Disclaimer: As much as I would like to claim I do, I do not own Code Geass.

Chapter five - Return of Zero

"My girlfriend."

Deadpan.

That was the expression on all the faces of the students that were currently crowded around a mysterious, white-haired man. Now that they thought about it, it really wouldn't be weird for this man and that equally mysterious and beautiful woman to be dating.

It was just the manner in which they interacted that slightly confused them...well, that and the jealously that arose in more than a few students of both genders.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to enjoy the rest of this ball." With that, the mysterious figure made his way to one of the various tables on each side of the festively decorated ballroom, his two companions following behind.

The students, not seeing any reason to keep on bothering the person, dropped the subject of the demon and his witch.

It wasn't that they'd have a chance with either, now that they knew the two were together.

As they reached the tabled, Clovis poured himself a drink. "She really is your girlfriend, what with that overly flashy entrance earlier," the former viceroy remarked with a smile as he sipped his drink.

Rolo snickered slightly as his brother replied in an amused tone, "Yeah, well, we did pick up a few things from eachother."

Now that he thought about it, he was sure that he'd gotten a lot more perverted after spending over a year with the immortal witch, which wasn't surprising in the least. Shaking that thought away, he poured himself a drink aswell as he watched the ball return to normal.

Well, relatively speaking; the ball had lost all normalcy it had retained, which wasn't much to begin with as it was organized by the perverted and mischievous student council president, Milly Ashford, as soon as Lelouch and his brothers had entered the room.

The dark prince shrugged and took a sip of his drink, not paying attention to the orange-haired girl that slowly made her way to the group of three.

"E-Excuse me, w-would you like to dance?"

Shit.

That was only one of the many colourful words flying through the dark prince's mind as he realized, or rather remembered what he had done.

Sure, he didn't return Shirley's feelings, but that didn't mean that he wanted to break her heart; something which he had most probably achieved with what he had done not ten minutes ago. The fact that he hadn't done it intentionally didn't stop him from cursing himself into the very depths of hell and back.

Slowly, he turned around, only to see the girl that he thought would be heartbroken at this point smiling at him shyly. The dark prince could tell that it was forced, but still, he had to give her credit.

"I...Sure," he replied, internally cursing a certain blonde for telling Shirley who he was behind the mask. With that, he led the girl to the dancefloor.

As they reached said dancefloor, the band had just begun to play a slow paced song, which both teens settled in to.

Lelouch tried to act indifferent, as if he hadn't just most likely broken the heart of the girl he was currently dancing with.

They kept on dancing, ignoring the glances that were sent their way, before the question that Lelouch had anticipated, but had yet to find an answer to, was voiced by the orangette, "S-So...who was that girl?"

The dark prince sighed as he regarded her face, which was etched with a multitude of emotions.

Hurt, confusion, regret; the whole program was being mixed and tossed around in her olive eyes.

"...A person very dear to me," Lelouch replied, as that was the only answer he could come up with that wouldn't reveal too much about C.C., nor implicate that the woman he had danced with so passionately and kissed had been someone he had met right then and there.

"I-I see," the orangette said, feeling tears starting to percolate in her eyes as she tried to hide her face from her not-so-secret crush, who had interrupted the dance in order to comfort her, worry and a slight bit of regret evident in his violet orbs.

Keyword, tried.

Turning on her heel, the orangette quickly started to make her way out of the ballroom.

Damn it, Lelouch cursed inwardly, what the hell should I have said?!

He attempted to take after the fleeing form of Shirley, but was quickly halted by none other than the person that had brought all this about.

That wasn't to say that Lelouch wasn't grateful to her anyway; he wouldn't have remotely known what to do after he had gotten the girl to listen to him.

"Sorry," the student council president started, regretting to have told Shirley who Lelouch was, "I'll go talk to her." Normally, Milly and regret didn't fit together all too well, but even she hadn't anticipated this. How could she have known that Lelouch actually had a girlfriend? Of course, plenty of female, and possibly even some male students were more than willing to take that position, but her friend never paid attention to them.

The dark prince sighed and muttered a silent thank you, before deciding to quickly and silently head for his room, not really feeling like staying at the ball any longer.

The next morning

Lelouch, Rolo, C.C. and Clovis were currently in the dark prince's room, sitting on the couch and staring at the flickering screen of the TV with barely contained amusement.

