Chapter 23: Heroes or Villains

The early morning sun rose over Area 11. However, at this hour, many were already awake and either on their way to work or already there. However, there was still some time for students to remain in the land of dreams, something that some took advantage of more than others.

In a lofty and large room that could only belong to a child of nobility, Kallen lay on her stomach in nothing but her underwear, a trail of clothes leading up to the bed, giving an idea of how exhausted she had been when she had returned the night prior. When she started to wake, she could pick up the news being broadcast on the antique radio which her brother had got her for her 16th birthday; the girl shifted her head a little as it seemed that even 2 weeks since the hotel jacking and the Black Knight's debut, the news was still talking about it. However, they had no clue that Cornelia let them go.

'Cornelia wouldn't want it to be known she gave us safe passage,' Kallen half grumbled, half thought as she still found it crazy that Lelouch either had the foresight or the balls of steel to trust that the Viceroy would keep her end of the bargain once she got her sister back.

Kallen's last few minutes of dozing were interrupted when she heard a crash outside her door. Quickly opening her eyes, she wondered what it was and went to investigate, but not before grabbing a sleeping robe to cover herself.

Exiting her bedroom, she looked around and found the cause of the noise. One of the maids was kneeling before a broken chandelier, its glass shattered and crystal accessories all over the floor. To the side, she saw a step ladder lying on its side, still in the deployed position but with one of its rungs broken. That was enough for her to put the pieces together.

"Kallen," the maid turned upon seeing her but quickly corrected herself. I mean, Ms. Stadtfeld, forgive me. I didn't wish to wake you." She apologized as Kallen looked over the scene, her brow creased as it looked like her day would start poorly.

“Another accident?” She felt annoyed just by asking about it, as she already knew the ladder wouldn't have broken.

The maid bowed her head, turning away from her heiress, though that didn’t hide her Japanese features from Kallen’s keen blue eyes. "I'm afraid so; the step ladder broke when I was coming down with the chandelier.”

"Just get it cleaned up. I don't have time to waste; I need to get ready for school." She turned to return to her room.

“Ms. Stadtfeld, if I may say, the staff has noticed you've been attending school more lately. Have you perhaps made some friends? " the maid raised her head and asked, a soft smile on her face only making Kallen's guts twist all the more.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your concern,” she said, slamming the door shut on the hired help. The woman, seemingly unaffected by the incident, continued to gaze lovingly at the closed door, while on the other side, Kallen was seething with all sorts of emotions.

"Just go…will you? " she muttered, hated seeing her here but couldn't focus on it, wouldn't focus on it. She had made her choice, and if it was the life she wanted…she couldn't stop her. Gathering her wits, Kallen got ready for school, grabbed some things for a quick shower, laid out her uniform, and ignored the family picture she had above the fireplace.

Line Break

As night fell on the settlement, more illicit deals were carried out, with the Black Knights targeting another such operation, as they had been since their debut. This time, Zero led them to disrupt an illegal attempt to sell critical welfare supplies destined for the ghettos. Getting into position, Kallen and the rest could hear how the bastards inside didn't have a shred of decency or shame for their dealing, one going as far as to claim that more of their people needed to die to 'thin their numbers.'

Hearing such a thing made it more satisfying when they cut out the lights and quickly eliminated the guards the two corrupt officials had stationed outside. By the time the lights had been restored, the room was left in shock and fear at their appearance at the top of the overhead walkways.

Kallen recalled the firefight well enough and how it was both brief and horrible one-sided, but one thing that stuck out to her was that opening moment, that terror that formed in their faces, and they saw them and called out-

"The Black Knights!" Kallen stood up and announced, only for reality to catch up with her sleep-deprived brain.

She wasn't back in the field, it wasn't the dead of night, and she wasn't acting as her true self. It was the middle of the school day, and she had just jumped to her feet and called out her group's name in the middle of physics. It's safe to say no one knew what to make of it.

Others laughed at her for it, leaving her feeling embarrassed. The teacher settled things and instructed her not to sleep in her class, as it seemed like she was having a dream about that new terrorist group.

Line Break

When class ended, Shirley and Rivalz approached her, a little concerned over her odd moment, which she wrote off as having a weird dream.

“Still, it’s not like you to fall asleep in class, Kallen.” Shirley pressed, and Kallen was both touched and annoyed by how caring Shirley could be. "Are you sure you'll be all right? You can take some time off and rest at home if you need it. I'll just copy some of my notes and hand them to you when you're feeling better."

