Aria Dix

A Fronte Praecipitium A Tergo Lupi

She had come to the conclusion that bubble baths were the gateway for sin. At least, the closest she could get to it through an innocent act like this.

Of course, when your bathtub could fit six people in it, such decadence was sinful, Villetta Nu thought with amusement as she was up to her neck in fragrant bubbles as the hot water relaxed her exhausted muscles.

For a girl who had spent almost half of her life in a land-locked research facility with her parents where water was strictly rationed, water had assumed an almost mystical quality to it. When the military had required a swimming course, she had not only embraced it, but she had grown to enjoy every moment she could immerse in it.

So when she had discovered her penthouse not only had an enormous bathtub but also a swimming pool, she had embraced it unequivocally. She spent two hours just swimming laps and floating freely in the water before she had taken herself out and drawn herself a bath.

It still was a lot to get used to, a girl who could only dream of such extravagance to one who literally lived it now. Quite a leap forward.

Of course, the requirements to reach this point...

She lowered her head further into the water as she retreated into her thoughts.

She still didn't know to think of herself after what happened with Ohgi. The soldier part of her recognized him as the enemy and lauded her for her actions. The problem was the human side of her that could not wash the look of shock on his face as she had shot him in cold blood.

If she didn't remember her time as Chigusa, then her actions wouldn't matter. But she remembered everything, the kindness, the care, everything he had done for her when she was at her weakest. It tore at her whenever she dwelled upon it, because, after everything, she valued her humanity and she was hard-pressed to find anything good in her decision.

Yet here she was, enjoying the fruits of that decision. Obedience to duty had gained her a barony, yet duty could not wash away sins, real or perceived, at least for her.

I wonder how he is doing, that errant thought flitted through her head. She frowned deeper at the rebellious thought, inwardly irritated that it would come up at all.

The last thing she needed was Kara to detect any indecision on her part. Even with her behavior, Villetta was wary of her power. She didn't know what it could do, but if she could use it to read a captive, she shuddered to think if that demonic eye were cast upon her.

But she isn't here, that rebellious part of her noted to her chagrin, go on, think about him. It won't kill you. Besides, he might be in India and if he...

Silence you!

She sighed, what could she say? Hey, sorry for shooting you, but my loyalty is to Britannia, wanna date?

She snorted in wry amusement, some bubbles shooting up into the air.

Yeah, that'd be real romantic, even if she could ignore the fact that a. He was an Eleven and b. He fought under the flag of an enemy.

Oh well, what are the odds of going to India?

Suddenly the door to the bathroom flew open causing Villetta to shoot up to her feet as Kara walked in.

"What the hell are you doing in my home," she demanded, "give me one good reason..."

"Get dressed," Kara said, grabbing a towel off the hamper and tossing it to Villetta, "wheels are up for India in an hour."

She caught the towel and wrapped it around her body, anger quickly dissipating into confusion.

"What's going on?"

"The Black Knights are in India, but that's not all."

She reached into her pocket and extracted a phone, tossing it to Villetta.

"Check the message," she said, giving Viletta one more lookover before heading back to the door, "I'll be outside."

Villetta flipped open the phone glancing at the message on it.

It can't be, she thought, her eyes widening, it's not possible!

She quickly followed after Kara, who was in the massive living room after wrapping another towel around her hair.

"Is this real?"

"It's from our source within the Black Knights, they're trusted."

"So the Baron lied."

"No, he didn't," Kara replied irritably, "he honestly believes that Zero is dead. I was observing most of the time leading up to the awarding of his Barony, there wasn't any deception."

"Geass?"

"Of course," she replied, "the Director has ordered us to India to confirm this information."

"And then?"

"We'll get further orders after confirmation," Kara responded.

Shouldn't we then pursue and eliminate them, she thought, that's our job. Why do we need further orders after confirmation?

But she held her tongue, knowing such a question at this point might be problematic at best, disastrous at worst.

Well, at least I packed a travel bag, she thought as she turned towards her bedroom.

"Give me ten minutes."

Well, she though a bit wryly, closing the door to her bedroom and sought some clothes, be careful what you wish for, Villetta.

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"Oh man, flying fourteen hours was such a bad idea," Gino Weinberg, Knight of Three, miserably intoned as he brought his Tristan on final approach to the prescribed landing location outside Tokyo, where the current garrison was based.

Of course, no pain no gain, he thought, quickly dispensing with the negative. Here he was in Japan, half the world away from his overbearing family and getting to see the country his former maid had spoken so fondly of around him.

That was a better memory, he thought as he transformed the Tristan out its Fortress Node and brought it to a stop, following the Knightmare Frame director into a hangar before sidling it into a cradle and powering it down.

Sighing, he activated the cockpit release hatch, allowing for it to slide back out and exposing him to the cool air of Japan. Taking a deep breath of the foreign air, he stretched out, feeling the kinks in his body protest as he worked them out.

"It's so good to be back on terra firma," he declared, more to himself than anyone in general; various technicians began scurrying around the Tristan as he put his foot in the rung of the winch ladder and allowed it to lower himself to the ground, his eyes searching the crowd.

Suzaku isn't here to greet me, he thought to himself, plastering a smile on his face when his feet hit the ground.

Smiling was, in his way, a rebellion against his family, when the maid he had fallen in love with had been beaten and then tossed into the streets in front of him, it had been the only way he could strike back. They then pushed him to act his status. Since then, and even after he had run away to the military, his cheerfulness and smile were as much a weapon as they were a part of him.

Well, that and being a Knight of the Round allowed him the ability to lord over his parents like nothing else.

"Sir Weinberg?"

He spun around to the source of the firm, yet distinctly feminine voice. He almost double-taked at the woman before him.

"Yuki Kobayashi," she said over her square-rimmed glasses and held out a black gloved hand, "I'm Baron Kururugi's Majordomo."

Maybe the flight was worth it, he thought, taking the offered hand, giving her a lookover. He noted how she returned his look levelly as she seemed to acknowledge the pass.

Even with all the Britannian trappings of clothing and looks, she still seems to retain the fact that she is an Eleven with those glasses, he noted appreciatively, remembering the scene from the ballroom. He had heard that Kururugi had taken her up as his majordomo, he just hadn't expected her to fit in right away. Still, he could understand the rebellious streak, those not in the know wouldn't notice that the glasses she wore were of a pre-invasionary Eleven style.

"The Baron regrets not being here to greet you," she said, keeping eye contact, a serious faux pas considering she wasn't even an Honorary Britannian, "but he could not extract himself from his meeting with Earl Closter and Baroness Fell concerning crash reconstruction of his barony."

No wonder he didn't greet me, Gino thought. Earl Denarius Closter and Baroness Elissa Fell were considered among the foremost experts of Area construction. Though, he did find it odd, considering those two were hardliners. But then again, when there is money to be made, they had a tendency to make exceptions.

"No problem," he replied cheerfully, "it's not like I gave him a lot of warning that I would be here."

She looked at him for a few moments, obviously to him trying to discern whether his cheeriness was an act or not, he wondered exactly how she was running it through her head as she considered it. He knew that for any of the Knights of the Round, he was the most sociable, but that wasn't saying something when your leader was a sourpuss and killjoy like Bismarck.

"Right," she murmured, reaching up with a finger and adjusted her glasses, the light reflecting off it slightly with a small glare, before glancing at the tablet held in the crook of her left arm, "then if you will follow me, I'll take you to someplace you can freshen up. The Baron has an opening in about an hour where he's dining with Colonel Anderson, would you like to join them?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I wouldn't want to intrude on the Baron's time with the Colonel about the Saitama incident."

She stopped, looking again at him, now with narrowed eyes with suspicion.

"You're reasonably informed," she noted.

He flashed an award-winning smile.

"I like knowing what I'm getting into."

"Of course. Then I will arrange for a meal to be provided. What would you like?" she asked, looking again to the tablet awaiting him.

"You," he said half-jokingly, watching her head snap up.

"Excuse me?"

"I was asking if you wouldn't mind joining me for dinner," he reiterated, "you have to eat and I would like to eat something other than the standard fare."

She looked at him levelly again for a moment before looking back at the tablet again.

"If you will follow me," she finally said, turning and leading him further away from the hangar area.

Well, that went exceptionally well, Gino thought as they walked, shot down without a word. Definitely a different feeling.

"There's an Honorary Britannian restaurant located just off base," she stated simply without looking back, "it serves Eleven cuisine, if that is enough of a deviation from the standard fare you expect..."

"That's fine."

She then stopped, causing him to almost collide with her.

"And for future reference, if you're going to make a pass on me, try and make an honest effort. It's rather embarrassing when the first pass in my freedom is worse than almost all the passes I had to endure in my servitude."

Gino flushed in embarrassment at being dressed down, this was actually a first for him. And if he was perfectly honest, it was rather intriguing considering its source.

"Touché. Seems that I'll have ample chances to improve it with you, since I'll be around Baron Kururugi, won't I?"

