Despite his terror, Clovis managed a smile.

"I'm overjoyed, Lelouch. They said you died when Japan was brought into the fold. Is Nunnally with you?"

"Right here, big brother Clovis."

Turning his head ever so slightly, Clovis saw his little half sister standing just within the light. Nearby, a tan and purple figure was watching her, similar to the black and gold one standing behind his brother.

"What a blessing to have both of you back. We should depart for the homeland immediately-"

"Why? So you may use us a tools of diplomacy?"

Clovis turned to Lelouch in shock. Why would he say this?

"It seems you've forgotten why we were sent here in the first pace – to serve as bargaining tools after our mother was slain. Despite her renown as a Knight of the Round, the other consorts looked down on her for her lowborn origins. They say her death was the work of terrorists, but we are no fools – you people killed our mother."

How could Lelouch say that?!

"It wasn't. I swear to you, both of you, it wasn't!"

Lelouch's expression grew hard. "Then tell us everything you know – I demand the truth. BY WHOSE HAND WAS SHE SLAIN?!"

XXXXXXXX

Immediately, Lelouch's Geass did its work, forcing an order unto Clovis that must be complied with. Instantly, his face turned blank as his eyes began to softly grow red, a birdlike symbol occupying his eyes.

"My brother, second prince Schneizel and the second princess Cornelia, they can tell you."

"They were at the heart of this?"

"I don't know. Cornelia was the one tasked with investigating the murder, though."

"Oh really? What of Schneizel?"

Clovis didn't answer.

"..That's all you know, isn't it?"

A moment later, Lelouch's geass wore off, and Clovis was once again cowering in fear.

"I swear it wasn't me. I had nothing to do with it!"

Lelouch lowered the gun. "I believe you."

"So do I," added Nunnally.

Clovis began to relax, only for Umbra to emerge from the shadows, Parazon drawn.

"However."

The blade was now pointed at Clovis.

"Please, don't! We may have different mothers, but we are still siblings!"

"True, but you condemned thousands of innocents to die. Punishment is required."

Nunnally,-"

"I'm with Lelouch here."

Before Clovis could beg any further, his body began to glow. Within moments, he had disintegrated into specks of orange and yellow light, screaming all the while.

XXXXXX

Stepping out of the G1, Lelouch watched as the Britannian forces began to pull out. It'd only be a few minutes before they arrived back at the G1 base.

"So, where next big brother?"

"To Ashford. I think we've done enough for one day."

"Actually, you might want to go here first," intoned the younger of the siblings, sending Lelouch a special address.

"…Why here?"

"It's a mask shop. I think Shirley might get suspicious if you didn't come home with one."

"Oh. Thank you."

XXXXXXXX

Shaking off the pain, Clovis found himself in a dimly lit room. Confused, he looked around, until he found himself staring at a figure dressed in red and black.

"Follow me."

"Or what-"

Without missing a beat, the figure pointed a strangely shaped sword at Clovis' throat. The blade was so sharp that even though it only barely touched his neck, it drew a drop of blood.

Reluctantly complying, Clovis followed the unknown figure until he found himself in a…surprisingly mundane room.

Sure it wasn't a room fit for a prince, but for most people, it would be satisfactory.

"Stay here until another comes to retrieve you."

"Or what? You'll kill me?"

"No."

Just behind one of the room's windows, something darted by.

"Though death would be preferable to what we would do to you."

Clovis winced and froze up as his guard left the room, sealing the door as he went on his way.

XXXXXX

Lelouch's hand rose up to block Milly's strike – even half asleep, his reflexes still held true.

The amount of detours he had taken had ensured that Lelouch did not arrive to the Student Council room until late at night, after which point he'd rather swiftly passed out. C.C. had complained, but Umbra had kept her from trying to wake him while he slumbered. Milly had attempted to strike him awake after she had seen him nod off, but that hadn't gone as planned – a lifetime or ten in combat made you sensitive to incoming blows.

As the student council resumed discussions over the budget, Lelouch pondered what to do with Clovis – he intended to interrogate him later, but for now, he was going to keep his half brother in the dark. Not knowing what would happen to him would be suitable mental torture for Clovis.

Lelouch took a moment away from his thought to smirk when he saw how Milly was looking at Shirley – Madame President was a huge pervert and really enjoy making Shirley feel uncomfortable. True, part of Lelouch felt annoyed at Milly's shameless embarrassment of Shirley, but the fact it was happening at all was calming to the prince – it brought a sense of normalcy to his life.