"It's fine. It's just been a few bad nights lately. It'll fade." She shook her head, keeping the act up as Rivalz nodded towards Lelouch, who hadn't risen from his seat by the window.

"If not, you can try hitting up Lelouch; he's an expert at sleeping in class." She and Shirley turned to him, with Lelouch having his back to them, his head resting on his knuckles as he seemingly contemplated something or, as Rivalz suggested, slept in the open.

“Is he asleep right now?” she asked. He didn't move and didn't give obvious signs that he was sleeping.

Rivalz shrugged. "I couldn't tell you; the only way you'll know is if you approach him, but he's a real light sleeper and can wake up," he snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”

"And yet he can still find the means to fall asleep in class. It's a bad habit that he needs to break one of these days before it lands him in trouble." Shirley frowned at their VP, who was always doing stuff like this and setting a bad example for their juniors.

Rivalz just saw it as amusing. “They’ll need to catch him out on it, but he’s giving them plenty of chances as he sleeps through around half our classes now.” The best part was that despite how little Lelouch cared for class, he kept up with the syllabus and thus couldn't be caught out by questions about the current topic, so their teachers stopped using that.

‘I can guess why,’ Kallen was a little envious of her leader for his apparent talent for getting sleep whenever he could squeeze it in. “Any reason for that?” She played dumb on it though.

Shirley admitted that she didn't have a clue, but Rivalz had a theory. "My money's on him staying up late watching the council building, as since that hotel jacking, his momma bear instincts have shot through the roof. He walks Nunnally to her classes in the morning and collects her in the afternoons. I heard his presence is like a storm, pretty scary."

Oh, that made sense as a reason, but knowing how Lelouch dedicated himself to his sister's well-being and how he had been when he first heard of the hotel jacking, she wouldn't be surprised if it was both. How long could he split his time between acting as his sister's overzealous protector and the masked rebel Zero?

"Lulu should learn to lighten up. Nunna's completely safe here on campus. All he's doing is making things harder for her." Shirley noted that she had seen how he acted around his sister now, especially when others were close. At this rate, any goodwill Nunna had earned from those in her grade would vanish, and they'd return to where things started.

Well, but entirely, as that Alice girl had been hanging around Nunnally a lot lately, she was a bit too close to Lulu's brand of protectiveness for Shirley's liking.

"Tell that to him. Milly already tried, and it was like talking to a brick wall." Rivalz reminded her of a talk that Kallen must not have been present for.

Line Break

Lelouch wasn't the only over-protective sibling who had been on edge lately, as off in the settlement at a railway hub that was mainly used by the military, Cornellia, in full regalia, was seeing to the movement of some of her troops to the same airbase she had arrived in a few weeks prior, at her side was her sister though in recent days, she had seldom been far from it. When she wasn't in eyesight, her sister had Guilford leave his post at his princess' side to 'protect' her.

Euphemia understood why her sister was nervous after the hotel jacking and Zero's threat on her life, but it only made things all the more… strained between them, as their prior arguments hadn't just vanished. They only got worse the day after the jacking when Euphemia asked if her sister had plans to carry out more purges, and Cornelia couldn't just tell her ‘no,' making it clear that it was Euphemia’s life that stayed in her sister's hand.

Did Cornelia ever voice such? Of course not, nor did she expect her sister to. She was a proud woman, a fierce warrior who would rarely show weakness. Still, she was also someone who believed their father's dogma on Britannian supremacy, so such a person would never admit to being intimidated by Zero, but she knew her sister.

When her sister spoke, she could hear the deep irritation in her seemingly calm delivery. "The E.U. has started an offensive along the El Alamein front.” To those who heard that, they would assume she was upset that the E.U. was finally making their move, one that could see the Suez fall back into E.U. hands, but Euphemia knew better.

She was upset that she was being called away from Area 11 and couldn't take Euphemia.

“We can’t keep going on dragging our feet around here. I want to stamp out resistance and turn this God-forsaken place into a proper satellite nation. But to do that, we need to gut out the old administrative state and rebuild it from the ground up and handle the terrorist problem." Cornelia frowned, as those were already hard tasks to handle. Even with Cornelia going at it like a maniac, there was still rot that needed to be located and purged, which was something that Euphemia gave her full support for.