A small chirp sounded from her tablet, interrupting any response as she went back to it.

"However, the Baron has cleared it. So I'll join you, not as a date, mind you. But as someone who is famished. First, however, I recommend you freshen up."

"Yes, ma'am," he mock-saluted.

Yep, this vacation might be quite interesting, after all.

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"It's not a question of if the ghettos can be reconstructed," Baroness Elissa Fell stated, "it's more of a question of manpower and price."

"Elissa's right," Earl Denarius Closter agreed, "even if the ghettoes are more intact than normal, the infrastructure is more than likely a crapshoot. You're talking about battle damage and almost a decade of neglect and decay. The probability is you are looking at a full rebuild similar to what will take place in the Settlement."

Suzaku quietly nodded, his mind racing. He was actually grateful for the Earl and Baroness' for allowing him to call them back after dinner with the Colonel. The dinner itself had gone well to at least distract him from the more looming issue: reconstruction.

Honestly, there wasn't any way to stabilize his responsibility, unless he could actually create a stable atmosphere to live in. Which was why getting the reconstruction started was of paramount importance to him before he went to war.

That objective was the reason he was now talking to the foremost Area construction planners in the Empire on the Duke's recommendation. The fact that they had agreed to not only talk to him, but allow him to call them back was nothing short of miraculous luck, Yuki had noted to him that they were both hardliners who did not care for non-Britannians. He could only chalk it up to the Duke's connections, well, that and his status. Yuki again had quietly noted it was quite the faux pas to deny a Knight of the Round, especially a recipient of Eowyn's Star, an audience.

Still, that couldn't help that the meeting was going as badly as he feared it would. The discussion of the state of the ghettoes was the key issue, according to aerial surveys with ground-penetrating radar, it was discovered that many of the tunnels that had been the lifeblood of transit were compromised in several sectors, which meant that the work needed to be done was much more severe than even he had expected.

Still, he wouldn't be deterred, he promised the people of the Shinjuku Ghetto that he would rebuild it, and he damn well would get it done, regardless of the cost.

"If you could estimate how much it would cost to rebuild the ghettoes, how much would you two guess?"

Both seemed to nervously shift in the seats on his screen, which caused him to become equally nervous.

"Best guess... I'd say about four billion," her eyes flicked off-screen moment, as if something was requiring her attention, "a ghetto... minimum."

He blanched.

Four BILLION?! That means sixteen billion pounds for all of it! Just where in the hell was he going to find that kind of money?

"Thank you," he finally spoke, "is it possible that I can arrange to speak to you at a later time concerning this issue?"

"That's perfectly fine," the Baroness stated, "just contact my secretary and she'll arrange a video-conference."

"Unfortunately, I will be out of Pendragon for the time being. The Viceroy Hightower in Area 18 requested my presence, so I shall be otherwise indisposed, when I return I'll make sure to notify you."

"Thank you. I am grateful for the help you are giving me, I know how hard it is for you to even talk to me considering my origins."

They both nodded in return to his observation, before the link was cut, Suzaku relaxing with a sigh.

"Sixteen billion," he murmured, shaking his head as he glanced at the clock, noting it was almost nine p.m.

He reached into his uniform pocket and extracted his phone. Pulling it from its sleep mode, he accessed the messenger service on it.

"Where are you," he wrote Yuki.

With Weinberg. Do not recommend meeting with him tonight.

His brow furrowed, walking out the door to the conference room.

Why?

Second bottle of nihonshu. Lightweight.

He grimaced in response.

I'm sorry.

My fault.

You know where the Duke is?

No. Check Miyazaki. I think he's down at the small-arms range.

Thanks. Be careful with Weinberg.

Thanks, but unless he's going to kill me with cheesy pick-up lines, I don't think you need to worry.

Smiling in wry amusement, he closed his mobile.

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"3. 2. 1. Go, go, go."

Yoshi Miyazaki's hand turned the door knob, tossing in an object

"Flash," called the judge as Miyazaki immediately followed in while the judge counted down from five; he brought up his rifle, peering through the sight, swinging from the left as he acquired his first target.

Pulling the trigger twice in quick succession, the suppressor barking, striking the selected target as he was already moving, quickly acquiring a new target, pulling the trigger twice again, the metal stand-in for a hostage taker sounded with a ping as a pair of paint rounds hit its center-mass. He then picked off a third target with the same double-tap, clearing and moving further, he scanned his surroundings.

His gun snapped to the door as another target silhouette popped out in the doorway, but he held his fire - he recognized a hostage, before pulling the trigger twice as a new silhouette popped up behind the hostage, revealed as a hostage taker.

He moved past the target to the stairs, weapon still at the ready, acquiring a new target as it appeared at the top of the stairs and quickly taking it down with another double-tap.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he fired twice again, taking out another pop-up target, before conforming his body to the wall by the last door, he unclipped another "flashbang", nudged the door open a bit and tossed it in.

"Flash!"

The moment it was shouted, he was a blur of motion, flipping the select-fire switch from semi-automatic to burst-fire, he quickly acquired the nearest target, pulling the trigger once, before quickly going through the rest of the room, taking down five more targets.

Unholstering his pistol, he then quickly walked up to the target behind the desk, which already had three paint impact points in its midsection from a burst earlier. Placed on its face was a paper cut-out of Zero's mask.

Aiming with the pistol, he planted two more yellow pain splotches in the head without hesitation.

"Time."

Releasing the magazine from the pistol he holstered it and he walked to the stairs and slung the MCR up, and repeated the same release, placing the empty magazine in his hand as he exited the "compound", a mock-up building for hostage rescue exercises.

In front of him was a large gathering, various pilots and soldiers were gathered and waiting; he walked through them to the table, placing his rifle, handgun, and magazines down, where a judge inspected them.

"Perfect," came a call out from the top of the compound.

"Perfect," the ammo inspecting judge noted: he looked to the final judge, who was walking down the stairs over to a young brown-haired pensive-looking woman. Everyone was silent.

"Well Nicola, he got you. By 3.6 seconds."

There were murmurs from most of the crowd, a few were celebrating as they claimed the winnings from what seemed to be an impromptu bet.

Yoshi, meanwhile, walked over and offered a hand to the young woman, accompanied with a small smile.

The woman took it, still looking disappointed at her failure in winning.

"Nice try," he offered pleasantly.

"Thank you," she replied, giving a small smile, "I wish I had access to a rifle like that."

"It's not the gun itself, Lieutenant, it's the mentality. I don't know what they taught you in Basic, but think of the gun as an extension of yourself. The L9 has a significant advantage in CQC situations against my battle rifle configuration MCR, you just need to be more comfortable with it. If you would like, I can give you some lessons in our time off."

"I'd like that," she replied, adding a small smile of her own.

It was then that Yoshi's portion of the winnings were handed to him, which he looked at for a moment and handed to her.

"Here, I don't need this," he stated simply, "take everyone here out for drinks on me."

She looked confused as she took the money.

"Won't you join us?"

"Nah," he said, giving an assuring smile, "I came here for some shooting and I intend to do so, so you go on ahead."

"Thanks."

"No problem Lieutenant. Have fun," he patted her on the shoulder before going back, reclaiming his weapons and heading over to the cage to requisition ammo and grab his gun case.

The Lieutenant took one more look before going off and gathering the rest of the crowd, letting them know that they were going to get to hit the bar, resulting in hoots and hollers.

Walking to the cage, Yoshi stopped in front of the sergeant, pulling out his ID badge and sliding it through the cage slot.

"I need a hundred-eighty rounds of five-five-six, hundred-twenty of seven-six-two, and do you have any six-eights?"

The sergeant looked over the ID badge before handing it back to Yoshi apologetically.

"I apologize, Captain, but we don't have any six-eights. I can make a requisition order if you would like."

"No, that's fine," he shook his head, "I'm probably the only person on base with an MCR, so it's no problem. I'll make an order myself and save you guys the hassle."

"As you wish, sir," the Sergeant replied, walking back to the cage and coming back with requested ammunition in boxes and placed them before him, along with the gun case that Yoshi had come in with, "here you go sir."

"Thank you," Yoshi took the boxes and opened the case, placing them in it, before closing the case once again and turning around to find Suzaku standing there.

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Operator. That was a word that Suzaku had heard repeatedly during his time during Basic training, where there were a certain tier of people who existed in the world who had the capability that was of such a calibre. In a lot of ways, they were considered almost mythical.

There was almost no doubt in his mind that Yoshi Miyazaki was one of those so-called Operators, just the way he had handled the obstacle course, even though Suzaku had transferred over to Knightmare Frame operations, he still remembered the training he had undertaken, and he safely could say he could not match the cold steel-like efficiency that Miyazaki had shown. Even the emotionless "execution" of Zero, which took an entire world's worth of effort not for him to react outwardly to it, was a characteristic of someone who was honed to the razor's edge of capability.