The reason for that amusement was the 'shocking' and 'tear-jerking' news that was currently being broadcasted throughout all of Area Eleven.

Clovis La Britannia, third prince of the Britannian empire and viceroy of Area Eleven, was found dead in his personal transport; murdered, by none other than the son of the last prime minister of Japan and honorary Britannian, Suzaku Kururugi.

Little did the purist faction and the rest of Britannia know that said prince was currently sitting on a couch, chewing a mouthful of cereal, the expression on his face turning more and more amused with every word the reporter spoke.

The group guffawed as margrave Jeremiah Gottwald appeared on the screen, holding a speech about how he and the other purebloods regretted their prince's death, but were determined to carry on his legacy.

"I have to say," Clovis tried to suppress his laughter, if only for a few moments, "This is rather amusing." The containment of his laughter didn't last long as he fell into another fit of laughter.

His half-brother was in a similar state as he put on an expression of sorrow and regret; given, the two would have been more believable had he been able to control himself a little more.

"Clovis, no!" He started in an overly dramatic voice, gaining even more laughter from his companions, "What a sad day!" The demon emperor slumped back into the recliner he was sitting on, doubling over in laughter, much like the other three people in the room.

The group of four kept on howling and laughing for another ten minutes, before the laughter slowly died down to a few chuckles and giggles here and there.

C.C. was the one to speak up, "It seems like my 'clone' held out." Sure, she had said that it would, but in all honesty, the immortal witch wasn't quite sure about whether it would've sustained itself long enough or not herself. After all, she didn't use this aspect of her powers too often.

"Yeah, it would've been weird if Clovis' body just vanished without a trace," Rolo commented from where he was sitting.

"Really, though," the former viceroy wiped a tear from his eye as he tried to catch his breath, "Why did that honorary Britannian get arrested?"

Obviously, that person had absolutely nothing to do with his 'murder'. The real culprit, for lack of a better term, was the green-haired witch who was currently sitting on the couch next to him. Then again, why did he care? It wasn't like the life of an honorary Britannian would matter to him, but the few days he had spent with his brother and his two companions had really affected the former viceroy.

Unlike what many people thought, he actually disliked the position of viceroy, being content to stay with his family and paint in his atelier; something he had been denied for quite a while, as the public appearances, paperwork and tours of Area Eleven had kept him busy and without much free time. The sole reason he became viceroy in the first place was due to Lelouch and Nunnally's supposed death all those years ago.

Lelouch looked at his brother for a moment, admiring the fact that the former viceroy wasn't completely unable to care for anyone but himself. "Don't worry about that, we'll get him out of there," the dark prince replied with a smirk, not really worried in the least that Suzaku would be executed, since he did manage to save him last time.

That wasn't to say that he would be careless in the planning of his rescue-mission this time around.

Checking the clock that was hanging on one of the walls in his room, he found out that is was about time for class. Normally, he wouldn't have gone, but with Clovis' 'murder', classes would be cancelled anyway, save for the speech that would be held in honor of their deceased prince.

A chuckle escaped his lips as that thought.

Rolo and C.C. noticed the confused look on Clovis' face as he regarded his brother, most probably wondering why they would save that honorary Britannian that was accused of murdering him.

"That person is a friend of Lelouch," the prince turned to the brown-haired teen as he continued to elaborate, "His family took in Lelouch and Nunnally after they were sent to Japan as political hostages."

"Yes, and that's the reason we'll be rescuing that idiot tonight." With that, the demon emperor was gone.

Interrogation room

"Do you know anything about this weapon, Suzaku Kururugi?"

Suzaku Kururugi, honorary Britannian, was currently sitting on an uncomfortable, wooden chair to which he was tied to; of course, the fact that he was restrained by a straight jacket and had been beaten up rather harshly didn't help to relieve him of that discomfort.

"It was the one used to rob prince Clovis of his life," Jeremiah Gottwald stated coldly as he looked at Suzaku in contempt. The margrave knew that Suzaku was innocent, but in order to put an end to the practice of granting natives the status of honorary Britannians, the person infront of him had to be found guilty of prince Clovis' murder.

Said person was currently looking at the gun with empty eyes, which was lying on the table in a plastic bag. The bag itself had a tag attached to one corner, which read 'Article of Evidence No.2'.

"We've verified it based on the markings on the bullet." The margrave sneered at him, "We've also done a little homework on you; you're the eldest child of Japan's last acting prime minister, are you not?"

