Chapter Sixteen: The Masked Festival Part 2

The moment the ride came to a stop where they could get off, Lelouch pulled away from Suzaku. Suddenly, the little encased ride they were in was too much, too small. He left the ride as fast as he could, not looking at Suzaku, even as the Japanese boy tried keeping up with him. He could hear Suzaku trying to stop him, to get him to stop to talk. Lelouch just couldn't. He couldn't looked at him, couldn't admit what the hell he was thinking now, what he wanted to do again and again. So, he shoved himself into the busiest part of the park he could, trying to lose the boy chasing after him.

"Lelouch!" The Britannian ex-prince could hear the Japanse boy yell after him, could hear his struggle to get through the crowd, but he kept moving. He shoved between people, attempted to blend in with the crowd all the while rushing to get away. Lelouch could see the look on Suzaku's face back on the ride and, despite the kiss from the other night, he was shocked and almost… he couldn't be sure what else was on his face, but he suspected it was concealed disgust. Lelouch couldn't escape this now; Suzaku wasn't drunk or half asleep. It was all just a giant disaster. And he blamed it all on Milly.

Before she'd intervened with her stupid festival, he was able to just be Suzaku's friend. He had ignored all the feelings he had and just smiled and laughed like any normal friend would. Things had been simple and for the most part he felt carefree. He had been happy with the thought of just taking care of Nunnally for the rest of his life. Maybe, at some point he might meet someone other than the Japanese boy

But now, now, he'd had a taste of what it was like to be with Suzaku. Holding hands, kissing, everything he had only let himself imagine in the dark of night, it was all in front of him. It made him ache to be with him, to kiss him just a bit more.

"-Found you!" Suddenly, Lelouch was jumped on, knocked to the side. He sprawled across the ground, jarring his shoulder on impact. Hissing, the raven-haired boy shoved Milly off of him and glared.

"What the hell are you doing Milly?"

"He's loose!" It took Lelouch a moment to register that Milly had no teasing look on her face. In fact, she looked genuinely concerned and nervous. When Lelouch didn't say anything right away, she said, "The puppy's loose! I just saw him dash by."

Instantly, Lelouch got to his feet. "Call Rivalz, Shirley, and Gino. Get Gino to round up Nunnally and Rolo somewhere the puppy can't get them. Get everyone else to fan out and look for the puppy. Where did you see him last?"

"By the Strawberry Twist ride." She pointed in the direction of the ride. Lelouch nodded.

"I'll start there. Get everyone to fan out in opposite corners." Then he ran off. He hoped they'd be able to find the puppy before he got hurt, caught by one of the other students, or spotted by Nunnally and Rolo. The sudden squeal of delight let him know someone had found something cute. It was either one of the giant pandas he'd seen or it was his puppy. So he turned his direction towards the noise and ran in that direction. As he entered the crowd, he could faintly hear girls talking, cooing over what one described "as the cutest dog ever". He went straight over to them, already trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, hey, Lulu! What's up?" It was someone he faintly recognized, though he couldn't bring her name to mind.

"Did you see a dog go through here?" he asked, pressing a hand against his aching side.

"Oh, yeah! He just ran off in that direction. Is he yours?"

Lelouch nodded. "He's a gift for Nunnally and Rolo."

"Oh!" Her blue eyes widened and she smiled. "Want some help catching him? Everyone knows your lacking ability to run." She giggled and, after a nod from Lelouch, waved her hand. Instantly all her friends started going off in separate directions.

As she turned to start off, Lelouch added, "And one last thing, let me know if you see Suzaku. And send him in the opposite direction."

"Sure I can. But why…" She didn't get to finish her question for Lelouch started off again into the crowds. He had to focus on finding the puppy. He couldn't worry about running into Suzaku. Or having to explain his actions. Or wanting to hear the rejection Suzaku was sure to give him. He just needed to avoid and- His train of thought was gone. He knew he should have been paying attention to where he was going. So, he shouldn't have been surprised when he ran smack into a person.

It was only worst when it turned out to be Suzaku.

The Japanese boy seemed just as shocked to find Lelouch suddenly sprawled onto the ground. He'd barely been fazed by Lelouch's hit. "Lelouch! I've been looking all over for you."