He could almost understand why Yoshi had been so angry with him, it wasn't just the fact that he had done everything to undermine Yoshi. No, it was the very fact that he hadn't allowed Yoshi to do what he did best, was what drove him to such a state, he hadn't trusted him. If he didn't have a reason for his actions, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be before Yoshi apologizing profusely. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, he was right, but Yoshi was also right.

Still, just because they were both right didn't mean that he shouldn't at least try and mend fences with him. Which was part of the reason he was here.

He could almost feel the room cool with the warm expression on Yoshi's face disappearing into a neutral and almost icy demeanor, he merely nodded in acknowledgement.

"Baron," he acknowledged, hefting the gun case, before slipping past the Baron and heading down the hallway.

"Captain," Suzaku called out after him, causing Yoshi to stop.

"Yes, Baron?" The bodyguard responded, turning around.

"Do you know where the Duke is?"

Yoshi stared at him for a moment, his brown eyes seeming to attempt to discern the purpose of the question.

"I haven't seen him since lunch," he finally responded, "he said he had some things to see to, so if he's disappeared, it's probably for good reason. He's a hands-on type of guy."

There's something else there, Suzaku thought, something he doesn't want to tell me. Is it the same thing that the Duke has refused to talk about?

"What is it you aren't telling me," he pushed, deciding to test the waters of his limits, he could not afford to have any secrets that could blindside him at any moment, even if it was possibly humiliating.

Yoshi was surprised by his choice, judging by his expression. Obviously, he had expected him to simply allow it to pass.

But, as quickly as it was there, it was gone.

He walked past Suzaku, Suzaku's mouth opening in protest as Yoshi stopped at the cage.

"Sergeant give me another set of the same."

"Yes sir," the sergeant dutifully replied, retrieving the requested ammunition and placing them before him.

"Also, close down the range for the Baron and myself."

"As you wish, sir."

Turning back to Suzaku he walked past him again with the magazines added to his bag.

"With me, My Lord,"

He could only nod flatly, wondering what was going on through his head.

They both went through the door and into a large gunnery range, complete with lanes and paper targets.

Yoshi stopped and keyed the comm behind them.

"Sergeant, lock it up, I'll call you when we are done."

An audible click resounded through the empty gun range, almost mocking Suzaku's isolation with this man.

"What do you know of the Northern campaign, My Lord?" Yoshi asked.

Northern campaign, Suzaku thought, a little off-put by the question.

"I know it saw some of the most intense fighting during the Second Pacific War, Britannia decided to focus on the Kanto region and a lot of the Japanese Army retreated to Hokkaido and dug in, by the time they refocused towards the north, it was a bastion. It took almost three months to pacify it. A lot of the blame fell to the ground commanders for the losses."

During Suzaku's exposition, Yoshi had walked over to the closest shooting lane, placing down his case on the table and opening it, as soon as Suzaku finished he grunted in acknowledgement and he retrieved his MCR out of the case, a different one from the one he had used just awhile ago. He then went to work attaching a suppressor on the end.

Suzaku had likewise followed him and was shocked as Yoshi held it out to him

"No, I-"

"You're rated as an L9A2 marksman," Yoshi stated flatly, "take the gun. I need someone to test the accuracy of the gun. It needs adjustments."

Suzaku numbly took the gun, noting how it seemed a bit heavier than what he remembered of the L9.

He quickly caught a tossed magazine while Yoshi placed down five more in front of him on the surface.

"Fire select is-"

Suzaku had already brought it up and switched it from safe to semi-auto, reaching to the sight he flipped up the sight before powering it on, stopping as he noticed the light-blue smiley face on it.

"Okay then," Yoshi stated with a hint of grudging respect.

Suzaku then aimed down towards the paper target, noting that it was indeed heavier, but a lot more solid than the toy-like L9 he had used before he had gotten the Lancelot.

"Weapons hot," he called, aiming down his sight, towards the target.

He then pulled the trigger, feeling the recoil of the rifle, which, while surprisingly sharp, was not too harsh. Pulling the trigger again, he felt his way around the rifle, noting the way it climbed, how it recoiled, even that imperceptible shift in the overall weapon. Yet for a 'heavy' rifle, it was surprisingly stable with almost all of the recoil being distributed in a fashion to where it didn't jump.

Yet with the suppressor it was almost a whisper, completely different from the pop that any suppressor he had used or seen in action.

He looked over at Yoshi, who was watching him.

Well, that's semi-auto, Suzaku though, let's go all out.

Flipping the selector to auto, he held down the trigger, letting out a long burst, feeling each round fire, yet the gun didn't jerk around at all, almost every single round hitting right in the center, letting off the trigger. He then pulled it again, firing until he had exhausted the magazine.

He blinked, looking up as he safed the weapon.

Yoshi reached over and activated the conveyor, pulling the paper target to them.

Almost every single round, other than three of them were almost center mass.

"Not bad, though going full out really isn't the strong suit of the weapon," Yoshi mused, "what do you think of it?"

Suzaku looked it over again.

"I think it's one of the best guns I've ever handled. Who makes it?"

"Vrey Tactical Arms," Yoshi replied, smiling, "out of Hamden. Before Special Ops bought it up it was the VTA Ascendence and if you want to buy it, it's about ten thousand pounds."

Suzaku blanched, ten THOUSAND a rifle, he looked at it again, that was insane. The L9 was at best eight hundred pounds.

"But it's just a high-performance rifle," Suzaku muttered.

"It's more than a rifle, My Lord, it's a jack-of-all-trades gun. It's so modular you can change its chamber or even role in less than a few minutes. It can be CQC, sniper, or battle rifle in less than ten minutes as long as you have the modular components. It's worth every damn schilling and then some. The one you just fired I used in Area 18 during the Force Recon."

Suzaku nodded slightly, dampening his surprise at the revelation, because it had just occurred to him what Yoshi had been doing. He had been distracting him from his question.

"What about the Northern campaign," he asked staring levelly at Yoshi, intent on getting the truth.

Yoshi's expression turned almost immediately, the enjoyment on his face gone.

"Right," he said, as if giving up, "Northern campaign."

Walking over to the table, he opened up one of the boxes, reaching for an empty magazine and a speed loader, he began loading it.

"I didn't take part in the Second Pacific War," he admitted, "didn't sit kindly with a lot of people the prospect of a half-breed getting sentimental for his homeland, even if he had never seen it before in his life," snorting at that, he placed down the full magazine, before starting another, "but Al? Al was there, the entire damn campaign."

That would have made him what, Suzaku thought, twenty-one?

"He was dropped behind enemy lines on the first day with the rest of his unit, they didn't even have a designation, they were just called the Eighth Britannian Lancers. Japanese quickly had another name for them, Ogama."

"Scythes," Suzaku translated, immediately recognizing the term.

"They were that good. Even painted a scythe on all of their units. Anyways, up until the Northern Campaign, they hadn't lost a single man, a few damaged Glasgows here and there, but nothing that couldn't be fixed."

He tossed the full magazine down, seemingly irritated by something.

"The Northern Campaign was a damned fool's errand to begin with. It shouldn't have happened, but the nobles overrode General Steele and insisted that if we focused on and took the Kanto region and Kururugi's head, the Japanese would simply surrender. Dumb bastards never met Toshiro Tanaka. Of course, most of the Japanese surrendered when Kururugi died, but not Tanaka, no, he decided to gather up anyone who wanted to die a glorious death and fell back to the north and fought to the last man, damn the consequences."

"So where does the Duke come in?"

Yoshi scratched the back of his neck, looking up at the wall, but it seemed more off in the distance, as if he was recalling the events, even though he had never experienced it.

"His unit was one of the vanguards for the taking of the North, which meant they were tossed out on a limb and told to blindly stick their collective dicks in a hole and hope they didn't get it bitten off when they found the crazy. Weather was absolute shit up in the north and so everything was done through contacts and reporting."

Weather was always a problem up in the north, Suzaku quietly agreed, he hadn't spent a lot of the time up north in Hokkaido, but he knew the weather could get unpredictable and downright horrible in the fastest of moments.

"Anyways," he continued, "sure enough, about two weeks in, after a lot of smaller contacts and battles, they got hammered. Lost four members in less than an hour and Al found himself in command of an understrength unit."

"But the Duke would have only been what, twenty? Twenty-one? How would he be in command," Suzaku asked.

"'Cause Al was the Executive Officer of it," Yoshi said quietly, "but that's not the worse part of it, the worst part of it was that he was involved with his CO, I didn't even know about it 'till after the fact, but… the Japanese didn't exactly take kindly to catching a Scythe… especially a female one."

He took a deep breath, shaking himself even as Suzaku could immediately see what he was saying, and he felt a little sick. He was perfectly aware of the depravity of war, and he honestly wished he could believe in his former countrymen and that they would be honorable, but he knew perfectly well what could happen when you were pushed into a corner and completely helpless, and you find one of your attackers at your mercy.

He shuddered at the thought, knowing perfectly well where this was going.