A feeling of bitterness soon followed, though. Lelouch's friends were his anchors in life, the ones that helped assure him that a better tomorrow was possible…but it also meant he could never tell them the truth about his past – who he and Nunnally were, why they had come to Japan, and so on. Milly new some of it, as her family had been allies of his mother, but he had never told them about his time in the Origin System. Those secrets would have to remain secret.

In another time and place, Lelouch would have worried that revealing his past to his friends would have led them to abandon him, but he knew better – they would stand by him to the end. No, the real danger in telling them the truth was that they might become targets of his enemies – for now limited to those searching for the long dead prince and princess, but he had a feeling his foes in the Origin System would find a way here.

XXXXXXXX

Nunnally watched as the tv screen changed to show a report of yesterday's battle. As Ordis and Althea had said, the military had covered it up as a poison gas attack – not that it was very convincing, since you could see the bullet holes on the bodies. Still, at least they were hiding who had perpetrated the attack for now – neither she nor Lelouch was ready to make a move yet. Procuring help from the Origin System was difficult at best, and even with a few years to build up support here, there was only so much that they could amass. Better to lie low for now and develop allies before going on the warpath.

XXXXXXX

Lelouch watched the red haired girl with great attentiveness. It seemed the feeling of familiarity he had with the pilot of the red Glasgow had not been an anomaly – this was the same girl, though her appearance was slightly changed. Rivalz had oh so helpfully told him that she was Kallen Stadfelt, daughter of Lord Stadfelt – not a name he had been expecting to hear. She barely attended class, on account of her 'poor constitution', but she top marks in all of her grades, and on account of her family, was both well bred and swimming in money.

Lelouch winced when Rivalz implied the prince's interest in Kallen was sexual, though. Or perhaps his friends assumed it was romantic attraction. Lelouch hadn't really invested any thought in romance – there were bigger concerns for him at the moment. There was also the non-zero chance he would outlive any romantic partners he took, but that was a secondary concern to finishing his current objectives.

For now, he just wanted to ask Kallen a question.

XXXXXXX

Kallen watched as the bee fell to the ground, body broken into three pieces.

Despite her best efforts, she cried out in anger – true, she needed to pretend to be an invalid to avoid drawing suspicion, but that didn't mean that she was happy about it.

Movement to her left, however, brought her outburst to a halt. There, looking at her intently, was a black haired purple eyed boy.

'Crap, he saw me…'

Wordlessly, the teen walked toward her until he was uncomfortably close.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I want answers."

An odd request, but Kallen didn't have any time to react before the boy's left eye was enveloped by a bird-like symbol. Moments later, Kallen's expression turned blank as she was forced to obey Lelouch's geass.

"Of course."

"Were you the Glasgow pilot at Shinjuku?"

"Yes."

"Why terrorism?"

"Because I'm Japanese. Thought technically I'm half Britannian."

"The product of an affair?"

The question was not directed at her, but Kallen answered it all the same.

"Yes."

"Then why were you made your father's heir?"

"His wife is barren, and he needed an heir. He thought I would be a better choice than my older brother."

"Yet you choose to oppose Britannia."

"My mother begged to live with us and was eventually hired as a maid. Ms Stadfelt hates, her though, and abuses her however she sees fit. And I can't just sit by and watch as Britannians treat Japanese like worse than vermin."

"I see."

"Also, my brother was almost killed trying to access the location where the poison gas was made. I wanted to make sure that if he died, his sacrifice wasn't in vain."

"Interesting."

Lelouch failed to notice Kallen's geass wear off. "Um, do you want something?"

"No, I've learned enough. But just to be sure, don't tell anyone about Shinjuku."

This time, though, Kallen did not obey the command. "What do you mean about Shinjuku?" Why had the boy said that?

'It didn't work?' "Go back to class!"

"Only after you answer my question!"

Lelouch grimaced – it seemed his power only worked once per person. He'd need to keep that in mind. But how to escape this situation?

"Hey! Lulu! Kallen! You know it's time to head over to the chem lab! You better get a move on!"

'Thank you, Shirley,' thought Lelouch, before realizing he had something else to attend with.

"Oh crap! It's my turn to set up for class!"

Eventually, though, Lelouch knew he'd need to find a way to throw Kallen off his tail.

XXXXXX

The Helminth Charger scraped its claws along the glass, watching as Clovis flattened himself against the wall in fear. It was so fun to watch Lelouch's brother squirm. It was nice to watch people squirm in fear of the crime against nature, but it was especially amusing when those squirming were used to living their wholes lives without truly fearing to lose said lives.