Lelouch panicked. He was usually calm, but Suzaku… Suzaku made everything fuzzy and nerve-wracking, so he blurted out without thinking, "I have to go" and scrambled to his feet. He should have told Suzaku what was going on about the puppy, but he wasn't thinking. It was only when Suzaku grabbed his arm he remembered why he was running now in the first place. He barely looked at Suzaku as he spoke, "The puppy got loose. I… we need to find him."

"Wait, how did he get loose?" Suzaku let go of his arm, much to Lelouch's relief.

"I don't know. Milly just found him running."

"Where was he spotted last?"

"A group of girls saw him running this way. They're helping find him now too."

Suzaku nodded, looking at the direction Lelouch had pointed to. "Let's split so we can cover the area with the most view." He eyes flickered over to Lelouch, but the Britannian tried to ignore it as best as he could. "Lelouch-"

"I'll take the right, you take the left." Lelouch didn't look at him as he started moving again. He knew Suzaku wanted to talk, he could feel his eyes following him as he moved, but Lelouch ignored the imploring gaze. He had to move now and move fast. He couldn't worry about the Japanese boy. He could hope that Suzaku would just drop the kiss and forget it ever happened. Otherwise, they could just deal with it after Christmas. He wanted to get through this holiday without worrying too much about Suzaku freaking out over this kiss.

Suddenly, he could hear someone shouting, followed by, "Catch him there!" Lelouch started after the voices, shoving through the crowd as best as he could. Thankfully, he was scrawny enough to slip between several of the crowd. Just as he made it towards a break in the crowd, he saw the puppy just enough to see him slip between a student's legs. He dashed forward, barely brushing against his fur, and ended up awkwardly between the boy's legs. He mumbled an apology as he stood up and then started between the crowd once more.

It felt like this went on over and over, where he barely saw the pet before the puppy was running off in another direction. By the first half hour, nearly half the school was after the animal. It shouldn't be this difficult to catch such a small animal, it should have been easy. But no one could get their hands on him. Lelouch was nearly sure that the Headmaster wouldn't let them keep the puppy if he couldn't get control of the animal quickly.

Then finally, the good news was announced of the capture of this escape artist. Some blushing girl brought him to Lelouch like he was a prize. Lelouch barely managed a thanks between his heavy breathing and his attempt to get away as fast as possible. He really didn't want Nunnally or Rolo hearing about it. The news seemed to have passed on between Milly, Suzaku, and whoever else helped find the puppy. A line of the news started in the crowd, so the Britannian didn't need to worry about Milly or Suzaku knowing about the news. He just wanted to get this puppy put away and figuring out how to blockade their little hideout for the creature. Lelouch wanted to be frustrated a bit longer with the escape, but slobbery kiss from the puppy left Lelouch smiling wryly at the animal. Depending on the escape, he might be able to be just a bit proud. Still, he scolded him a bit for running off and mentally promised himself to start training him as soon as possible.

When he got back to the kennel house, he couldn't believe the mess the puppy had left it in. He seemed to have escaped through a cracked window, after ripping up some linoleum and shredding some fabric he had no idea where the puppy could have gotten it. After tying the puppy to a pole temporarily, he started picking up the mess, sending Milly a text that he was going to sit with the puppy for a bit. He heard a ping just outside of the building shortly after sending it. The blond popped in with a sheepish look that quickly turned to surprise. "He's a little monster so far, isn't he?" she fairly cooed, going to pick up the dark puppy.

"Don't touch him," Lelouch said, giving the puppy a stern look. The slightly perked expression quickly sobered when Milly stepped back and the puppy whined, tucking its tail between his legs. He was pleased that the puppy knew it was in trouble and in as best of a timeout as Lelouch could provide.

"Well, the festival pretty much cleared up after that. We'll all stay the night and be up bright and early to practice our performance that afternoon." Lelouch made a face at Milly and finished throwing away the garbage he picked up.

"I'll pay to fix the kennel up," he said, standing.

"Don't worry about it," she said, waving her hand. "I put Rivalz on first shift-"

"I'll take the first one," Lelouch interrupted, quickly finding interest in untying the pup. "Just… just keep Suzaku busy in the house tonight."

He could already imagine Milly raising her eyebrows. She followed with a question, "What happened now?"

"Don't ask this time. Can you do this for me or not?"

"Sure, but I get some dirt later," she promised. "I'll send Kallen and myself out for the rest of the night and we'll just sleep in the kennel house." Lelouch gave her a look, which she quickly defended, "No funny business!"