"The Duke did the only thing he could, he didn't even know if she was still alive, but he pulled back, regrouped, and gathered reinforcements, but it took days… days in which she was tortured and," even Yoshi couldn't finish it, "when they found her well… I never could get an answer from Al, but I have a feeling, no, I am almost assured that when he found her, he didn't let her suffer any further. After that, well, I don't want to go any further into it, that's more his story, and maybe he'll tell you one day, but for now, it's not my right, and don't you go pestering anyone else for the rest of it."

"You still haven't explained why the Duke is not here, all you've given me is a history lesson."

Yoshi sighed, tossing a magazine to Suzaku, who caught it, catching the intent of the unsaid message, walked back to the MCR and slid in a new magazine, pulling back the charging handle as he chambered a round, a new target already up for him when he aimed downrange, switching to burst-fire and fired a pair of bursts, noting again the accuracy.

"The anniversary of his CO's death is tomorrow," Yoshi finally stated, "and believe me when I say this, you don't want him around."

Yeah, he could understand it, he finally concluded as he noted that four more magazines had appeared beside him as he had exhausted the magazine he already had and released it, swapping it out and chambering a fresh round.

Euphemia was still an incredibly touchy subject with him, but not for the reasons everyone presume. It was an open sore of failure and betrayal. He had failed Euphie because he had trusted Lelouch. He had the opportunity to stop it, he could have.

He shook his head, mechanically replacing magazines, stopping as he heard another gun firing, looking over to where Yoshi was now shooting downrange.

He didn't need to dwell upon it, he had failed Euphie, the only way he could possibly make it up was fulfilling her wish, unfortunately by sword.

Yet, for every round he seemed to fire as he thought, the more clarity he seemed to attain, the stress seeming to slough off him. It seemed almost therapeutic, that each shot was a nail sealing his grief and shame in a room to save him from being haunted, at least for now.

"You seem to know a lot about the Duke for your commanding officer."

Yoshi stopped after expending his own magazine.

"Probably because the Duke and I grew up together," he finally replied, taking out a pen and paper, jotting something on.

Now that was surprising, Suzaku thought. As far as he knew, Yoshi was a Britannian citizen, but he was a first-gen, first-gens in the social hierarchy were not much higher than Honorary Britannians, they had more opportunity of course, but it was just a general rule that they were viewed with suspicion due to their parentage.

So it was somewhat of a surprise that Miyazaki would admit to something like this, but that the Duke would be involved with a first-gen in any way was borderline scandalous.

"Our fathers knew each other," Yoshi filled in the blanks, obviously picking up the line of thought going through Suzaku's mind, "were close friends actually, so it was only natural that we grew up together, we were pretty much brothers in how we were raised."

He suddenly flashed a smile, as if remembering something, before shaking his head.

"Al was the one who talked me into joining the military, said I could do so much more if I tagged along with him. Course, there was the Sir Bubbles incident," he shook his head, before looking at Suzaku, "you and the Duke have a lot in common, you're both bullheaded pains in my ass."

This brought a small blush of embarrassment and a murmured, "Sorry," from Suzaku.

"But, you both have your ideals. Though, it would be nice if you would actually hold yourself to it instead of letting Al dictate for you. Brilliant he may be, he's still an arrogant asshole at times and if he thinks he can control you, well, by the time you figure out what he's going to do, he's already on to his next scheme."

"And what would you have me do," Suzaku asked defensively, "if the Duke is this genius you claim he is and the Princess thinks he is, what can I do?"

Yoshi had picked up the rifle again, inserting the magazine and chambering a round. Aiming down the sight, he squeezed off several rounds before stopping, as if thinking, before finally responding.

"What do you have at the moment? You have a Barony that needs to be rebuilt, but you probably don't have the money to do so. You are the Baron of said Barony, so while you can't pay for it, what can you do?"

Suzaku stopped, losing himself in thought as to what Yoshi could be referring to.

Was he attacking the problem incorrectly? He had spent almost the entire day talking about rebuilding the ghettoes. But that was what was needed to improve the situation. So how could he be wrong? There wasn't anything that was small that could make changes to the status quo.

"What are you talking about? I don't understand? How can the little things solve a sixteen billion pounds sterling problem?"

Yoshi shook his head with a sigh.

"Forget completely about the money, Suzaku. The money will come in, don't know how Al will do it, but he'll get it done with the Princess's help, he hasn't let her down yet."

Yet Suzaku had nothing and it was readily apparent to Yoshi as he placed down the rifle.

"Okay, forget the entire nobility thing, Suzaku, that is nothing more than trappings that will distract you from what you really are."

"And what would that be?"

"You're a CEO," he stated, "the Barony is your business. At least that's how Al always views his duchy, he's merely the head executive and the face of it, the real power is the people, my father included, who act as his board of directors. Honestly, that's how you should do it, find people with your vision, who believe in the dream, and can execute it competently even in your absence, because you will be absent because you are a soldier first."

He picked up the rifle and headed back to the desk, Suzaku finding he no longer had anymore stomach to shoot, in spite of what it did.

"So what do you suggest I do?"

Yoshi detached the upper receiver of the MCR and proceeded to attach a new upper receiver to the rifle, checking it over as he secured it.

"Stick to your ideals," Yoshi said, "there is nothing more that incenses a populace like fake people. You were talking to Colonel Anderson about the slavers during dinner, right?"

"Yeah, but I haven't made a decision."

"Then make one. These men were kidnapping one of the people you are sworn to protect, it's as cut and dry as one can get. I don't know why you are even debating it. Stop acting like a politician, you're not cut from the same cloth as your father. Swift, decisive action is our creed, take action. De l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace."

"And that means?"

Yoshi flashed a smile, "Something Al always mutters when he thinks no one's looking. Think of it as a pop quiz, since you're going to have to learn the language soon enough. But enough of that, I think you have some things to do before bedtime."

Suzaku nodded, "Yoshi, thank you."

"I don't see why you should be thanking me," Yoshi replied nonchalantly while examining a magazine with a careful eye, "not like I saved your life or anything."

Suzaku's expression fell slightly at the barb.

"I'm sorry about that, if I knew..."

"Bullshit," Yoshi snorted, "you'd do it again in a heartbeat. So don't go apologizing for what is your nature, and I won't apologize for clocking your ass for said nature."

Suzaku stared at him, a little taken aback at the blunt statement. Then for some reason he could only laugh at the sincerity of it.

"I can live with that," he said, extending his hand to Yoshi.

Yoshi looked at the hand for a moment, before reaching out and shaking it.

"Just don't blame me if you end up with a few screws loose at the end of this. But hey, if it worked out for the Duke…"

They both laughed.

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Yoshi watched as Suzaku left the shooting range, the door shutting behind the Knight of Eleven. As soon as that was achieved, Yoshi relaxed, picking up the rifle and sliding in the magazine.

Well, Al's going to pissed, he thought as he fired off a series of seven-six-two, the staccato serving in his mind as damnation in its own way.

Going through the thirty rounds, he pulled in the paper target, running it over with a critical eye at where the spread was.

But seriously Al, he's 17, I can understand you using Cornelia, but have you fallen so low that you would use a kid for your goals?

Memorizing where the rounds hit, he put up a new paper target, intent to take his anxiety out on the target. It wasn't something he wanted to share with the Baron, but around this time he was half-worried he would find out his best friend would do something stupid.

As soon as that was achieved, Yoshi relaxed, picking up the rifle and sliding in the magazine.

What the hell was he thinking? Of course he would, Yoshi thought with a shake of his head, especially now.

He didn't know exactly what Al was doing at the moment, but he knew that the anniversary was utter hell for his best friend. Everything Al presented himself as always went out the window, instead replaced with a bitter and resentful man who seemed to hate the world for everything, and hated himself even further.

No, he did not want to be around him right now, he thought with a frown as he got back to work with adjusting his rifles.

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"Sergeant, I would like to see the prisoner."

"Of course, Baron," the sergeant replied leading him to the door that would lead into the brig.

"Privately, sergeant. Do you have a room where I can talk to him?"

"Of course, Baron. There's a room down over there," he motioned behind Suzaku, "I'll bring the prisoner, but per regulations, he will still be restrained."

"That's acceptable," Suzaku replied, turning towards the room in question as the sergeant fulfilled his command.

Opening the door into the room, he noted the table and two chairs, but did not take a chair as he settled himself with a deep calming breath.

Truth be told, he didn't know why he was even down here, it would have been a lot easier to simply make the proclamation and be done with it. The man was guilty as sin, it was unequivocal. Everything should now be in the hands of the Colonel and the military and he shouldn't be here, even thinking about talking with the criminal.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the door opened, the sergeant coming in with the prisoner and allowing him to get a look at the man in question.

The man appeared to be in his mid to late twenties, his sandy blonde hair had been tied into a ponytail which fell on the right side of his head, his blue eyes were scanning the room quickly, meeting Suzaku for a moment as he was guided to his chair and dropped unceremoniously into it.