“And as if these Elevens just love causing trouble for is, there is the copious refrain use among their population. Productivity is plummeting.” That statement only made it hard for Euphemia to support her sister’s other actions.

Yes, she agreed that the drug problem had to be handled. Still, she didn't wish to do so because it hurt production or some other heartless economic reason. “It’s coming in through the Chinese Federation’s Kyushu route, so we’ll strike there and sever the main artery, then it’ll be a matter of finding whatever supplies remain and destroying it.”

“We’ve already drawn up plans to handle the corruption in the system and this growing drug epidemic, but I'm not the one who’s transferring to the battlefield. Stay safe, sister." Euphemia, not wanting this to devolve into another argument, just focused on her worries for her sister as, despite her titles, it would only take a single mistake, a stroke of bad luck, that could see Cornelia captured or worse.

“You as well, I don’t want you leaving the settlement.” Cornelia reminded her.

“Viceroy, what are you planning to do with them, with the Black Knights?” At Euphemia’s question, Cornelia’s face twisted into a snarl, no doubt still wishing she could have taught Zero a lesson for his last act before he and his Black Knights vanished.

"Loathed as I am to admit it, they've proven useful in hunting down some annoying elements that were hampering the state's capacity to properly function. That, along with following through and saving your life, I'm inclined to give them a little more legroom for now,"

Still, she couldn’t always be angry, not with her sister looking at her with such worry as Cornelia gently grasped her face, a bit of that younger, kinder side of her older sister peeking through. "Sub-vice…sister, once I've cleaned up this Area, I would like you to govern it; perhaps you can solve the riddle that Clovis couldn't, Euphemia, but till then, please stay out of harm's way.”

“The riddle?” Euphemia asked before she recalled the reason that Clovis had taken this role. But now, she couldn't think of her kind older brother without thinking of the man he became at the end and the fact that awaited him.

At the hands of Zero.

“Yes, he was quite the devil, but that wasn’t the only reason I killed him….A personal reason…was because he was a child of the 98th emperor, Charles zi Britannia.”

“That reminds me, aren’t you another of his spawn?...But tonight, your life is safe; that was the deal I struck with your sister, and I'm a man of my word.”

Those were Zero’s words that night. She could steel near feel his hatred for her father on her body. Such strong emotions that ran that deep didn't just come from nothing but through the loss of something just as precious. But that didn't do as much as she would like to narrow down suspects, especially when Zero's mask made it impossible to read his true identity from voice queues.

“Princess Euphemia, you were willing to expose yourself to protect others, which was quite a strange act from a royal. Perhaps it's just a mark of how little you've changed.”

But he also said that to her. It was the first thing he did when he addressed her. Such words could only come from someone she knew? 'How little you've changed?' Meant that it had been some time since they would have seen one another, but she didn't have many acquaintances, and most of her sisters were soldiers. She felt like she knew the answer, but it was always out of reach; she was just one step away from that epiphany.

That wasn't the only shocking thing from that night, as her sister brought up Clovis' belief that Lelouch had left him a riddle in Area 11, which only reminded her that she had seen Nunnally at the hotel. That couldn't have been anyone else; she saw her baby sister alive and well. How was she alive? How did she survive for this long when it was clear she and her older brother, Lelouch, had been sent to die. Was he still alive? Why hadn't Nunnally ever come forward? Why didn't she contact them again and allow them to believe she was dead?

She hadn't made a move then, as she didn't want to draw attention to the fact there were two princesses there, but she hadn't made a move since because she didn't know what she could do. At the time, she vaguely recognized the blonde who defended the Nina girl, and it was only with a good night's rest and time to think it over that she recalled the face.

Milly Ashford, the daughter of the Ashford family who both ran the school she had sent Suzaku to…and were once Lady Marriane's closest supporters. She didn't know why she didn't think of it sooner, but it would make perfect sense that Nunnally could find refuge with them…but would that mean the Ashford were also covering things up? And Suzaku, if she wasn't mistaken, his family had hosted her siblings, so surely he would recognize her if he had seen her around campus…

…but he had never said anything, not to her. Not to Cornelia, not to anyone. Why? Was it because he hadn't seen her or because he was in on it?

She found herself questioning a lot and didn't know who to turn to. Cornelia was out; she was already busy, but more than that…she worried that she would take things too far and punish them for what could just as easily be everyone following a request from Nunnally. For as much as it pained her, her time trapped in the Viceroy's palace meant that she had time to think, and she could understand why Nunnally wouldn't have wished to return.