It wasn't going to hurt the prince – he was too valuable unblemished, and helminth didn't really see any reason to harm him anyway – but it was rare that there was an opportunity to torment someone so worthy of scorn.

Eventually, though, its fun came to an end when the exiled prince enter the room, transferred into a Nyx frame. Before Clovis could react beyond a look of shock, the frame forced his mind into compliance. While the charger wasn't entirely sure what happened next, it assumed the boy was interrogating his brother, trying to probe for intelligence regarding Britannia's military deployments in the former nation of Japan. Eventually, Lelouch got what he needed from his brother, and with a gesture, forced Clovis to slumber.

So, what was next on the docket?

XXXXXXXXX

"Did you learn all that you needed Lelouch?" questioned an aging man looking over the partially assembled form of a knightmare

"Of course. Clovis was rather sloppy with managing Area Eleven, and his information has provided us with multiple targets of opportunity to raid. We'll need to act fast, though – I suspect we'll have a new viceroy sooner than later."

"You assume Clovis will be replaced?"

"Incompetence is not tolerated in my family. My father will demand someone be sent here to 'defeat the starts and restore Clovis' honor'".

"Unsurprising."

"Indeed. So, how is production of the, ahem, 'special knightmares' going?"

"As of right now, were about eighty percent complete with the primary machine's functions, after which the rest can be completed in a matter of days. Of course, the final assembly phases will be the most difficult."

"They will?"

"These knightmares are cybernetic, unlike literally every other machine of their kind," noted a brown haired scientist who had been examining one of the knightmare's partially complete arms, which has a layer of technocyte tissue coating it. "Integrating the flesh to the machinery, even with the research you provided us, is not easy, nor can it be rushed."

"I understand. Is there anything else I need to know about the machine?"

"No," replied both scientists in unison.

"Then I will retire for the night, as should both of you-"

"Actually, there is one thing I would like to talk to you about," intoned the older of the two.

"And that is?"

"The girl, Kallen Stadfelt."

"Her?"

"Yes. Ordis has already informed me about her. By the way, it appears that she was known as Kallen Kouzuki when she was in primary school"

"Interesting. What did you want to discuss about her?"

"She has yet to join any school clubs. Since this is required by the curriculum, and I know you wish to keep an eye on her, I suggest that you invite her to join the student council."

"I understand, I will tell her tomorrow."

"Thank you, Lelouch."

"You're welcome, Reuben."

"Be careful how you handle this, young prince – it could lead to rumors regarding your love life, and while I would normally find such things to be trivial, we've kicked the hornets' nest now. Best not to have too many people scrutinizing our actions."

"Thank you for your concern, Joseph."

"You are welcome. And please – try to handle this delicately, for Shirley's sake."

XXXXXX

"Wasn't expecting to see you again," noted C.C. to the doll in front of her.

"Same here," replied Nemo.

"So, our contractors are siblings. What are the odds?"

"I don't want to think about that. Did you meet the golden one?"

"Yes," replied Nemo, who reflexively cringed. "She's terrifying."

"They are whatever gender they want to be, but I won't deny that they are worthy of fear. So, you think you made the right choice in who your contractor is?"

"I'm not sure. You?"

"Same as you. Though, I will admit one thing: however this plays out, what happens next will be interesting."

"…Agreed."

XXXXXXX

The next day, Lelouch watched as Kallen talked with her friends. When the final bell rang, while everyone else left, Lelouch walked over to Kallen. "You think you could spare a minute? I need to talk to you."

"Sure, I was wondering when you were gonna ask."

As Lelouch began heading toward the student council clubhouse, he couldn't help but notice Shirley's shock. Sighing, Lelouch knew that he would need to clear things up. He just hoped Shirley believed him when he got to the clubhouse.

XXXXXXX

Half an hour later, Lelouch found himself walking through the clubhouse, carrying a set of clothes.

Kallen had been shocked by the clubhouse at first, but recovered quickly, and asked him if they wouldn't be disturbed in the building. He assumed she intended to question him then and there, but Shirley had chosen that moment to hand Nina some lab data, something she had announced loudly. The rest of the student council soon made themselves known, which had quickly lead to Milly inducting Kallen into the Council. Rivalz had then decided to celebrate with champagne, which Shirley had objected to. A brief scuffle ensued, during which Rivalz had thrown Lelouch the champagne. The comedy had ended when Shirley accidentally tackled him to the ground, which accidentally caused the champagne cork to fly off at Kallen. The rebel had deflected the cork, only to be doused in the alcohol.