"Get your hands off my, you worm," he spoke contemptuously in a haughty tone, obviously one used to giving commands, Suzaku quietly noted, "you're nothing more than a flea-bitten mongrel leeching off the good graces of our kind."

"Sergeant," Suzaku stated quietly, noting the sergeant was restraining himself from lashing out, "thank you, take station outside the room, if you will."

"Of course, sir," the sergeant replied, a hint of gratitude in his tone as he snapped a salute, before taking his leave.

"That's right, dog, run back into your kennel," the Britannian mocked with a smile as the door shut.

Suzaku chose to say nothing as the Britannian refocused upon him.

"It's about time someone of authority has shown up, I was beginning to wonder if any of you animals had a sense of decorum."

It took a lot of effort for Suzaku to not respond to the bait, because it was obvious that was what the man was trying to do. No doubt if anyone had responded physically it would have fulfilled the man's intent to have a reason to destroy more lives. It was a credit to the Colonel's men that there hadn't been an occurrence.

"Mister Kolchak, do you know who I am," Suzaku asked levelly.

"Is there any reason why I should," the man replied, smug expression plastered on his face, "all of you monkeys look the same, though, I will have to admit, you're probably the best dressed one I have seen in awhile. But a monkey is still a monkey."

Keep it cool Suzaku, he thought to himself, don't make any rash decisions...yet.

"I'm Baron Suzaku Kururugi, Knight of Eleven."

The man burst out laughing.

"An Eleven, a Knight of the Round and a Baron on top of that? That's amusing, where's the hidden camera," he looked around, "please, tell me more, I like a good comedian."

Grinding his teeth, he came forward and sat in the chair, he could tell the man was enjoying getting under his skin, which he was succeeding.

"I am the Baron of this area," he stated, searching for that serene mind that Tohdoh had taught him as he stared levelly at the man, "and you are a criminal."

The amusement flickered and died on his face as the realization sunk in.

"My God, you're serious, I thought Yushiro was kidding about you," Kolchak responded, shaking his head, "what is the Empire coming to."

With Suzaku remaining silent, the man's entire body language changed as he sat back, his handcuffs rattling.

"Where's my lawyer," he demanded, "I demand to see my lawyer."

"You'll be able to see your lawyer," Suzaku stated a little too coldly, "as soon as I decide upon the court you will be charged in."

The man laughed.

"Court? The ghettoes have no court. And it'll be a cold day in hell before you have one in place, Elevens are nothing more than uncivilized cattle, you just happen to be an exception."

"Article 28, Section 12, Subsection C, Clause 4, in the event of no established capable administrative apparatus in conquered area, local administrative duties can be fulfilled by the ranking officer until establishment of an administrative system capable of fulfilling duties established in Article 6 Sections 1 through 18."

"And?"

"Under the Knights of the Round Restoration Act of 1867 a.t.b., all members of the Knights of the Round are assigned a nominal operational brevet rank of General, only superseded by either a military officer of flag rank or nobility with rank equal to or exceeding Duke."

Taking a deep breath, he could almost taste how the room atmosphere had become frosty.

"That would make me the ranking officer of the Tokyo Settlement, pretty good for a monkey, don't you think?"

"You really think your little kangaroo court is going to put me away, you and your Honorary Britannian dogs and commoner filth. My uncle is a Margrave, there is no way your little power trip is going last."

"Need I remind you in that same act all decisions made by a Knight of the Round is only answerable to the Knight of One, the Prime Minister, and the Emperor. Unless your uncle has the ear of any of those three, the chances of my decision being overturned are slim," by God, he actually was enjoying this, watching this racist's emotions run wild as he recognized the situation he was in, this was completely unlike him, but, if he was really going to admit it, this was delectable as payback. He had suffered years of this treatment, and this was the first time he could actually lash back without fear of retaliation.

"However, I will abstain from taking presiding over your trial," Suzaku continued, keeping his voice as even as possible, "you will be tried by commanders of the units you so derisively have called dogs and whatever else you have deigned to call them. So, Derek Kolchak, you and your cohorts have been charged with kidnapping, resisting arrest, kidnapping in the pursuit of slave trade, along with several other charges."

Kolchak's eye twitched, but he kept silent, obviously trying to figure out what he had for options.

"In a military court, you won't have the luxury of media or even a jury," Suzaku continued, "I of course would know this due to my… experiences. But unlike that court, I will make sure that you are given every luxury that I wasn't, but I will be blunt, the evidence against you is near insurmountable."

"It's not like Elevens are trustworthy witnesses, they are uncivilized-"

"You will shut your mouth, Mister Kolchak," Suzaku snapped, finally fed up with the man's racist rants, "those Elevens, as you are referring to them, are my subjects, while they may not be Britannian citizens YET, they are human beings. As you are so loathe to note, I was an Eleven before I swore an oath to the Empire."

Standing up he walked over towards the door, the man who had come in so haughty had shriveled up, as if looking at Suzaku as if he was the very epitome of doom for him.

"Those Eleven witnesses are only adding to the physical evidence and eyewitness testimony of the military soldiers who arrested you in commission of the crimes you are accused of. You will be tried in a military tribunal under military law. I suggest you prepare for the inevitable, because I will fight to make sure you serve the maximum sentence for your crimes. If you had shown a hint of remorse, I would have been more lenient. Good evening, Mister Kolchak."

He then opened the door and stepped out to the cries of the man who asked for his attention, closing it behind him.

"The man is yours Sergeant."

"Of course, My Lord. Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Suzaku perked up, focusing on the sergeant who had a small smile on his face.

"Of course, Sergeant."

"I couldn't help but overhear what you said to Mister Kolchak, and I think I can speak for the rest of the unit when they get the word, but I'm glad you are in charge here, sir."

Suzaku nodded in acknowledgement, unable to find any words to express to the gratitude in the sergeant's tone.

"Well then, My Lord, I best get to the prisoner, I think it will be quite the enjoyable night for me."

Opening the door, the sergeant stepped through as Suzaku stepped away, accessing the mobile in his pocket as he flipped it open, dialing Colonel Anderson.

Heading out the door to the brig, it connected to the Colonel.

"Colonel? It's Baron Kururugi, I've made my decision…"

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For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Milly Ashford found herself staring at the picture that the Duke of New Haven had given her yesterday.

If it wasn't in her hands where she could feel it, she wouldn't have believed that her grandfather was anything more than the kind old man who wanted to change the world one person at a time. Now, she wasn't so sure.

She had ignored some things over the years, partially because she was too young. But with this new piece, things were clicking into place.

She had always wondered why her grandfather had seemed to go above and beyond for Lelouch and Nunnally, if it had been discovered that he had been hiding them it would have been disastrous. This wasn't to say that she didn't care for Lelouch and Nunnally, but she would be stupid not to know about the consequences.

So was her grandfather a member of this Gestalt? What even was the Gestalt? What was their goal if her grandfather was involved in it? And who the hell was this man with her grandfather and Empress Marianne?!

"Milly," Rivalz popped his head into the room, causing her to quickly put away the picture as she settled in.

"Rivalz, what's going on?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," she forced a smile on her face as she beckoned him inside, the smile faltering a little bit before snapping back as he came in with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

"Rivalz, what are you doing," she found herself asking as he placed down the bottle and glasses on the desk.

"Champagne loses its best taste after a year," he replied with a smile and a shrug, "and this so happens to be on the cusp of it."

She still didn't see the purpose of it, champagne was meant for celebration, what was there to celebrate? Everyone was gone, Lelouch was dead...

Of course, she thought as she glanced over Rivalz, now noting the shadows in his eyes, Lelouch was a really close friend to him, if someone would be feeling as bad as her, it would be Rivalz. Yet here he was trying do his best in his own clumsy way to make her feel better.

"Okay," she said, "but let's not have a repeat of what happened to Kallen."

Laughing sheepishly, Rivalz proceeded to uncork the bottle, a loud pop echoing in the office as Rivalz allowed it to fizz a bit, before pouring into the glasses. He then handed it to Milly.

"So, what shall we toast," she asked.

"I dunno," Rivalz said, "to be perfectly honest, I thought you'd chase me out."

She could only laugh, which caused Rivalz to relax and smile wider.

"How about to absent friends?"

"To absent friends," Rivalz agreed, they both then sipping the champagne.

"You know, Shirley emailed me this morning," Milly stated, placing down the empty glass, "she's settling in Seattle. She says it's a beautiful city."

"Seattle, that's great," Rivalz exclaimed, refilling her glass, "good for her."

"Yeah."

Left unsaid between them, was the status of Nunnally, Nina, and Kallen. It just really wasn't necessary to discuss. They both knew.

"You've been really distracted the last two days Milly," Rivalz finally broke the uneasy silence, "I know with everything that went on, but it just seemed worse after that nobleman showed up."