‘Nunnally…Lelouch, I just want to talk to you…but how? How do I do that without you vanishing from my life again?’ She thought to herself, parting ways with her sister.

As she did so, Cornelia noted Guilford coming to her side. “Are things well?” Guilford asked as they settled down in a private train car, away from their troops, where Cornelia could relax.

“Euphie needs a protector, someone I can trust with chaotic things," Cornelia stated. However, she already knew that broaching the topic of a knight for Euphemia would only lead to further arguments. Regardless of what she said, the right to appoint one's night feels strictly to the royal in question.

Guilford could see the issue, as Euphemia was turning into quite the wilful young woman. Even then, the list of candidates in Area 11 for the role was low. However, there was a person he had recently spoken to who could transfer…

"Well, if I may, I do have a suggestion. She's an old friend, and I can vouch for her merit." Guilford noted, which grabbed his princess’ attention as Guilford, similar to Cornelia, had high standards and rarely would praise, much less recommend someone.

“Her name?”

Guilford nodded. “Sapphire Kalas.”

Line Break

"Man, this double life is killing my sleep schedule." Kallen yawned, holding herself up with a hand on the wall, having paused in her trip to the student council room. With only a couple hours of sleep for days now, she was far from her best and would probably need to tell Ohgi to give her an advanced heads-up that she could get at least another couple of hours before any new attacks.

She might need to ask Lelouch how he managed to function as well as he did when he had to get less rest than her. Ohgi often said being a leader meant more work, and that was on top of his brotherly instincts being on high alert.

"Still, I can't believe that he would…" Yes, she knew his secrets, at least what seemed to be his biggest, but that only made the contrast all the greater. Yes, he was polite to Suzaku, even protecting him whenever he could, but as he often said-that was in the school rules. The rest of the council seemed decent people, yet none were terrorists against the empire. He just seemed like the typical eccentric noble who just didn't act like a complete ass.

“Hold him down, Suzaku!” Milly’s order rang out, loud enough to carry from the distant council room door.

“What?” Kallen asked as she approached, hearing Lelouch’s muffled protest.

“Dammit, Suzaku, don’t listen to her!” Lelouch grumbled, his irritation palpable. Kallen couldn’t ignore his struggle; he needed to be kept in check before his head grew too big.

"Sorry, Lelouch. I'm following the president's orders!" Suzaku replied, and Kallen couldn't help but smile.

“Yeah, like you’re enjoying this at all!” Lelouch shot back as Kallen opened the door, concealing her amusement behind a demure smile.

"What… is going on here?" Kallen inquired, her tone softening as she entered the scene before her.

Inside the council room, most furniture had been cleared away. Only Nina’s desk and computer remained, where the mousy girl worked diligently in a cat costume. In fact, nearly the entire council, including Nunnally, had donned costumes. Lelouch was being restrained in a chair while Shirley applied makeup to his face, i.e., making him seem like a cat, the boy already wearing the suit pants, though how they got him into them…

Milly, spotting Kallen, raised her hand like a cat’s paw. “Good meowing,” she quipped.

“G-good morning. Can someone please explain what’s happening?” Kallen asked.

"Didn't we tell you? It's our welcome party for Arthur," Rivalz announced, gesturing toward a frolicking cat playing on a newly installed set. Kallen recalled the trouble that mischievous feline had caused when she'd offered a kiss from a student council member as a reward for catching it. And now it was just lounging about, though she could tell that at least Cathy   the Dobermann and Willy the Beagle didn’t like seeing the cat either, both eyeing it, seemingly waiting for the word to attack and be done with it.

“With afternoon classes postponed, we might as well have some fun,” Milly noted.

“I set aside some things for you; why don’t you check out the costume rack?” Shirley offered apologetically, as she had been trying to make up with Kallen about her overreacting about her moments with Lelouch, to which the redhead waved off. It wasn't as serious as Shirley thought, anyway. However, she felt a little bad for the girl, falling for a guy already in a relationship.

“She doesn’t need a mask,” Lelouch remarked with a knowing smile that nearly earned him a slap. “She’s already wearing one.”

Kallen glared at him. “You’re a real riot, Lelouch. The kind of guy that’ll be on television. Makes me wonder how you ever got Claude to date you.”

Kallen looked around the room and saw only the council members and their honorary members. “Speaking of which, where is she? And the rest of those girls from before."