"You better not. Now shoo," he said, dismissing her from the kennel. With three hours, Lelouch could hope Suzaku would be asleep by then.

He decided to work with the puppy on a little training. He wanted him to stay when he told him to. Even not knowing its own name, Lelouch was certain the puppy could learn something before Christmas. He knew that the puppy shouldn't learn a lot of tricks before his name, it could make it more difficult to learn the name. So he started out with a simple "stay" command. He used some of the soft treats he'd bought and started the training. For a while, the puppy had no interest in learning a trick. He was more content to just wander about and chase his tail. Once he got an actual taste of the treats, he suddenly wanted them much more. He watched Lelouch intently and seemed to understand exactly what he was telling the puppy to do.

The task to do this was simple and left Lelouch open to thoughts. A lot of these thoughts, mostly which included exactly how he was going to explain his actions. Just what could he say? That he didn't know what came over him? That he'd actually meant it? That he wanted nothing to do with the Japanese boy? Because all of those explanations were complete lies. He had thought he'd originally had a good control over his feelings, almost thought he'd completely gotten rid of them. Before, Lelouch could talk and joke with him and almost never think about him outside of their friendship. He huffed in frustration, handing the puppy a treat who gobbled it up happily. He seemed like he was starting to get tired. Lelouch whistled and patted the ground beside him. The puppy took no second chance and curled up on the ground beside the raven haired boy. Within minutes, the puppy had dozed off. Lelouch pet him gently, not wanting to wake him up. He was happy that he'd gotten the puppy. At least he wouldn't completely screw up this Christmas.

Before he knew it, Milly and Kallen were there with pillows and blankets bundled under their arms. Milly didn't let him stay long, only talking to him a bit and letting him know Suzaku had gone up to bed after only an hour being home. She commented on his way out, "He was acting a little strange. He looked concerned you didn't want to be disturbed."

Lelouch merely shrugged and continued out of the kennel house. He was yawning and more than ready to be asleep. It would be a long morning, especially if Milly planned to get them up as early as he thought she would. When he got back to the dorm, he noticed the pile of students asleep in the living room. Rolo was among them, cuddled up with Gino. His initial protective urge made him want to separate the two boys, but he squashed that feeling and quietly went to check on Nunnally. He felt a little guilty he was too chicken to face Suzaku enough to send his sister to bed, but he was relieved someone was kind enough to do it.

She was asleep when he cracked open the door and thankfully he didn't disturb her sleep. While she had excellent hearing skills, since she could see again, Nunnally could really sleep through the night. He tiptoed over to her bed and leaned over to kiss her forehead. She sighed softly, but thankfully kept on sleeping. He whispered a soft goodnight and went back out of her room. He tried to keep as quiet as possible on his way upstairs to not wake anyone. His hands were shaking a bit when he opened his bedroom door, nervous to just be entering the same room Suzaku could or could not be asleep in.

Cracking open his door, he caught sight of a shadowed Suzaku laying on the futon. The Japanese boy was sprawled across half the bed, his tossled hair even messier than usual, and his breathing was deep, calmer than most of the time he was awake. A glance across the room told Lelouch that the bed still wasn't put together. It had been a long day. Still, he'd have to make time to put the bed together at some point. Closing his bedroom door, he carefully crossed the room to the dresser his pajamas were at and pulled out some blue plaid sweats and a dark tank top. Once he was redressed, he walked over to the bed and managed to nudge Suzaku enough out of the way to crawl under the covers. He turned his back to the Japanese boy and tried to fall asleep.

For a while, he thought he could fall asleep. Suzaku had shifted far enough away that Lelouch wasn't on the edge of the bed and he'd stretched himself out a bit. Despite the heaviness on his eyelids, Lelouch just couldn't fall asleep. He shifted as little as possible. But he was uncomfortable and it was impossible to find the right position. Then, when he was finally just turning over onto his other side, he did the worst possible thing imaginable; he elbowed Suzaku right in the face.

Even if he had been in a deep enough sleep, that attack would have more than woken him up. He shoved at Lelouch out of instinct, hissing in pain as he blinked rapidly several times. Lelouch had ended on the floor with an "oomph", but he recovered quickly. Suzaku had his hand pressed to his nose, which was bleeding straight onto his other hand. Lelouch didn't hesitate to grab a towel folded on the dresser and came up to Suzaku, apologizing rapidly. Suzaku dismissed his apology with his own for shoving Lelouch off the bed as he pressed the towel to his bleeding nose. After his lengthy apology, Suzaku attempted to lighten the mood with a bad joke, "If you needed me awake, you could have just asked."