She wanted to deny it, but really, what would that gain her. Rivalz was the last of the Student Council, and they had all been together for three years now, there was no doubt he would note any change in her behavior.

But how much should she say? That her grandfather may or may have been part of some possible conspiracy as part of some group that is a reference to some European Union psychologist's theory. Yeah, he might just laugh at her. So what should she say?

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked.

"Of course, Milly. I can keep any secret," he said cheerfully.

Already she was beginning to regret opening her mouth, as she remembered that smile, right before she dismantled him and found out what Lelouch was doing behind her back. Maybe this was a case of karmic revenge for all the things she had done to him.

Damage already done, she retrieved the picture and showed it to Rivalz.

"The Duke of New Haven gave this to me," she said, "my grandfather and the Empress Marianne are in it, but I don't recognize the other man."

Rivalz furrowed his brow, as if he was trying to remember something.

"Can I see it?"

Milly hesitated for a moment, before handing it to Rivalz.

"Hmmm," he murmured, staring more closely at it, before looking up, "you said that the Duke of New Haven gave this to you?"

"Yes."

"And he has white hair?"

"As snow."

"Welp, then it's quite obvious," he declared, "the Dukes of New Haven have a really queer rite of passage tradition where they dye their hair white. That looks like Augustus Knight, the previous Duke of New Haven, I think he's dead now."

Milly blinked at Rivalz, completely surprised by this. Rivalz had always been a bit of an airhead, so this was unexpected of him to actually be truly helpful in a serious way.

He seemed to pick up on it as he laughed nervously, "My mom has a thing for fashion, she never shuts up about it when she gets a chance, always telling me I should be more like this noble or that noble."

She could actually see that, she thought as she looked over the picture, attaching a name to the previously mysterious man. It was a step in the right direction and allowed her to actually now take a look at other details in regards to her grandfather, she really couldn't see that he would do it, but this was a picture of her grandfather, the Empress Marianne, and the Duke's father… Well, it was more than likely there was some kind of truth to the narrative.

"Milly," Rivalz broke her out of her reverie, as she looked to his concerned expression, "what's bothering you? Is there anything I can do to help? I mean, I know I'm not Lelouch or anything, but I can help, anything for you? You're not alone."

Milly could only smile at the honesty of her friend, as she shook her head.

"It's okay, Rivalz, I really don't know how you can help, but as soon as I do, I'll let you know, okay?"

"Okay."

"Well," she finally said after taking a deep breath and giving a cat-like grin, "that champagne is not going to finish itself, is it?"

"Of course not," he replied, seriousness gone, replaced by the cheerfulness that defined who Rivalz Cardemonde was.

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Humming along cheerfully to herself, Cecile Croomy was having an excellent morning. It wasn't just the fact she had a new breakthrough in her wing system, but now she was going to get to do what she enjoyed doing, tinkering with brand-new straight-off-the-line Knightmares.

According to the guard that had greeted her when she had arrived on base, four new Knightmares had been delivered to the hangar that Lloyd and Victoria had taken over for every single project they could do.

It was strange, she thought, how easily Harrington had been readily accepted by Lloyd, considering how protective he was of his projects. He was not exactly what you would say is a social animal, in fact, he was the very epitome of an oddball, she was honestly his only friend through the Imperial Colchester Institute. It had taken weeks for her to get used to the Earl, and that was through the threat of physical violence.

So, in the same manner she had done with Suzaku, she had spent the morning preparing a small celebration meal for the Baroness's unofficial welcoming into the group. She had prepared onigiri with umekuze, wasabi, and peanut butter to serve the older woman.

Finally reaching the door, she slid her access card through and the door opened as she took a deep breath before refreshing the smile on her face.

Yet it disappeared almost immediately as she spotted the Lancelot.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

The Lancelot, for lack of a better term, looked like it had been exploded throughout a quarter of the hangar, with pieces everywhere, the only thing recognizable was the head sitting on the ground.

"Ahhh, Cecile, good morning," Lloyd called out from somewhere in the mess.

Walking gingerly, trying to avoid all the strewn about wires and pieces until she came upon the two who were currently looking over a piece of the leg assembly. They were both out of their usual attire, with Victoria in a decidedly unprofessional tank top and loose pants, while Lloyd had gotten rid of his coat.

"Why is the Lancelot in pieces," she demanded, a hint of anger in her tone, "I thought we were finished with the Conquista?"

"Uhhh," Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"That would be my fault," Victoria spoke up, "I called Lloyd in the middle of the night because I was going over the specs of the Lancelot, it ended up a couple of questions turned into well… this.

"And what is this," she asked, curiosity replacing irritation as she looked it over.

"It's a streamlining of the Lancelot's design," Lloyd intervened excitedly, "Vic here figured out a way to increase the Lancelot's performance by eight percent by replacing the armor we placed on with the same armor matrix she had designed for the Duke's Knightmare."

"Then there is the unnecessary systems and wiring," she added, "the Lancelot is a great design as a testbed of technologies, but it looks like you're at the limit of how far you can go with the basic frame."

"It's more like Suzaku has pressed the limits," Cecile noted, recognizing the logic in it, "even with the Conquista upgrade, it's probably likely Suzaku's capabilities as a devicer will surpass even this upgrade."

"I wouldn't know," Victoria responded, "but I know the feeling. The Duke is a nightmare, no pun intended, for Knightmare design, I hand-designed his entire Knightmare and upgraded it, and even now he's reached its limit. You saw how he was fighting, the frame, excluding the damage, is already maxed out on frame life, from just that one battle."

"And you think the Vincent is going to be any better?"

Vic shook her head, a smile gracing her face, "Maybe a bit better since it's based on the Lancelot, but Al demands so much out of the Knightmare I don't know what his limit is, so I'll do my best. Besides, it's nice having the Duke in my debt."

"But we get to improve the Lancelot," Lloyd singed excitely, "I wonder what Suzaku would think."

"I think he'd be grateful," Cecile responded, "speaking of which, Baroness-"

"Victoria, or Vic," she corrected."

"Victoria, I would like to share this with you, since we're now all a team," she then presented the tin.

"Oh my, I have to go and sign off on a shipment," Lloyd stated in a bit nervously, eyes flitting around, "I'll be back in a bit."

Before either of them could react, he quickly scurried away, leaving the two of them.

"I wonder what's up with him," Cecile mused, before opening up the tin.

"Oh, onigiri, I love those," Vic then grabbed one of the rice balls and proceeded to take a bite of it.

"This is kinda good," Vic noted, taking another bite of it, "what's all in it?"

Cecile blushed at the compliment, as Vic polished off and reached for another one.

"Well, I put peanut butter, umekuze, and wasabi."

The onigiri dropped out of her hand as she paled.

"You said wasabi," she rasped, "I'm allergic to wasabi."

"Oh," Cecile murmured, as it dawned on her, "OH!"

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"Oh Motoko," Lee chuckled, leafing through the manga he was reading, which had a couple of scantily clad girls on it, "you know you so want Arthur's dick."

Laughing again, he reached over to a small box and extracted a piece of pocky, munching on it as he leaned further back in the expensive chair, his feet propped up on the arm of another piece of expensive furniture that he had rearranged.

With the Villa the Duke had bought for their usage completely empty, he had decided to move to greener pastures, in this case, haunting the Knights of the Round villa seemed quite right, at least in his mind. Plenty of activity, could annoy Knights of the Round with his commoner ass just as much as he annoyed Al, and they really couldn't do anything about it. Everything was perfect.

"Pervert."

Looking over his book, he spotted top of a pink head.

Reaching over and grabbing an unopened box of pocky and tossed it towards the pinkette.

"Here kid, have some chocolate. Go and do whatever you gremlins do."

Going back to the manga he paused.

Wait... pink hair... short... oh... crap...

Snapping down the manga, his fears were justified as he recognized Anya Alstreim, Knight of Six, standing there with camera in one hand, pocky box in other, piece of pocky hanging out of her mouth as she took a picture.

"Well, umm... this is awkward," he said nervously, taking his feet down and shutting the manga, "my apologies, Lady Alstreim, I mistook you for someone else."

Finishing off the pocky in her mouth staring at him with her blank emotionless eyes, she walked towards him, and reached past Lee.

Mentally flinching in preparation, he was relieved as she stepped away. However the relief was replaced by horror as he realized that she had taken away his OTHER box of pocky.

"This will do for an apology," Anya replied, walking away with two instances of Lee's most prized possession.

"But... uh... my... eh...," he sighed in defeat, completely depressed now, "how can I enjoy Love Saku without pocky?"

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"You're a louse, Lelouch Lamperouge," C.C.'s voice filled his head as he was reading over something.

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair as he folded his hands.

"And the witch returns. Tell me, C.C., how am I a louse, as you put it?"

"Why do you think?"

"I honestly have no idea, and I'm not in the mood for your games right now? I have too much to get done a few hours to do so. So, please, get to the point witch, before I ignore you."

"It's not like you can," she chided.