Milly sighed. “Claude's not a student and outright refused before she vanished off. Nunnally’s new friends also had things to do.” She had been so eager to get them into this, but alas, it seemed that Lelouch gave them the heads-up, as she couldn't find Alice and the rest of her friends.

"I would have handed in a letter of resignation if it got me out of this," Lelouch muttered, acting like a stubborn old dog being told to play.

“Big brother, you shouldn’t joke like that.” Nunnally scolded him, to which he frowned deeper. Still, he didn't fight his sister on this. Kallen was quite perplexed but also intrigued by how easily the man who could face an empire and stand tall could easily bend to his baby sister's whims.

"As for my apparent television-level good looks and charm, I would have to say we should look at our media sensations.” Lelouch nodded towards Shirley, who frowned at him.

"It's not funny, Lulu! Because of that stupid hotel-jacking, we haven't been able to leave campus for the last week, and people try and question us everywhere, even the baths!" She and the others had dealt with enough from the rest of the students on a daily basis, with only class being a respite as their teachers kept their students in check, but between classes? At lunch? After school? It was chaos.

"It's just Nunnally and the rest of the middle schoolers who've avoided the worst of it." Milly looked towards the girl in question; Willy was seated in Nunnally's lap while at the side, nesting on the sides of her wheelchair, were the two ravens, which really gave off an odd energy. “It helps that the council’s little sweetie always has 3 big ole dogs protecting her.”

Nunnally frowned. "It's not as fun as you think it is; Big Brother insists they remain with me even in class."

“If I had my way, I would have got you more than just the 3.” At that, all three of the dogs on Nunnally protection barked in agreement, to which Lelouch nodded. "As you can see, they agree that there's strength in numbers."

“Lelouch, just having Cathy and Luluko with me is enough. Cathy being there scares people; even my teachers walk on eggshells." Nunnally reminded him, as she loved all their pets. Despite her breed's reputation, Cathy was one of the sweetest, loving cuddles and playtime. But others didn't see that; they just saw a Doberman and thought they had to always be aware of the existence of the. Nunnally could practically smell the fear of them.

"If they're merely doing their jobs, then they have nothing to fear from them. They know full well how well I've trained all of our dogs; they wouldn't act without cause." Lelouch brushed that off, leaving Nunnally sighing as Kallen felt for her. Big brothers could be idiots sometimes.

“I get that not all of you got the momma bear treatment to keep curious folks at bay,” Rivalz started.

“I refute that,” Lelouch but in.

“Buddy, hush,” Rivalz silenced his friend before returning to his conversation with Milly. “But why can’t the rest of us leave campus either?”

Milly crossed her arms and turned her nose up. "It's the price of friendship. It matters that we were born apart; on this day, we die as one."

“Is that your idea of a love quote?” Rivalz asked.

Milly smirked at him, waving her hand like a little kitty's paw. “If I go down, I’m taking the rest of you all with me.”

"And she wonders why she's seen a dictator," Lelouch noted. Shirley and Nina nodded, all knowing how when Milly got an idea…

"You act like I don't already know, my trusted attack dog. Now stay still while Shirley makes you look nice and pretty." Milly ordered with a laugh, Lelouch frowning. However, tied to the seat and held down by Rivalz and Suzaku, he could only accept his fate.

“At this rate, we might need to get Lelouch a collar, right Suzaku?” Rivalz didn’t hear a response and looked towards. “Suzaku?”

“Sorry, it’s just…I’m so happy that everything worked out.” Suzaku replied, tearing up at how they could keep having such moments. When he had seen the hotel crumble, his heart had nearly shattered as he believed they were all dead.

As Rivalz jumped Suzaku and started messing with him for tearing up when it was a fun time, Kallen could only watch in, still a little out of it and not for her lack of proper rest. Instead, it was just from how surreal the scene was. ‘It’s weird…thinking that we helped to save their lives…’

Line Break

‘Ever since they made their big splash at the hotel, they become what Zero said they would, friends to the weak and the banes to the strong as in those 2 weeks, they’d targeted any and everyone that the law couldn't, that the law wouldn't.' Kallen thought to herself, recalling things she had seen through the settlement.

People gathered around Zero's wanted posters, furiously reading the latest newspaper. Fellow Japanese put on little shows where one dressed as Zero and tried to imitate him. Or those gathered around those they had captured and left strung up for all the world to see, only a few lucky enough to be left alive, as many others. It was their corpse-dressed as they were when they found them.