Lelouch rolled his eyes. "Haha, yeah that's hilarious Suzaku. I just hadn't realized how close you were. I know I should have put the bed together myself today." He hesitated and then asked, "Is your nose done bleeding?"

"I… I think so." Suzaku removed the towel, wincing slightly. "I don't think it's broken, but your bony elbow sure bruised it." Lelouch scooted closer and gently touched Suzaku's nose.

"Yeah, it doesn't feel like it's broken. It's swelling up pretty bad though. I should go get some ice…" As he went to move away, Suzaku had caught his hand, suddenly looking less interested in his nose. He was staring at Lelouch differently, like he'd just remembered something important. "Suzaku…?"

"I… everything's just been confusing this last week," he said, suddenly looking more nervous than before. He looked away from the Britannian for a moment, then his gaze flickered back towards the violet eyes. "I can't even begin to process everything that's been happening."

Lelouch looked away this time, mumbling, "Milly seems to have her own agenda."

"She told me it was all sort of this plan of hers," he said, voice dropping a tone. He had let go of Lelouch's hand by now, but Lelouch felt locked by the emerald gaze. His hand was still midair. When he blinked, he slowly lowered his hand.

Neither boys said a word, even when Suzaku scooted just a bit closer. Lelouch tensed, barely shifting away from the Japanese boy. He didn't break eye contact with the emerald eyes. "Suzaku, what are you-" Suzaku cut Lelouch off, pulling him into a chaste kiss. Lelouch was too stunned to react for a moment, blinking rapidly. When he was about to, Suzaku moved away. They stared at each other another moment.

Lelouch was at a loss. What was he supposed to say in this moment? Was he supposed to tell Suzaku he liked this? Or that he wanted to do it again? Because that was exactly what he wanted to say, how he felt about Suzaku and this situation. Any normal person would want to confess that they had feelings for a person and see what their next step in the relationship could be. But this was Lelouch. He did the only logical thing a Britannian would do.

He ran.

He mumbled out an excuse about some ice and, in his haste, fell right back off the bed. He scrambled to his feet and hurried out the door. He slowed his steps as soon as he was downstairs. A peak in the living told him no one stirred from the two falls he'd had. He didn't hurry to find some ice packs in the freezer and wrapped one up in the new washcloths they had. He hesitated for several minutes to go upstairs, not sure how he could face Suzaku. How would the Japanese boy going to react to his fleeing?

When he finally made his way upstairs and to his bedroom, Suzaku had gotten up and was examining his nose in the mirror on top of the dresser. Lelouch paused, studying him for a moment while he was distracted. Then Suzaku glanced over at him and gave him a sheepish grin. Despite the fact of what Lelouch had done, despite the fact he was in pain and probably emotionally confused, Suzaku could still smile at him. It made him feel much better about everything.

"How does it look to you?" he asked, walking over to hand him the ice. Suzaku pressed it against his nose, wincing slightly.

"It should be fine. It's definitely not broken, but it's sure messed up a bit." He wandered back towards the bed and settled down on the comforter.

"I really didn't mean to wake you up or damage your nose," Lelouch told him as he followed suit. "I'll get the bed put together tomorrow-"

"Don't worry about putting the bed together. We'll get around to it when Milly's festival is over," he waved off, leaning across Lelouch to turn off the light. The Japanese boy started situating himself under the covers. Reluctantly, he followed Suzaku's example. They weren't going to talk about it then. That was fine.

Still, why did he have such a heavy feeling in his stomach while he lay in the dark?

#

#

Milly was nice enough to let everyone sleep in until seven-thirty. She came barreling through the house, calling happily like it was almost noon. The two bathrooms in the house, one for Nunnally and Sayoko and the other for Rolo and Lelouch, were both occupied. Grumbling, Lelouch just started downstairs to see if he could get some caffeine in his system. He wasn't usually much of a coffee drinker, but he was feeling it this morning. To his surprise, Milly was busy in the kitchen now getting breakfast ready for everyone. When she turned around and noticed his suspicious look, she gave him a sweet smile and said, "I'm just trying to make up for occupying your house this weekend."

He doubted that was her motive, but he decided it was too early to try to decode her.