The margrave and the various soldiers present didn't notice the look of pain that flashed across Suzaku's face for a fraction of a second as he tried to suppress the memories that arose with the mention of his father, Genbu Kururugi.

"Your motives here are clear!"

That was it for the young Japanese; his father being the late prime minister of Japan was a clear motive? The young man snapped at the margrave, "You're wrong! I've never even laid eyes on that gun!"

One of the soldiers roughly kicked his chair, knocking him over along with it as Jeremiah looked down on him, the arrogance and contempt etched deeply into his face as he stated, "We've found your fingerprints all over this weapon."

As if that lie and accusation wasn't bad enough, the margrave decided to put the icing on Suzaku's proverbial shitcake, "And you're also suspected of murdering members of the royal guard."

Suzaku couldn't believe what he was hearing; not only was he accused of murdering prince Clovis, but also of murdering the royal guard? This day just seemed to be getting better and better...

"Come clean now, and you'll be judged as though you were born a Britannian," Jeremiah's voice took on an almost disgusted tone as he spat out the next words, "Not some worthless Eleven!"

Anger rose up in the young man as he heard the margraves last sentence. Even though he was loyal to Britannia, he couldn't suppress the anger that arose with his people being referred to as some kind of sickness or disease, "You're wrong! I've done nothin-"

Suzaku never got to finish the sentence as the soldier closest to him gave him a swift kick to the face, effectively knocking him out.

Kouzuki Resistance Cell HQ

"That's why we should've issued a freaking statement sooner; we could've taken credit for it!" Shinichiro Tamaki shouted at the current leader of their resistance group before storming out of said leader's room, slamming the door behind him.

They had just heard the news of Clovis' death by the hand of honorary Britannian, Suzaku Kururugi.

Now, on one hand, the death of the viceroy of Area Eleven was good news for the resistance cell, as the loss of their 'beloved' viceroy would be a huge hit for the Britannians, and would weaken their forces in Area Eleven, if only for a short period of time.

On the other hand, however, as Tamaki had so politely pointed out (insert sarcasm here), they could have taken credit for the prince's murder.

In doing so, they would, firstly, have had a great boost of morale among the Japanese that fought against their oppressors, and secondly, people would've begun to take the resistance cell more seriously; as much as they hated to admit it, right now, they were little more than a nuisance.

A barely noticeable thorn in the side of the Britannian empire.

Kaname Ohgi sighed and turned to the small picture frame that was standing on his desk.

For him, it was a picture of better times, when his best friend and Kallen's older brother, Naoto Kouzuki, had still been alive.

The picture showed Kallen, Naoto and himself near a river stream; they were out picknicking, if he remembered correctly. Kallen was holding a can of soda in each hand, Ohgi had a towel around his neck and Naoto was sitting on a large rock, a smile playing aross his lips.

With another sigh, Ohgi spoke in a tired voice, "Naoto...I'm not cut out for this..."

Naoto had been a great leader in his time; he was admired by everyone in their resistance cell and had their complete respect and trust.

In Ohgi's eyes, Naoto had had everything one needed to be a leader.

Something that the current leader of the resistance cell was certain he would never be able to achieve, "I'm no leader..."

'Camelot' reasearch facility

"Aww, we've lost the most crucial part of the equation..." Lloyd Asplund whined as he and Cécile looked up at the impressive piece of engineering that the seventh generation Knightmare Frame 'Lancelot' represented.

"Can we do it without him?" Cécile knew it was a stupid question, as no other devicer would be able to pilot the Lancelot to its near full potential, which was an impressive feat in and of itself.

The earl of pudding shook his head, "Don't I wish..." He spoke in a displeased tone, having lost the perfect devicer for his Lancelot.

"The other units never let go of a good pilot." Which was true, since it was difficult to find exeptionally skilled Knightmare pilots.

"And even if we got one, they'd never match his readings...his operational efficiency clocked in at ninety-four percent and you want to replace him?"

A score that high was very rare for Knightmare pilots, even among the less complex, earlier models of Knightmare Frames. Considering the Lancelot was still a prototype, it was all the more impressive of Suzaku to score that high. Not to mention the fact that he had never piloted a Knightmare Frame before; the battle at Shinjuku Ghetto being his first time.

"You should tell them that, perhaps they'll let him go..."