Right now, the red head was showering, and he was supposed to bring her a new change of clothes. Already, she'd allowed him to enter with the fresh set, having made sure to draw the curtain.

"That was fast, you went all the way to the boy's dorm?"

"Actually, I live here. It'd be pretty hard for Nunnaly to live off in the dorms, so the principle lets us stay here as a favor."

"Really?"

"Yes. Nunnally actually went blind a few years ago, but she managed to regain her sight. Still, the principle would rather not take any chances in case her vision vanishes again."

"I see…"

Lelouch moved to leave. "Anyway…"

"Hey wait! Could you hand me that pouch over there?"

Lelouch quickly glanced at the pouch in question. "Sure." Turning to avoid seeing Kallen's nude form, Lelouch grabbed the pouch and handed it to her. Internally, he knew this was rather stupid – based on how the pouch felt, it seemed to contain a knife.

If he wanted things to go off as planned, though, he need to do this.

Sure enough, as soon as the pouch was behind the curtain, Kallen grabbed him by the wrist.

"You really are a live wire, aren't you."

"Were you the one in Shinjuku?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. You brought up Shinjuku the other day. Why?"

"Why do you ask? Did you know someone there?"

"Don't answer my question with a question. Yes or no?!"

Before she could prod him further, the nearby telephone suddenly went off. Though his expression didn't change, Lelouch smirked inwardly – everything was going as planned.

"If I don't answer it, someone will come. That okay?"

Reluctantly, Kallen let him grab the phone. After feigning a conversation, he claimed that the speaker wanted to talk to Kallen before handing her the phone.

After that, she fell for his deception hook, line, and sinker. To her, it appeared that the one named Zero was contacting her on the phone, thus eliminating the possibility that he, Lelouch, was Zero. She had no way of knowing that the one contacting her was a sapient computer program that had once been known as the beast of the bones, imitating his master's voice to throw the girl off track.

Once Ordis had informed him that the conversation was over, Lelouch decided to interject. "Did you say a cease fire? You must keep dangerous company…or perhaps you're talking about a game? Something online?"

"Um…yeah, you got me."

"That's what I was warning you about, when I told you not to bring up Shinjuku before. The footage of what happened yesterday was pretty damn grim….Oh, and by the way, you know I can see you, right?"

Lelouch had been consciously avoiding looking at Kallen's form, but as she suddenly crouched in embarrassment, a small smile crossed his face – it was rather fun to get the red head flustered like that.

XXXXXXXX

Lelouch spent the walk back to the clubhouse telling Kallen about the duties of the student council – especially all of the weird festivals Milly liked to indulge in.

Yet when they returned to the clubhouse, the found everyone huddled around the television.

"Lelouch, it's awful," said Nunnally, though Lelouch could tell she was feigning it.

:What is?"

"Prince Clovis has gone missing," revealed Milly.

"They say he's been kidnapped," added Rivalz.

Lelouch directed a knowing glance at Nunnally, before turning his attention to the tv screen. There, a green haired member of the purist faction was decrying Clovis' kidnapping, though Lelouch knew the man was trying to stir up the masses.

"Who is this guy?" muttered Lelouch under his breath.

"He is Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald," intoned Althea. "He is the leader of the Purist Faction."

"I see. Was he the one at Shinjuku – the one who fled when our forces arrived?"

"Yes. Do you think he sounds familiar?"

"I do. Do you know why?"

"He was apparently one of those who was on duty guarding the Aries Villa. I believe he was also among those who saw you onto the plane to Japan."

"…Really?"

"Yes…and you should really turn your attention back toward the news."

What? Why-"

Leouch's question died on his throat as he looked at the screen. There, he saw that the Purists had apparently found a suspect in Clovis' disappearance.

Said suspect was Suzaku…

XXXXXXXX

AN: So, The False Classmate is done.

For those wondering, yes, the two scientists were Reuben Ashford and Joseph Fenette – who are respectively Milly's grandfather and Shirley's dad. Since I probably won't ever bring this up in story, Reuben signed on with Lelouch because he wanted the chance to look at all of the Orokin technology and see how it could be applied to knightmares, plus he feels a sense of loyalty to Marianne's children. Joseph, meanwhile, was recruited much later due to the fact that someone would a comprehensive understanding of biology was needed to help mesh the Orokin's organic technology with a knightmare designs. He signed on both out of interest and a desire to atone for what he did in Code R.

And yes, Joseph was one of the inside men for the raid on Code R.

Now I'm off to pathetically cry and wail because I forgot to complete the alert for Protea in Action.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!