said that she'd hope that I'd become a cunning linguist."

"Of course, family is important, after all," Suzaku nodded. His father had often said that, though he seemed to spend less and less time with his family.

Though, the one downside of Lelouch's departure would be Nunnally's absence.

The brown-haired girl had made quite the impact on Suzaku. She was kind, generous and also tried to learn Japanese, though her level was not as advanced as her brother's.

"I think Nunnally likes you," the Britannian said, he cast a speculative glance at his friend. If he liked her back, he would support their relationship.

Suzaku was a kind person who deserved someone nice like Nunnally. Nunnally was nice, but she needed someone else to focus her attention on. Someone who wasn't Lelouch. And who knew, it could strengthen political relations between Japan and Britannia for two important children to get married?

Three days.

Marianne vi Britannia had been in Japan to visit her two children for three days when things had gone south.

The political situation between Britannia and Japan had been souring in recent months over the topic of Sakuradite and its supply. Such was the rhetoric from the local politicians, that the normally polite island nation was treating the friends and families of its diplomatic guests with scorn and contempt.

A nationalist organisation that struck what it claimed was a blow for justice as it rushed the Britannian embassy, intent on showing the loud foreigners that they weren't so tough, that Japan could fight them to the death.

A team of gunmen stormed the compound just as the consort Marianne vi Britannia was exiting the ambassador's limousine on her way to pick up her children from their school and take them to a nearby onsen, their concealable firearms barking into life and spraying her and the security detail with bullets.

The security detail were overwhelmed by the attack, with most of them being either wounded or killed in the attack.

Things were looking bleak for the Britannians until a VTOL appeared and strafed the Japanese terrorists, cutting most of them down.

A young soldier descended from the vehicle and approached the dying consort. As she tried to console Marianne in her final moments, she felt time pause. It was more than just adrenaline coursing through her veins, there was something strange, supernatural about the encounter.

The official report would state that it lasted barely a few seconds, but to Villetta Nu, this lasted for a lot, lot longer.

The Japanese ambassador to the Holy Britannian Empire, Kozo Fujiyama, looked at his deputy in horror when the news about the death of Marianne vi Britannia broke. Did the people responsible not realise what they'd done?

Did they really think that Britannia, the largest empire in human history, was just a paper tiger?

"We're doomed."

"We might still be able to get out of this," the deputy said.

"How? By blaming the idiots who killed the Emperor's consort as 'misguided patriots'? Please, even a blind man could see through that excuse,' Fujiyama snapped.

"Two words: Foreign agents."

"Do you really think Europia United or the Chinese Federation would want to start a war between Japan and Britannia and risk the supply of Sakuradite?"

"No, but it might be enough to delay the start of the war," the deputy admitted. "Give us a chance to prepare our forces."

"Marianne vi Britannia, was killed by a group of Japanese nationalists…" the aide said, shaking nervously.

"She was only in Japan to visit Lelouch and Nunnally…" the Emperor Charles zi Britannia said, his posture deflating. He'd known that the relationship between Britannia and Japan was going through challenging times, but to kill a visiting dignitary was a terrible mistake.

The kind of mistake someone who didn't know what their enemy was capable of would make. Being upset with an enclave of foreigners was one thing. Assassinating a mother who had come to visit her children? That was unforgivable.

"H-how are Lelouch and Nunnally?"

"They're safe and well. They weren't with Marianne when the attack happened."

The Emperor relaxed slightly before casting a glance at his second son, Schneizel.

"Summon the Japanese ambassador," the Prince said, reaching for his glass of water.

"R-right away," the aide said, bowing and leaving the office.

A serious diplomatic incident had occurred and official response from the Japanese would determine the future of their relationship with the Holy Britannian Empire.

Charles looked at his son. "Dismiss the gimp and sit on a normal chair. Our next conversation concerns state security."

The scarlet clad figure bowed respectfully to its owner and walked out of the office.

"The public will demand action," Schneizel commented as he sat in the chair opposite his father. "What do you have in mind?"

"We're going to be declaring war on Japan in the next few hours. Mobilise the Knightmare Frames, we're going to strike like lightning."

"Fast, mobile warfare? It should work, but the Japanese might try to fight to the last man. Their old warrior culture was quite proud, an invading force might rekindle it."

"Fighting to the last man means that they'll be leaving an uninhabited land for us to resettle," the Emperor smirked. "But exterminating them all would be a waste. Some of the Japanese are quite cute."