Lloyd had thought about that aswell, but had quickly discarded the idea, "He's an honorary Britannian, they'd never listen."

The earl of pudding continued to gaze at the Lancelot, "Ever since general Bartley's disgrace, the purebloods have the military in an iron grip." Lloyd elaborated what Jeremiah Gottwald was aiming to do, now that prince Clovis was dead. He and the rest of the purist faction were against the practice of granting natives the title of honorary Britannians. In their eyes, one of there own would never betray them, or commit a crime against Britannia.

"What about Suzaku?" Cécile asked, generally worried about the young Japanese, unlike Lloyd who saw Suzaku as nothing else but a key piece of the Lancelot. Not that the eccentric scientist cared much for anyone in general.

"His fate's all but decided..."

Ashford academy

The whole academy had just been informed of prince Clovis' death, and, just as last time, a speech was held in comemoration of their viceroy. Most of the students genuinely regretted the death of the prince, but Kallen and Lelouch didn't care.

The latter of the two didn't have any reason to partake in the mourning, as he knew that his older brother was perfectly fine.

The ace Knightmare pilot, on the other hand, was still skeptical about the viceroy's death; was it really Suzaku Kururugi? Or was it the mysterious person that referred to himself as Zero?

Which brought her to meeting she would have with him in a few hours.

That thought raised even more questions, but Kallen decided to push them aside for now as she headed out of the school grounds, her face set in an impassive expression. She would have enough time to ask 'Zero' any questions she had, provided he would be willing to answer them.

"So, you got anything goin' on later?" Now that classes had been cancelled, all the students had the rest of the day free. Rivalz and Lelouch were currently on their way out of the school, having nothing else to do there. Not like the latter would've stayed even if they had classes...

Rivalz spoke excitedly, "How about we go gambling? I heard the folks wanted a rematch!"

The dark prince was about to decline, before a thought struck him; something that had been screaming and shouting at him, but had gone unheard by the dark prince as it was locked in the back of his mind, drowned out by all the other thoughts that were going through his head in the past few days.

His bank account.

Rivalz was surprised as his friend stopped, and turning around, he noticed that it seemed like someone had smacked him in the face with a cast-iron pan.

After a few moments, the dark prince's mind rebooted as he began cursing under his breath, which served to confuse his friend even more as he walked back to the demon emperor.

"Uh, Lelouch, you alright, buddy?" He was snapped out of his grumbling as Rivalz waved his hand infront of him in an attempt to pull him out of his thoughts, whatever the hell they were.

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about who I should play against," the demon emperor lied quickly; he was actually thinking about whether he had enough time to go gambling or not. Pleasantly surprised, he found out that he did indeed have enough time for atleast a few games.

"Really?!" Rivalz's shout of excitement startled a few student that they passed, "Great, let's go!"

WIth a chuckle, Lelouch followed after his friend, who had quickened his pace in anticipation.

They just reached the school's main doors as the dark prince noticed an orange-haired girl standing there, fidgeting nervously.

"Hey, Shirley!" Rivalz called, startling the girl as she turned around, only to find Rivalz and and her crush heading towards her, or rather the main doors of the school. Regardless, she quickly put on a smile.

Don't mess up, don't mess up, that was the mantra repeating itself again and again in the mind of the demon emperor as he approached the girl that meant so much to him. Even though he didn't return her feelings, she was still one of the people, of which there weren't many, that knew almost everything about him and accepted it.

Hell, she even loved him after finding out that he had killed her father and that he was the leader of, atleast in the eyes of many Britannians, a terrorist group.

"Hey, Shirley," Lelouch greeted with a smile. Internally, however, he was anything but smiling, 'hey, Shirley?', really?

"Hey, you two," she replied with a smile of her own, though, just as last night, the demon emperor could tell it was forced, albeit not as much as that one. Even Rivalz could tell that something was wrong, but he had no idea what happened between the two.

With a sigh, the dark prince decided to drop the charade, "Listen, Shirley, about las-"

Much to his surprise, the orangette interrupted him with another smile, "Don't worry about it, Lulu," this time, her smile was genuine, though one could still see a little pain and hurt in her eyes as she spoke, "Really, I was just overreacting." Truth was, she was still heartbroken by the fact that Lelouch had a girlfriend, but she didn't want him to be worried over that. After all, she wanted him to be happy.