Fellow terrorist groups targeted civilians, military targets, criminal syndicates, and corrupt politicians. It didn't matter who you were and what power you had. Once their leader set his sights on them, they moved brutally, striking under cover of knights with guns and knightmares, Zero often leading the charge from Sutherland rather than his Nemesis.

‘We’re gaining support from the people, donations, equipment. They even got some new knightmares, though they were all Burai, nothing compared to their Sutherlands. Still, Kallen saw a mother scolding her child for playing Zero, the Japanese woman making it clear how dangerous it was for them and that they should know their place.

‘In the eyes of the world, we’re still terrorists, and Zero still killed Clovis. Such a crime can't be forgotten, and for those who support us, it means they must hide it.' Many who acted in favor of them had done so away from the public eye or in crowds that wouldn't report. She wondered about that and about their masked leader. They were all terrorists, but the target on his head and the weight on his shoulders were far greater than the rest.

And yet, both as Zero and as Lelouch, he seemed to handle such with grace and poise, never slipping or faltering despite it all. He even found time to still be Nunnally's overbearing older brother, much to her protest.

Line Break

Lelouch was walking out of the council building with a rare look of confusion on his face, which, sadly, Rivalz didn't see as he was off the path, working on his bike. "Hey there, pal. Haven't seen you much lately." Rivalz noted.

“Really? Now that you mention it, it has been a while since we’ve done something together.” Lelouch replied, as while he had canceled their gambling escapades, he hadn't been spending that much time with Rivalz, had he?

"No kidding, it's like your head's focused on something else," Rivalz told him, as he knew when his friend was scheming, and he's been having that face a lot lately.

"Truth be told, it is. We had Suzaku becoming a student and all the hooligans coming out of the woodwork for that, and then those new transfer friends of Kallen's." Lelouch replied, using a half-truth as that was no lie, but he just kept out the real thing that had been taking so much of his time.

Still, it wouldn't sit right with him if he only focused on that, so he offered a suggestion: "Still, it would be a shame if we didn't try and correct things. Why don't we head out and catch a movie?”

"You for real?" Rivalz asked him, as Lelouch rarely watched a movie straight. Even when the council had movie nights, he was often busy or didn't pay attention. When Lelouch nodded, he decided not to look this gift horse in the mouth and got up, dusting himself off. “I’m game, but we’ll need to take the subway since I’m not done with my bike yet.”

Lelouch looked at the vehicle that had taken him around the settlement several times now, one he knew was reliable and something Rivalz took great pride in, as he got it with money he earned. “Didn’t you do maintenance on it the other day with Suzaku?”

"Yeah, but then I hit something like a pothole on the road this morning, and it's been making a weird sound ever since.” Lelouch raised an eyebrow at that. Rivalz would need bad luck to hit a pothole in the settlement, where roads were regularly serviced. "By the way, weren't you going to spend the afternoon with Nunnally and Claude? What, they kick you out?" When Lelouch didn’t immediately deny that, Rivalz froze as there was no way…but it could explain…

“They totally did, didn’t they?” Rivalz started laughing, wishing he had been a fly on the wall for that conversation. Lelouch was getting booted from his own darn house by his girlfriend and baby sister.

Lelouch grunted, but it didn't stop him from taking joy in his embarrassing situation, as he wasn't even allowed to take one of the dogs with him, Claude insisting they stay behind to 'protect Nunnally' so he couldn't even head to the park and have some fun with a canine comrade. "Claude thought it would be good if I got some fresh air, " Nunnally agreed. I didn't have much choice."

"Wow, it looks like your cub's warming up to her. That's a huge thing." Rivalz nudged his side as he heard that the best thing someone wanting to date a single parent could do was befriend the kid.

Lelouch’s mood soured. "Keep up the momma bear talk, and you'll be Gustavus’s new chew toy.”

“Oh, you'll never do that. You love me too much, best buddy!" Rivalz challenged as he turned to joy as he approached the dorms. "Give me a second to go change. I'll meet you at the main gate!"

Line Break

Inside the council building, Nina kept it at her computer with Beren, the Australian Terrier, on her lap. Though her fingers kept typing away, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Ever since the hotel jacking, she couldn't help but see Nunnally in a new light. She had been terrified, about to die, and yet Nunnally had been the one to speak up. Even though Princess Euphemia was there, Nunnally put herself in danger for her.