"True," the Prince nodded as he recalled some of the male models he'd seen in the cultural archives. "So, what will you be telling the Ambassador?"

"That not even all the Sakuradite in Japan will save their country from my wrath. Now go, get ready to conquer Japan."

"Foreign agents?!" the Emperor demanded incredulously. "You expect me to believe that you allowed foreign agents to infiltrate your country to the point where they could kill my consort? Kill the mother of two of my children? You insult my intelligence, Mr. Ambassador."

"I…" Kozo Fujiyama was lost for words. He knew he shouldn't have gone with his deputy's suggestion, but there no other options he could see that might prevent war.

"You county has insulted me for the last time, Ambassador," Charles glared at the sweating man. "The time for words is over, it is time for war!"

"W-war?"

"Yes, war. Send a message to your masters in Tokyo – Britannia will not stand for this. We will have our revenge."

The war between Britannia and Japan was only a month long when it became clear how badly mismatched their militaries were.

Elements of the Japanese armed forces were prepared for an invasion from Britannian troops, but they couldn't have imagined just how powerful the Knightmare Frames would be against conventional troops.

The Prime Minister, Genbu Kururugi, looked at the reports of whole battalions being wiped out by the bipedal weapons. They couldn't match them in open battle, so they would have to take on the invaders with more unconventional tactics.

"Guerrilla warfare," he said to his war cabinet. "We supply small arms to civilians. Have them defend their homes."

To many Japanese people, it was better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees.

"That will take resources out of the army's hands," the Minister of Defence, replied. "Not to mention that most civilians haven't even seen a gun in real life, never mind have any proficiency with one."

A silence descended on the room as the practicalities of arming a civilian populace in the face of an invading army made themselves clear.

"That's not to say that we should dismiss the idea," the Minister quickly added. "We still have a stockpile of obsolete weapons. A few caches here and there could allow for guerrillas to operate in mountainous areas."

"Make it so," Genbu nodded. He was happy that his fellow cabinet members were on board with his defiant stance.

Suzaku Kururugi stood in disbelief at his father's words. Countless Japanese people were dying every day thanks to this war, and the Prime Minister wanted to extend it by fighting to the last person?

"But Father, what if the Britannians kill all of us?"

"I'd rather die than see my people conquered by a foreign power," Genbu said, dismissing his son's opinion as the immature viewpoint of a child who didn't know anything about the realities of life under the Britannian Empire.

"You're not the one dying in battle though," Suzaku countered. "You're here in a command bunker. You're not living in fear of Knightmare Frames crashing through your home looking for soldiers."

"I can't expect a child like you to understand why we need to fight, Su-" the older Kururugi's words died on his lips as his son struck.

"I'm sorry, Father, but I have to stop you from destroying our people…" the boy wept as he watched the life drain from his father's eyes.

Back in Pendragon, Charles zi Britannia sat next to his second son, unsure of the comfort level of his seat.

"He's a bit bony, Schneizel," he said shifting his weight on the surface.

"Perhaps, but this is display of power, position and dominance. It's not how you relax after a hard day of running the Empire."

The Emperor shrugged. "Anyway. What can you tell me about Lelouch and Nunnally? I haven't seen them since they went to Japan and Lelouch was reluctant to write to me at the best of times."

"Well, they've not been officially seen since the war started," Schneizel answered. "They're most likely living under a different identity. Do you want me to use my resources to bring them home?"

There was a pause as the Emperor considered his response. Nunnally would be welcomed back to Britannia with open arms, but if Lelouch still hadn't grown out of his "I can't do anything lewd" phase, he'd be ridiculed by the aristocracy. It made sense to cut his losses and discard the boy, but what if Lelouch had started on the path to becoming a true Prince of Britannia?

"No. I'm going to hedge my bets and ignore Lelouch for the time being. If he's dead, he'll have his peace. If he's still alive, there's a chance he might have ignited the fires of his Britannian blood."

"And if he hasn't ignited those fires?"

"List him and Nunnally as missing in the official records," Charles said, rising from the gimp he'd been sitting on. "If his Britannian nature has truly been awakened, it will motivate him to return to us. If it hasn't, then he is dead to me. Nunnally will do her own thing when the time comes and if she wants Lelouch to come back, she'll do the right thing."

To be continued…