"C.C., would you please get to your point?" he asked, wishing he could...

"Really, Lelouch, what did I just tell you?" she responded, seemingly reading his mind, in fact, he was now becoming certain her claim wasn't a lie.

She then audibly sighed in his mind as he grinded his teeth.

"Fine. Even though you now have all the time in the world, you can't seem to make time for the one woman who gave you that opportunity. Have you thought about what you did to Kallen?"

"What is there to think about?" he responded, "if anything, Kallen should be proud of her success."

"You really don't get women, do you? Here you are, complimenting her when the thing you are complimenting her on, you had to slip her a date rape drug to get her to do it."

"But it's the results that matter," he replied dismissively, waving his head, "in the end, no one was hurt and we are all now better off. I don't see what is wrong with any of this."

A long silence descended upon the duo and for a bit Lelouch thought that C.C. had gone back to whatever it was that she did when she was harassing him…

"You know you claim she is your accomplice, like I was, yet you use her as a pawn," C.C. finally, quietly, said, causing Lelouch to stiffen, "why is that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I have treated Kallen like I always…" he stopped, a part of him calling him a liar as he thought about, he had treated Kallen like an accomplice… hadn't he?

Of course, it had been only a few days since they had made their contract but-

"Accomplices have a balance," C.C. interrupted his thoughts again, adding additional damnation to the new realization, "you haven't had a balance with her Lelouch, all you have done is move her around and command her just like before."

His skin crawled as he felt suddenly colder, as if C.C.'s very ghostly presence was wrapping their arms around him, his mind racing as he shifted to the new issue he could see developing, not now. Nothing to do with India, the Chinese Federation, or Britannia, but with Kallen. He may not be a genius when it came to women, but he could understand human nature.

"That's right," she continued, her voice quieter, more personal, "you keep treating her like you have after all you both have been through in the last few days, after all of your promises, do you really think she is going to keep following you?"

He opened his mouth to answer in the affirmative, but stopped himself before they could escape, because to be honest, he wasn't so sure now. He hadn't looked at it from the perspective that C.C. was pointing out to him, and it was yet another oversight, something he couldn't predict because humanity was too fickle for predictions when emotional. Instead now, of all times, when he needed Kallen for the next move…

Standing up, he quickly headed for the door, intending to discover the requirements to clear the next task at hand.

00000000000000000000000

Level-headed was just about the last word you could use to describe Kallen Kouzuki at this moment.

Even hours after that simulation, she couldn't temper the righteous fury simmering underneath the surface. Which had ruined her focus in studying the new modification plans that Rakshata had sent her for the Guren Nishiki. Instead, every time she tried to, she was only reminded of what a certain raven-haired amethyst-eyed boy- she cut herself off there, a boy would not do something as monstrous as what he had done- correction, bastard had done to her, causing her to see red in more ways than one.

Which was why she had put everything away and wandered herself down to the small gym on the Tasogare, it wasn't really much, but it had a punching bag, which she was using with a certain degree of ruthlessness, unconsciously placing said offender's face on the bag.

She had been like this for the last half hour, but instead of feeling any better, she only felt more angry and betrayed.

Partner, right, she thought harshly as she dug her right fist into the bag, sidestepping and driving a flurry or punches into the bag, wishing once again it was the aristocratic face of the source of her fury.

Stepping back after settling the bag back into position, she walked over and grabbed a towel to wipe her brow.

It wasn't just the fact that he drugged her that infuriated her, it was the betrayal of her trust that burned even deeper.

The door opened to the small gym, causing her to refocus on the new disturbance, only to have her ire burn to the forefront as the source of her anxiety entered the room.

He stopped to lock the door before turning back to her.

"Kallen, can we talk?"

"Not like I have a choice," she replied acidly, "you locked us in here."

Lelouch glanced back at the door then to her.

"Right. I wanted to talk to you about earlier-"

Her fists curled as she fought the urge to fulfill the punishment she had bestowed upon the bag upon Lelouch.

Calm it, Kallen, as much as you want to throttle him, he's immortal, which means punching him, while fulfilling, will probably result in you hurting yourself.

"You mean drugging me and making me believe you were injured, Tohdoh, all the Holy Swords minus Chiba, and Tamaki died all for a damn test? That's what you are talking about?"

"Yes."

"Well, unless you want to apologize, we're done," she replied irritably.

"Can I ask you a question, Kallen?"

"That's not an apology."

"What do you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? Do you stain your hands with evil to destroy evil, or do you remain steadfastly just and righteous even if it means surrendering to evil?"

There was that smirk, that all-knowing look that Lelouch always had, and frankly, it sickened her, no, scratch that, it pissed her off to no end. How he was always confident, self-assured, so…

Upon further reflection, nothing would ever be so right as to what she did next, as her first curled up into a ball and drove right into his solar plexus with all of her rage, her hate, and her sorrow thrown into one powerful punch.

Lelouch didn't stand a chance, his eyes widening as the air was driven out of his lungs. Dropping to his knees he could swear he was going to die as he fought for breath. Kallen walked past him and started messing with the door panel, intent on leaving, only to discover that it wasn't accepting her code.

"Dammit, Lelouch, unlock this door," Kallen demanded, her head snapping back to the prostrate immortal.

Lelouch could only gasp for air as his body sought desperately to fill the lungs that seemed to not want to function.

Well, that was illuminating, C.C mused in his head, Kallen has a mean punch when pissed.

You could have warned me!

I did.

"Lelouch!"

"Just... answer... the question."

She huffed.

"Fine, if it will get you to let me go. I choose justice, because if you use evil to defeat evil, you become the very evil you were fighting. Whereas if I choose justice, I might lose the fight, but I stand upon my principles, there will be those to continue my example."

Finally able to catch his breath, he slowly got to his feet as he contemplated her answer, perplexed by it. After all, he had expected her to be like him, willing to use any means in order to ensure victory. That was what Geass was, it was akin to turning to an evil genie in order to get their way. So why did she choose justice?

"Then what defines justice," he finally asked, "using your point of view, Kururugi's actions were justified."

Kallen bit her lip, the anger dissipating as her mind chewed on the question. Was it really justice what Suzaku did? If that was true, then wouldn't they truly be the evil? Then everything they had done and intended was necessarily evil.

"Wouldn't you say that what you did was evil, Lelouch?" she found herself asking, "after all, you claim to fight for justice, yet you brazenly took away the free will of anyone who stood against you? In that case, Kururugi would be justified in killing you by your very definition of what you claimed we, as the Black Knights, were."

"That's because I choose to commit evil to destroy the greater evil!"

She flinched, as if he had driven a nail into her, but that pain shifted into something more as she realized exactly what he was getting at, something that had always gnawed at her, despite all of Lelouch's claims of justice, it wasn't ever about freedom, or justice, it was about him, it was never anything BUT him. She had wanted to ignore him when he had claimed it before, she had wanted to simply walk away and accept the fact that Lelouch was being the liar that he was. Instead, no, it was something worse. He was right, but he was wrong. He wasn't committing evil to destroy evil, he WAS evil.

"So that's it, isn't it," she finally asked, more to herself than to him, "that's why you are Zero."

"Indeed."

Her eyes snapped back towards him, as that rage boiled back over, but instead of physically assaulting him, she chose words.

"It's because you're a coward," she stated as caustically as possible, her words a knife, and she intended to dig it into the very man she had worshipped, loved, and had willingly consigned her life to serving, and who had betrayed everything she had believed in.

"Tell me, Kallen, if you'd had the chance to save Naoto, to stop his death and fulfill his dreams, what would you have done to succeed? Or rather... what wouldn't you have done? Anything?"

Kallen paused, taken aback by the question. She was pissed at him for changing the subject, but she knew Lelouch - somehow it related to what they were talking about. When Lelouch honestly wanted to change the subject, he was nowhere near that smooth. So she decided to answer him, just to see what he was getting at... and then realized she didn't have one. She truly didn't know if there was something she'd refuse to do if it meant Naoto would still be alive and Japan was free. Lelouch spoke again - he must have read her thoughts on her face.

"We're not so different after all, are we? I might be evil. I might be a coward. I'm sure I'm a hundred other things, each equally as unflattering. But if that's what it takes to create a world where Nunnally will be free and at peace, I'll do it, just like you would if it was Naoto. And it will hurt, and I'll look back and wonder if all this death really means anything, even though I know the only way to make it meaningful is to keep going until I succeed. But I will keep going, and I'll do whatever I have to, to create a world I can't even live in.

Think of me as a traitor to everything I claim to stand for - it's nothing more and nothing less than I deserve. Yes, Zero's ideals of justice are a lie - I thought you'd have me at least that well figured out. But they're a useful lie, and one that it hurts no-one to believe. Because I will bring them their world of freedom, of peace with and from Britannia. I'll give them what they want, and I'll claim to do it for their reasons. But this isn't some abstract fight for me. This is personal."

"Personal to the point of betraying each other's trust?"