Another sigh was let out by Lelouch, though one of relief as he ran a hand through his midnight-black hair, "...Thanks, Shirley."

The orange-haired girl gave him another smile before blinking, and looking at her two friends with a stern gaze, "You two aren't going gambling, are you?"

Rivalz, who was still trying to figure out what happened between the two, shook himself out of his thoughts, "...Yeah, we are."

"Lulu! What did I tell you about gambling? You could get yourself in trouble!"

The dark prince blinked, before chuckling; the orangette had turned back to her old self. He remembered all the times the girl had reprimanded him for his gambling addictions, warning him time and time again of the trouble he could get himself in to.

Ironically enough, he didn't gamble for the money, but rather for fun; the dark prince loved having a challenge, especially in chess, as the only person that could ever beat him was his older half-brother, Schneizel.

Atleast, that's how it was before C.C. showed up; the money for her addiction of pizza had to come from somewhere, after all.

"Yes, you did tell me, Shirley," the dark prince said in a warm tone, causing a slight blush to crawl across Shirley's face. "I promise you, we won't get into any trouble."

A quick glance to Rivalz had the teen nodding discreetly before he smiled at his friend, "You know, I think she's right, Lelouch, we really should stop gambling."

This time, it was Shirley's turn to blink at the two, her expression turning into a deadpan as Lelouch joined his friend, "Yeah, I guess you're right; we really could get into trouble..."

...

"Wha...?"

As Lelouch kept on distracting Shirley, explaining his sudden change of mind, Rivalz pulled out his cellphone and dialed Milly's number, discreetly enough for the orangette not to notice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Milly," the teen whispered into his cellphone as he turned away from the Shirley and Lelouch a slight bit to avoid being found out, "Lelouch wants to ask you a favor."

The student council president blinked before shrugging; after all that happened last night, a small favor for her friend would be no problem, "Sure, go ahead."

"Ok, well..."

A devious smile spread across her face as Rivalz quickly told her what Lelouch wanted.

Said person was still talking to Shirley, who still wasn't convinced of his sudden change of heart.

Suddenly, the speakers of the school crackled to life.

The student council presidents voice could be heard from them as she spoke, "Attention female student body, Lelouch Lamperouge has agreed to go on a date with anyone that will reach him within the next two minutes," the male students shivered as they could practically feel the devious smirk on their presidents face, "He's currently at the front entrance of the school."

The various female students looked at each other for a moment, before exploding into one, massive squeal and racing towards the front entrance in speeds that would put a certain Jamaican sprinter to shame.

Three, two, one... As the dark prince finished his mental countdown, he quickly grabbed Rivalz and sprinted out the entrance, leaving a confused orangette to stand there with a blank face.

Her confusion didn't last long, as she saw a veritable tsunami of female students storming into the small hall that was the front entrance of the school, screaming and shouting excitedly about 'Lelouch Lamperouge' and 'dates'.

Realizing where she was standing, the orangette's eyes widened before she turned to run out the entrance.

Too bad it was already too late.

The crowd of girls crashed into her, carrying the girl with them out the entrance, all the while searching for their target with keen eyes.

As she was carried out into the open with that impromptu crowd-surfing session, Shirley's eyebrow twitched violently, "LULU!"

"Sorry, Shirley," the dark prince smiled ruefully as he sat into the passenger seat of Rivalz's motorbike.

Babel tower

"So, who do you want to play against?"

The two teens had just reached Babel tower, and were currently looking for an opponent for Lelouch to play against.

"I'm not sure," the demon emperor scanned the casino for possible opponents, until his eyes widened slightly as he discovered someone all-too-familiar.

There was no doubt about it; that blonde hair and that superior grin plastered on his face...the Black King. Lelouch's fist clenched as he saw him kicking an Eleven that was cowering on the floor; it seemed like the poor man had spilled a drink the Black King had ordered.

Rivalz had apperantly followed his gaze to the old man as he quickly grabbed his shoulder, "You sure you want to play against him, buddy?" The dark prince could hear the worry in his voice as he continued, "I heard he's an excellent Chess Player...and a member of the mafia."

Chuckling, the demon emperor replied, "You underestimate me, Rivalz." With that, he headed for the old man that was still beating up the Eleven, and judging by the smug grin on his face, feeling damn proud of it.

"How pitiful."