He was pleasantly surprised to find a pot of coffee made and, after adding a good amount of cream and sugar, he sipped at coffee as he studied her breakfast choices. He suggested a fruit bowl, as well as some hash browns for an extra filler to the cinnamon rolls and decadent egg casserole (did she not have a clue on how to compliment the main course in breakfast?). "Make me the hash browns?" she asked, giving him a puppy dog look. With a sigh, and finishing his coffee, Lelouch set to helping the breakfast. He frowned slightly at the grocery bought cinnamon rolls and poked the casserole a few times before he decided a lot more needed to be fixed. "I really hope Kallen can cook better than you," he told Milly as he set to work.

"Not all of us can be gourmet chefs like you," she said with a roll of her eyes. She started on the bowl of fruit quietly for a moment. Lelouch enjoyed the simple tasks they were doing, it helped wake up from such a sleepless morning. "Why did you want Suzaku to stay away last night?" Milly asked softly, barely glancing up.

Lelouch tensed slightly and muttered lowly, "We aren't talking about it." The frustration and irritation he felt for the blond was still there, under the surface. "You've messed up enough things this week, I don't need to go on with any more of this."

To his surprise, she nodded and dropped it. She changed the subject by say, "I have a script we're all going to look at today for our club's midday play."

"We're going to have to do a play? All of us?"

She giggled and said, "No one will even see your face, no worries. It'll just be a short fifteen minute play. I couldn't make a large one, not with how short the notice is. I printed out all of the scripts and we can look over them during and after breakfast. Our play won't be starting up until one, so that gives us plenty of time for practice and getting ourselves into costumes. I've sent them all over to the backstage already."

"Oh, are you talking about the play today?" Shirley asked, popping into the kitchen and sneaking a bite of fruit.

They started in a conversation about the play, Lelouch sipped on his coffee and offered a little advice. More of the group started trickling in. Anya finally showed up this morning, recording everything they were talking about as she always did. When the rest of the boys finally arrived in the kitchen, breakfast was almost ready to go. Lelouch slipped away to hit the shower before breakfast. He was grateful for the peace and quiet and even more grateful that Suzaku wasn't around quite yet. He just didn't have the energy to fake anymore happiness.

By the time he was ready and dressed up, in his own clothes this time, everyone had settled down for breakfast. Nunnally waved him over, a seat between her and Suzaku. He'd hesitated, just a moment, but he could see that both his sibling and his best friend noticed instantly. That was the bad thing about being close to people; they could read you like an open book in basic English. Milly was chatting up the group, something about her play. Lelouch noticed the script that was shoved into his hand. It was minimally full, about twenty pages of lines that everyone had. The more he read into the lines, the more Lelouch was convinced Milly was putting a plan into motion.

Shirley put her concern to voice before anyone else could, "Uh… Milly can we play this?"

She put on her best quizzical look and asked, "Why not?"

"This is about terrorist attacks and facing off Britannia!"

"So? We just learned about it in History Class, I figured we could tie it in," she said with a shrug. "Everyone has fifteen minutes and then we're gonna start practicing!" That shut up the stream of protests that were sure to start. They started shoveling food into their mouths, knowing Milly is good on her threats. Lelouch skimmed the pages as he ate, knowing it wouldn't take much for him to memorize his lines and more concerned of just what he might have to say or do.

He keeps his focus on the pages, only letting Nunnally or Rolo interrupt him. Suzaku had been unusually silent for the morning, but Lelouch found he wasn't too concerned. He kept his eyes and attention focused away from his left side altogether. He didn't even think no one noticed what happened to his nose, until Kallen, who had just slipped inside from the kennel house, asked, "What happened to your nose, Suzaku?"

Lelouch nearly flinched, shoulders hunching and him tensing to prepare himself in what he could assume was going to be a hoard of questions. He kept the script where he was nearly covering his face entirely from view and nearly scooting his chair closer to Nunnally. But Suzaku surprised him by laughing it off and saying, "I just ran into the door last night on my way up. I was trying to not wake everyone up and ended up bruising my nose. Nothing to worry about."

Lelouch was surprisingly relieved. He wasn't sure just how he could talk straight at the Japanese boy, could look him in the eye without flushing or thinking about the kiss Suzaku had initiated. Milly interrupted any possible leads to this bruised nose by ushering everyone out of the kitchen to set up in the living room. They all had key roles with this play; Gino, Rolo, Kallen, Shirley, and Rivalz were all part of this group Milly was testing out as these "Dark Knights". She was second in-command, Nunnally was her main hostage. Suzaku was playing a key part as a Japanese boy that joined the resistance to help fight for his people's freedom (despite both Suzaku's and Lelouch's protests). And Lelouch had a key role; he was their Leader, taking these Dark Knights out to fight for the freedom and oppression of this land Milly dubbed as "America*".