"That was… an oversight. In my zeal to ascertain your capabilities I took certain liberties with you," this caused her eyes to narrow dangerously at his choice of wording, "it was not in my intention to hurt you. But you wanted an explanation and as I've been, shall we say… reminded, we're supposed to be accomplices. So there it is. I won't bother telling you I won't lie to you any more, because we both know that's never going to happen – it's who I am, after all. But I'll do my best only to lie when it's in our best interests. That's all I can give you."

Kallen quietly absorbed the information as her features relaxed, Lelouch quietly gloated in victory at taming the beast. It might have been painful, but he had cleared the obsta-

He was suddenly breathless again as Kallen once again drove her fist into the same spot, causing him to see stars.

"I can handle you lying to me every once in awhile," she hissed, "but if you EVER drug me again, this will be only the beginning of what I will do to you. I am your accomplice, not your pawn. Are we clear?"

Lelouch nodded his head as he held his stomach in his hands.

"Now, is there something else you wanted to talk to me about," she asked, backing away from him, "other than your not-apology."

"Yes," he rasped.

"Well, hurry up."

Recovering as much as he could, he straightened himself.

"We'll be arriving within India's territorial waters within the hour, after that I don't expect long until Rakshata is able to get us an audience with the Maharajah. I want you to use your Geass on him."

"No," she stated bluntly.

He blinked, slightly uncertain what brought this change, "Kallen, we had this discussion already-"

"No, we didn't. All we did discuss was the Geass itself, we didn't discuss its usage."

No, we didn't, Lelouch realized upon review. This could be a problem. But she is my accomplice, and after all this shit I had best hear out her reasoning.

"Continue," he finally said, "why do you refuse to do it?"

She paused to collect her thoughts, surprised that Lelouch had not chosen to simply do what he would normally do and double down on his command.

"Because I refuse to use Geass indiscriminately like you have."

"I didn't Geass indiscriminately!"

"Really? Have you about thought the repercussions for every Geass you have done? Every person you controlled like a puppet?"

"Of course I have!"

"Then would you explain the Massacre Princess?"

"My Geass entered a runaway phase and I lost control of it!"

He was not used to being on the defensive in anything and it showed to Kallen, he didn't like defending himself.

"So you can lose control of Geass. Is that random or from repeated use?"

Lelouch grit his teeth as yet again Kallen struck home with unerring accuracy.

"How did Geassing Suzaku work out? Sure it saved you on Shikine Island, but it came back to bite you in the ass, didn't it. It was that very command that has placed us here, hasn't it?"

Yet, even as he tried to defend that decision, she plowed on.

"Have you ever stopped to think what would happen to you and I if someone ever became aware of Geass and used that knowledge against us? Can you even fathom how much damage that would do if it came to light? Imagine the fine-toothed comb everyone would use to go over every action we have made and how easy it would be for our allies to be replaced simply because of the suggestion we Geassed them? Or maybe those who could have a way to simply break ties using that excuse. Have you thought any of that?"

You know, C.C's voice was back, I was wrong about Kallen. I always thought she was this stereotypical fiery redhead with a dose of ditziness.

She then stopped as Lelouch could hear what sounded like the rustling of paper, before it ended and was replaced by crunching noises.

She's actually got a pretty good head on her shoulders. Perfect for your Empress.

What are you still doing here, C.C., he demanded.

Well, having a case of the deads has deprived me of my Britannian Soap Operas, but it seems the tension between Kallen and yourself is a suitable replacement. Please, continue, the popcorn is delicious.

Eh... how are you eating popcorn?

You'd be surprised at what you can do in the subconscious C.C. mused, Problem, Lelouch?

No!

You mad?

"I'm not mad!"

He then realized, as Kallen had backed away a step that he had yelled that aloud, the look of confusion on her face probably mirroring the dawning horror of his own.

"What was that about?" she demanded.

Quickly trying to do some damage control, he simply decided to roll with it.

"I'm not mad that you're actually questioning me, despite your probable thoughts. I just-"

"No, that was out of the blue," she interrupted him, "what was that?"

Lelouch shook his head.

"That was nothing, just errant thoughts. I'm just tired," he lied.

"Now I know you're lying. You never portray yourself as weak. Out with it, Lelouch."

He sighed, not finding any way to escape this.

"Let's just say a certain former immortal has taken up residence in my head and leave it at that."

Kallen looked at him for the longest of times before she suddenly burst out laughing.

"You mean to say that you have her stuck in your head? I never believed in karma before, but I think for this, I can safely say it has made a believer out of me."

"I wouldn't wish this upon you," he growled irritably.

I'm hurt, Lelouch.

"No, you'd just spike my drink."

"Moving on," he decided to cut his losses and change the subject before any further physical harm befell him, "I can understand your reluctance and I can see some of the wisdom, however, being reluctant in using Geass could hurt us in the more immediate timeframe."

"Then let me make the choice Lelouch or do you not trust me?"

"There's too much riding on this Kallen, if we can't get the Maharajah to side with us..."

"Then I will use Geass."

You're not going to win this Lelouch, C.C. warned, not that it was needed, he had already come to that conclusion.

"Very well," he finally said, "but if this fails then it is solely your fault."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Before he could say anything more, the door behind him opened up to reveal Tohdoh as he stepped in.

"Kallen... Lelouch, we've entered Indian waters and have been contacted by representatives of the Maharajah concerning a meeting."

That was surprising, Lelouch observed, he had expected at least a day of having Rakshata send out feelers. This could be good or bad, depending on what was causing this. Which made sense as to why Tohdoh would be here, wouldn't it?

"Is there anything else?"

"No. They only to see the upper ranks of the Black Knights."

"And what's Kirihara saying?"

"He'll arrive tomorrow."

Not soon enough. We'll have to make do without him. He then looked to Kallen.

"I know," she said, "what I said still stands."

Knowing discretion was the better part of valor he turned back to Tohdoh.

"Is there anything else?

"There is one thing. It is in the future, but since you're so focused on improving Kallen, why don't you focus on improving yourself?"

"How so?"

"Namely your physical capabilities or lack thereof."

He could almost hear C.C.'s laughter ringing throughout his head as he felt the urge to flee. Physical activities were the bane of his existence, his strength was intelligence not brawn, how can Tohdoh even think about trying to improve his strength when he was the perfect physical specimen of a wet noodle.

"As much as I would probably benefit from a physical regimen," he lied, "unfortunately due to my current circumstances, it would probably be pointless to do so."

...That may not be true Lelouch.

What?

Please. Did you really think I order all of those pizzas just to bankrupt you?

I thought you more did it to constantly remind me what an annoyance you can be.

That really hurts, you know. But no, outside of my undying love for all things pizza, the reason I require such a large amount of sustenance is because I have an abnormally high metabolism. Of course, as much as I loathe to admit it, my weight did vary back and forth just a bit, so needless to say, you could improve your physique. I think Kallen would appreciate it.

I swear you will be the death of me, C.C.

That's somewhat hard to do, since you technically can't die, now can you, Lelouch.

He honestly wished he could provide the formerly immortal, now perpetually demonic witch a scowl. But of course that wasn't possible, as C.C.'s chuckle confirmed, so instead he did the next best thing he could, he started trying to tune her out.

"Still, Lelouch, even if it may be a pointless effort," Tohdoh continued, "I feel I would be derelict in my duty of ensuring the Black Knights' continuance if I did not attempt to improve your physical capabilities now that you no longer have your… partner to pilot you around in the Gawain."

Here however, he could scowl, which he did almost immediately. It was becoming readily apparent that since his unmasking it seemed everyone was willing to run roughshod over him when they thought they were right, and for some damnable cosmic reason, they were more often than not were now.

"Fine," he huffed irritably, looking at Tohdoh and Kallen, "we'll start working on this after we deal with the Maharajah. Since I'm now going to have to pilot the Gawain myself, I need to be in shape, don't I?"

Almost immediately he regretted his decision as he noted both Tohdoh and Kallen's predatory smirks.

A/N: Well, I decided to break the planned street-date on the latest chapter because of delays in the inaugural chapter to the sidestories. Don't be too worried, "Badr Day" will probably be released by next week at the very latest, I just figured you were all chomping at the bit to read the latest chapter.

This has probably been the hardest chapter to write for me yet, which doesn't exactly bode well for the continuation of the story. Nothing to exactly worry about at this time, but it has me leery, I'll probably need to take a small break to recharge in the near future though.

Moving on to credits, I would like to thank Magery for the support in a section, but I would like to extend an even heartier thank you to SkyeElf for the Beta support she has provided. It means a lot to have someone calling me out for my fails in writing.

I will be taking a short hiatus though to go back and clean up the previous chapters so they better mesh. So when I post up the next chapter, feel free to mosey on back and take a gander to see the small changes made.

Anyways, short A/N, so I'll just leave you with a request to leave a review, tell me how good or bad I'm doing or any questions. I usually answer within a day's time unless I'm really busy. Until next people.