The Black King looked up, only to see a high school student looking at him with a challenging yet cool gaze. Interrupting his 'rightful' beating of the Eleven, the Black King stood up to his full height and growled at the highschool student, who was either one of three things.

Very brave, completely stupid, or just unknowing of who he was.

Either way, he would make sure to teach this punk a lesson.

"What did you say, boy?" The waiter used the distraction to quickly scurry away as the the Black King glared at the student.

"Didn't you hear me? I said that what you were doing was pitiful."

At this point, a small crowd of patrons had assembled around the two, observing amusedly as the highschool student continued to dig his own grave.

"Why you little..." The Black King cocked his fist back and launched it at Lelouch.

Said person was surprised, along with the Black King and the rest of the crowd as he dodged it in one swift and graceful movement, barely registering his Geass fading slowly from his eyes, indicating that it had been activated at some point.

With a smirk, he quickly recovered from the surprise and filed it away for later, "How about we settle this with a game of chess?"

Another growl emanated from the Black Kings throat, but he decided to humor him, for the crowd's sake if for nothing else, "What's your wager?"

The smirk on his face widened dangerously, "If I win, all the money you have on you...and if you win, my life."

"That's hardly a fair wager!" The Black King barked with barely suppressed rage, "My money for your worthless life?!"

"Are you worried you'll lose?" As the old man infront of him twitched, Lelouch knew he had won.

"Don't get too cocky, boy," a similar smirk spread across his opponents face as he agreed, confidence etching his features; confidence that would soon be wiped from his face.

Later...

"Checkmate."

The calm statement shook Lelouch's opponent, the Black King, out of his daze. The man had been staring at the chessboard in disbelief, not even registering the fact that he had lost.

A chuckle from the dark prince caused the Black King to glare at the youth infront of him.

"It seems the king has been beaten by the prince." The man's glare increased in intensity, his fists clenched as he tried to vehemently deny the truth.

The fact that he had been beaten; by a highschool student nonetheless.

Said student had already collected his money, starting to leave the tower with his friend next to him, who was congratulating him on beating the Black King with a cheerful expression.

"This isn't over yet!" The man roared as he jumped up from his seat, knocking over the table and running after the ebony-haired youth.

The demon emperor turned around and fixed the man with a cool gaze. Said man froze on the spot as Lelouch activated his Geass and issued his command with an evil smirk, "Go sit down, drinks are on you for today."

That should leave you with quite a dent in your account... an evil smirk spread across his face as he thought about the amount of money he'd have to pay the next day.

The Black King nodded dumbly and made his way back to his seat, causing the onlookers to stare at him with gaping mouths.

"Didn't you hear? Drinks are on him today; enjoy yourselves!" The dark prince called as he swung his arm out, shaking the crowd out of their thoughts, which were all along the lines of, 'how the hell did he do that?!'.

The patrons began to cheer and shout, rushing to the bar to order drinks as the two teens left the club, a smirk adorning both their faces.

Ashford estate

"How was school?" The question came from the immortal witch as Lelouch entered his room. Said person shook his head as he stripped off his jacket, "Shocking; Clovis died."

That reminded C.C. and Rolo of the news this morning, and caused both to laugh a little.

"Anyway, have you been gambling already? I haven't eaten pizza all day." Evidently, as her stomach growled at the mention of her favourite food.

Her reply came in form of a credit card thrown at her, "As a matter of fact," the demon smirked at his witch as she caught the credit card with a bright smile on her face, "I have been gambling."

Lelouch was slightly surprised as she jumped up from the couch, ran towards him and kissed him deeply before jumping back onto it with the phone already in her hand.

"Anyway, Rolo, we'll be leaving in a bit." He had yet to arrange for his Zero outfit to be made, and another two outfits for Clovis and Rolo. C.C. didn't need one, just as last time.

She would reveal herself either way, as the witch was willful to a fault. Memories of their first few encounters resurfaced, such as the time when he was speaking to Kallen at school, and the immortal witch decided to nonchalantly twirl around and dance right behind the red-head, causing Lelouch to act as if he wanted to kiss the ace Knightmare pilot.

"Sure," Rolo smirked, "It'll be great fighting alongside you again, big brother."

With a smile, the dark prince walked over to his younger brother and ruffled his hair, gaining an annoyed yet harmless glare from him, "Hey, come on, stop it!"