"I wasn't sure what to call your character, Lulu," Milly sighed, resting her chin in her open palm. "I just couldn't get the right name for this group."

Lelouch, who'd been studying the script with a slight frown, looked up from the pages and pursed his lips for a moment. Finally, he told Milly, "His name would be Zero. He wouldn't want to stand for anything, wouldn't care for his ethnic race or roots. He wouldn't want to exist. He would be nothing. He would be Zero."

"Oh perfect! I love it," she said, instructing everyone to make the slight changes to the script where 'Lelouch' was still stated.

"And one last thing," Lelouch added, glancing at her to gauge her reaction. "Dark Knights seems like it's too close to copyrighting that old movie back in the 2000's. I'm thinking more along the lines of the Black Knights." He wasn't sure if he played right into her hand for some twisted reason. But the grin on her face and the way she was so accepting to the name made him a little nervous. She was more than happy to make that change as well. Then she was running everyone through the script.

She did a bit of recording, wanting Lelouch to not show his face much during the play. He would give orders through the recordings, telling them what to do and how to plan this final "attack". Kallen was the first in command of her little group of terrorists, followed by Gino, Shirley, Rivalz, and finally Rolo, who also had a clear role of running lights between his scenes. Milly seemed to be taking quite a bit of the script from their history lessons and little debates and discussions they'd had in class. But there was something nagging, as he recorded his lines with Anya, that this was something more. She was building something more.

Nunnally came in midway through the first half of the play, her role clearly being the same as a captured princess in one of the history lessons. She was to be used as a bargaining chip to help lure in the Black Knight's main target; Suzaku.

His role was clearly coming in halfway through the premiere, where he was "captured" by this group in his attempt to save Nunnally. This rouse is a way to persuade him to join the cause. He isn't swayed by Milly or the rest of the group and this is where Lelouch finally steps out, dressed up in a disguise to keep his identity hidden.

Overall, Lelouch though the play was pretty decent, despite the fact it was a little short and slightly screaming to Britannian about resistance. He hoped she didn't have some plot to bring in some people of her little group to rally students to her cause. He doubted she'd be so stupid. And the play did tie in a lot of their history lesson as well. So her reasoning for why she was doing this was decent enough. Still, he couldn't help this nagging feeling continue to bother him, even as they practiced lines, and starting towards the stage to get ready for their costumes.

Everyone's costumes consisted of the same thing, black and white with skirts for the women and pants for the men. She even made little symbols to represent the group and then dressed up Suzaku in his costume as well as Nunnally's princess one. Lelouch was glad to see his sister so happy, and the shine that was in Rolo's expression couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face. His entire group seemed so happy and at ease. It was a fantastic feeling. He wanted it to stay this way, this day as it was, even though Milly was using them as dolls.

Then, Lelouch was finally introduced to his costume. Overall, it was decent enough. It was a deep, dark blue nearing black with more of her strange symbols covering over the edges of the costume, as well as the back and arms. It even had cape. She didn't have much for a mask and insisted to leave his eyes uncovered so people could very well guess who he was.

When she was adjusting his tall collar, she leaned in and whispered quietly, "This is a test run for your disguise if you join my resistance." He pulled away from her, ready to ask her what she was talking about, but she'd flounced off towards the redhead half-blood in an attempt to avoid his questions. He sighed, glancing at the ridiculous wear. She might have an idea for a costume, but this thing needed a lot of tweaking and adjustments. And, definitely a better mask, rather than a cloth that covered everything aside from his eyes.

Milly conducted one last test run of the play right before they went on. Everyone put in earphones, this way if someone forgot their line, Lelouch could read it to them until it was his turn to go on stage and then Anya would take over. They all started getting some few props Milly had found in storage and some other students offered to help move any props around. Milly took their offer gladly, directing where things needed to be moved while staying out of the way of the current casts. Lelouch wasn't sure which club at was playing at the moment and he wasn't real interested.