Even when they returned to campus, and Lelouch practically swarmed his baby sister, she hadn't told him everything. Nina was terrified that his infamous ire would land on her head, but Nunnally didn't say a word to his brother.

"I know that you were scared; that's okay. It was a scary situation, so I don't want my brother to treat you any differently for it." Nunnally had told her when she worked up the courage to ask at the sight of that bright smile, so open and bright.

'No, don't like that. She's just a friend…and Lelouch would kill me.' Nina shook her head at such fancy fantasies. Even if she waited a few years to ask her out, Lelouch was famous for how protective he was. She knew she would wilt under his judging eye as he zeroed in on every flaw she knew she had; those flaws had nearly gotten them killed.

Best to…keep it out of mind. She was still friends with Nunnally; that was enough for her. It would have to be enough for her.

Line Break

While Lelouch and Rivalz went out to find a movie, preferably not a rom-com or action movie, others focused on the sudden success of the Black Knights. The JLF was no exception, as Todhoh held a meeting with his four holy swords, his most trusted and capable soldiers.

“Why would the masses flock to them after they saved Princess Euphemia?” Urabe Kōsetsu asked.

“Even Kyoto said they'll send them the Guren Mk II.” Senba Ryōga, the oldest member of the Four Holy Swords and the oldest person in the room, added to the bad news. They didn't know much about the unit. Still, they knew that the Guren was rumored to be Japan's first 7th-generation knightmare, giving it superior specs to their Burai and even the Sutherlands, the backbone of Britannia's knightmare forces.

Asahina Shōgo blinked, needing a moment to understand the outlandishness of such a move. “To those would-be Robin Hoods? They must be joking." Did those Charlatans even have a pilot who was able to use it?

“They’re not part of the resistance; Zero’s made that clear when he killed Kusakabe.” Chiba Nagisa, the lone female member of the Swords, kept it professional. However, she couldn't hide all her disapproval of the Black Knights.

Urabe snorted as he crossed his arms. “And in doing so, demonize the rest of us. I almost want to thank him for handling him before he went and killed Euphemia." Make no mistake, he didn't care for the princess. As far as he was concerned, she'd order something horrible, like Clovis did Shinjuku, and Cornelia did Saitama. Still, the key thing here was that she hadn't done so. Also, they had looked into Cornelia when she arrived, and the intelligence that Kyoto could provide painted a picture of Cornelia caring deeply for her sister.

She was enough of a problem, but if Cornelia's sister was killed by someone wearing their uniform…well, Cornelia might go on a warpath as they had heard stories of what happened to cities that held out against her in the former Middle Eastern Federation. The Japanese didn't need that brutality brought here, not again.

Of course, Kusakabe should have known that, as they had been aiming to eliminate the biggest known threat in Cornelia. However, the idiot had to jump the gun and, in doing so, lost one of the only five Raiko they had.

Senba, along with the rest, turned to their commanding officer, who had remained silent, contemplating as they debated. “Lieutenant Colonel Todhoh, your thoughts?” the old veteran asked.

“The Japanese people rally to their cause because, at least at the moment, Zero is maintaining his honor. Thus far, he's only acted like a figure of retribution." Tohdoh started, as perhaps it was naïve, but he had no issue with it. People needed to believe that justice would strike and to have a symbol to believe it, and like it or not, Zero was both things to them.

“As for the Guren…I can't speak about what Kyoto intends, but I know this isn't as simple as it seems. There is more to this than just the gifting such a valuable tool. For now, it would be wise to observe but also make ready, as despite Euphemia's survival, Kusakabe must have put us on Cornelia's map. She could be preparing to find and eliminate us." He concluded as he had already spoken with the General about this.

“Understood!” His swords bowed to him before he excused them.

Line Break

I'm starting this later than I would like, but I can work with this. However, this won't be something I'll repeat for a while, as the second last chapter of Golden Ending has already been uploaded. Next week, I'll have the final one done. After that, I'll maybe do something similar to Demon Reigns and have three bonus chapters with DLC love interests. However, I'm still undecided on how to make it, not just in pairings.

Back to this, someone recommended some more changes that really seemed like they'd be fun to work with. Given how much I've already gone off the rails with things, it will surely add to the story. As for that change, you'll just have to read it and see. When you do, kindly put thoughts, theories, and takes into a comment. I always enjoy reading those.