"I never had a brother I could do this to, so shut up!" While Rolo was indeed his brother for one year, he was the brother of Lelouch Lamperouge and not Lelouch Vi Britannia. So, while the time they spent together was real in one aspect, in another aspect, it wasn't.

The two brothers continued their antics even as they fell off the sofa, causing the immortal witch, who had finished ordering her pepperoni pizzas by now to smile at the siblings.

"You two should leave now if you want to be there on time," she said, still amused by the two's antics.

Stopping his hair-ruffling, the dark prince looked up at her and then at the clock, "You're right, we should leave now, Rolo."

The teen stood up and rubbed his head, "Sure, but," the brown-haired teen furrowed his brow in thought, "what do you need me to do, big brother?"

"You've got to pick up your outfit." Originally, he wanted to get the one for Clovis, too, but with two outfits, they just didn't have enough time today.

"You have fun with your pizza, witch," the demon emperor stood up as well and wrapped his arms around the immortal witch, closing the distance between them and kissing her.

A kiss which was eagerly returned by the immortal beauty.

After a few moments, they parted and the demon emperor gave her another quick peck before letting go of her.

"Let's go, Rolo."

With a nod from his brother, the two left for Tokyo tower.

Tokyo tower, 4:00 PM

"Britannia's resounding victory over Japan opened the unenlightened nations eyes to its true place in todays world order."

What a load of crap, Kallen stadtfeld thought with a scowl as the woman's narration of the 'glorious' war that Britannia had fought continued.

"Since then, the empire and Area Eleven have walked hand in hand down the road to revival."

Well, revival in the most relative sense of speaking. Britannia had built their city over Japan, leaving the natives with nothing more than a small area of destroyed and decrepit land. Basically, a huge ghetto.

"It was Kururugi that contacted us, wasn't it?" Kent Sugiyama asked as they examined the many relics of war in the exhibition that Tokyo tower had become.

"Hard to say..." Ohgi replied; he had thought about the possibility of Suzaku Kururugi being Zero, but it just didn't feel right to him; why would an honorary Britannian kill the viceroy? Yes, he was Japanese, but it would've made more sense for him to stay in the military and climb up the ranks before his assassination of prince clovis; that way, he could've even gotten away with it.

Another member of their group, Toru Yoshida, threw in another possiblity, "Maybe he was arrested after his communication with Kallen."

If that was true, it could be a trap, as Sugiyama had already deduced, "Then we are in danger here; we should go."

Just as the three were about to turn around to get Kallen and leave, a voice spoke through the speakers in the exhibition, "Paging miss Kallen Stadtfeld of Ashford academy; one of your personal belongings has been handed in for you to pick up."

The three men turned around to see Kallen gone.

"Is something wrong? It is yours, isn't it?" The young woman at the kiosk asked Kallen after she handed her 'her' cellphone.

"Ah, yeah, thank you," the red-head replied as she examined the phone.

The ace Knightmare pilot headed out to the panoramic view of what used to be Tokyo, absently noting that Ohgi and the others were there already, speaking highly of prince Clovis in order to blend in with the Britannian crowd.

A moment later, the phone that she had received began to buzz, the caller ID displayed as 'Zero'.

Looking over to Ohgi, she received a dicreet nod from the leader of the resistance group, after which she accepted the call.

"Um, hello?"

"Board the train at loop line five, and seeing as you didn't come alone, bring your friends with you." With a smirk, the dark prince hung up and made his way to the station.

Later...

"Attention all passengers; if you become aware of any suspicious items on board, please alert metro personnel by using the nearest inter telephone."

Kallen looked around nervously at that announcement; the phone in her hand was just about as fitting to that description as possible.

The red-head was a little startled as said phone began to buzz in her hand again, before she quickly accepted the call and brought it up to her ear, "What now?"

"Face forward, and look to your right...what do you see?"

Kallen did as told and looked out the window at the Britannian city. She had to admit, if it weren't for it being built on what was their city and basically their blood and sweat, it would've been quite beautiful.

"The Britannian city; it was stolen away from us and built on our sacrifice..."

Zero chuckled, though low enough for the ace Knightmare pilot not to hear, "And on the left?"

Gazing out the left side of the train, she saw their city, a violent contrast to the Britannian one, with most of the 'city' destroyed, barren and desolate; one could hardly call it a city, as it had more semblance to ruins than anything.

"...I see our city, remnants of a desecated city, after the Britannians sucked it dry."