Soon enough, the group finished off their act. Milly made her way upstage to make a little announcement about the play, dubbing it "Attack of the Black Knights". For a moment, the curtain went down. Shirley, Kallen, Gino, Rolo, and Milly all rushed to their stages, one of the volunteers pushed out a table with the "battle strategy" and another hung a blown print off of a battle strategy from the history textbook. Anya was getting everything set up for the voice recordings Lelouch did and Nunnally was waiting at the edge curtain for her part to come on. It was just Suzaku and Lelouch in back, in the dark part, waiting for their signal.

Lelouch couldn't remember a more dense silence between the two of them.

Suzaku was fidgeting, as if he was uncomfortable, glancing from his script over to Lelouch. The Britannian was adamantly avoiding his gaze. Then, they heard the first voice, as Milly rushed onto stage, pretending to nurse an open wound in her shoulder. "They got away from us! We were nearly all killed. What the hell were you trying to do!" clearly shouting at Shirley.

"The civilians were going to be in the way. We had to retreat-"

Kallen had stepped in this time with, "We nearly got shot in the process…"

Lelouch suddenly tuned out what they were saying when he felt Suzaku's hand on his arm. He didn't even need to take a look to know it was the Japanese boy. Reluctantly, he turned his face towards the Japanese boy, who was looking sheepish and guilty all in one. "Look, Lelouch about last night-"

"There's nothing to worry about," he interrupted, hoping to cut the conversation off. He wasn't sure just what they were supposed to talk about or how he should feel.

"I just needed to say this. I'm not sure if what I heard was true. But when Milly said-"

"When Milly said what?" Lelouch was suddenly turned to him, eyes narrowed slightly. He pulled down his mask, faintly annoyed by the cloth rubbing against his face.

"I-it doesn't matter. Not really. But you've kissed me. And I just… I don't know-"

"I don't need any rejection. I don't need to hear pathetic excuses, Suzaku. We're fine. Great, in fact. I just-"

Suzaku cut him off with a frustrated growl of, "Stop." Lelouch did just that, surprised by the slightly frustrated look on the Japanese boy's face. "If you would let me speak for ten seconds, I could get this out. I just can't be sure about anything right now. Everyone's telling me things. Kaine, Milly, Kallen's giving all these kryptic messages, and you're just not yourself. I just don't know…" He ran his hand through his messy curls, clearly not sure where he was going with this.

After a frustrated second, Suzaku changed his mind on speaking. He grabbed the front of Lelouch's ridiculous costume and pulled him in for a kiss. A good, actual kiss. Not the awkward chaste kiss from last night or Lelouch's sloppy kiss on the ride. It wasn't the drunken kiss Suzaku gave him in a moment of confusion and alchohol. This was a real, experience kiss. Lelouch didn't let himself stay stunned. He refused to give up this moment of the Japanese boy's delicious kiss to go to waste. He pulled him closer, enjoying the taste of the lips he'd longed for. He nearly melted right into the boy's arm. When Suzaku moved to urge Lelouch to open his mouth, he just about died right there. This was what he'd been waiting for, what he had wanted-

"Uh, Suzaku…" The voice was like throwing water onto fire. They split apart, faster than Lelouch could have thought possible. Anya stood there, her little video recorder in hand. He flushed deeply, quickly tugging his mask into place as Suzaku moved towards where his part was coming up.

Lelouch watched Suzaku for a moment while he was still standing behind stage. He knew he shouldn't stare, but Suzaku had thrown him a ball he'd never thought would be on the court. And, when Suzaku glanced back at Lelouch, he gave him a hesitant smile and stepped out into the light.

This day had been perfect. He wished what came next wouldn't happen. He wanted to keep these last moments here with him, forever.

~A/N~

*Please note that I did change the "Britannia" term in the show for America, as to follow the show better and use a disguise for Milly's agenda of the play.

Thank you for the reviews! I've been crunching over this, hoping to have it out by Valentine's day (despite the fact I hate the holiday), so happy belated Valentine's day! At least it's only a day late instead of several. I've been trying to wrap up Suzaku's fears and concerns in this chapter, work on a little character breakthrough in the next few and finish up with the epilogue to be able to start on the sequel. I'm looking at probably four chapters left.

Hopefully this one wasn't as bad as I felt it was. I'm so close to finishing up I'm a little overeager, but I rewrote this again and again. I added and took out paragraphs and rewrote entire scenes. It was by far the most interesting chapter to put together. Thank you for sticking this out so far! We're near the end!

Please R&R!

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