This time, Zero's chuckle could be heard quite well, "Good answer, as always."

The fiery red-head's eyes narrowed as she frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Now, make your way to the front of the train." With that, the line was dead, and Kallen began to make for the front of the train, Ohgi and the others following behind.

As they passed the many people that were aboard the train, they couldn't help but feel that something was wrong...everyone was silent, not having any conversations, or even checking their cellphones.

The group of four quickly discarded those thoughts and continued to the front of the train.

As they reached the last cabin, the ace Knightmare pilot entered.

Kallen gasped as she was inside the cabin; a figure was sitting on a chair just infront of the door that led to the train's cockpit. Absently, she wondered how the person had gotten the chair into the train in the first place.

The other three members of her brothers resistance group entered a few moments after her.

Her curiosity was begging to be sated at this point as she asked, "Was it you on the phone?"

The figure made no notion to answer, calmly sitting there, his face hidden as he was looking down; the shadows that were cast into the train only helped to mask his form.

The ace Knightmare pilot finally asked the questions that were bothering her since the Shinjuku incident, such as, "Well, was that you in Shinjuku?!" Or, "Was that ceasefire your doing?!"

The figure looked up, and they could practically feel the smirk on his face, even though it was hidden by a mask.

Said mask consisted of a steel-grey metal frame, and a deep dark-blue visor, which covered his forehead and went down to just about his nose, leaving the lower part of his face uncovered save for a small, black metal device that was connected to the mask and covered his mouth, presumably the source of his slightly metallic and robotic voice.

A Geass symbol with a sword 'piercing' it was also visible on the left 'jaw' of the mask; the symbol of the Black Knights. The mask still had the slider system installed that had been present in the previous mask, but above both eyes rather than just one.

His mop of black hair went down to his shoulders, covering the rest of his head.

The rest of the outfit consisted of a dark blue cape with the same symbol as the mask on the back of it, and also a dark blue and black body suit, with metal plating covering the vital organs, tinted also in black and blue.

All in all, it was a slight bit bulkier than his old Zero outfit, but it was better suited for combat and still retained most the flexibility and agility that the old outfit allowed for.

"Does it matter?" Zero replied amusedly, idly regarding his gloved hand.

"Yes," Ohgi fixed him with a glare, that didn't faze the figure before him in the least, "Who are you?"

Suspiscious as always, eh, Ohgi? The dark prince thought, still thoroughly amused as he replied,"I am Zero, and that is all you need to know."

Deciding to drop this particular subject, the masked figure continued, "Now, tell me, what is it you fight for?"

The group looked at him curiously; wasn't that obvious? Still, Ohgi decided to reply, his eyes burning with determination, "We fight for Japan; to liberate it from their oppressors!"

Chuckling rang through the cabin as more than a few present began to glare at the source of the laugher, "What's so funny?!" Kallen demanded.

Quickly recovering from his fit of chuckling, Zero replied, "And you wish to achieve that with terrorism? Waging this petty war against the people?"

"What'd you say?!" Sugiyama barked; who was this guy to call their causes 'petty'?

The figure known as Zero turned to him languidly, "You heard me; this 'war' you're waging is nothing more than a nuisance in the eyes Britannia."

Kallen was seething at this point, just as the others, but contained herself.

"If you truly wish to free Japan, then raise your swords against Britannia itself, not the people; fight for justice!"

That was it for Kallen as she snapped, a scowl on her face, "That's easy for you to say, hiding behind that mask; why should we even trust you?!"

That was met with similar shouts from her companions, "Yeah, drop the mask!"

Zero spoke calmly, in an almost bored tone, "I do not have to do anything."

The four people stared at him in irritation as he continued, "You came here seeking me," he languidly waved his arm out, "I will show my power tonight, if you wish."

Ohgi considered it for a moment, "How will you show us?"

A smirk tugged at the corner of the dark prince's lips as he replied, "Tonight, Suzaku Kururugi will be brought to his court marshal; we will rescue him."

Just the concept of that idea seemed suicidal to the four; the escort would consist of the purist faction, and margrave Jeremiah Gottwald himself...they wouldn't stand a chance, even if Zero managed to supply them with Sutherlands or other Britannian military weapons.

"That's impossible!" Sugiyama called.

The figure before them simply chuckled again, "We shall see."

Japan Liberation Front HQ

Kyoshiro Tohdoh was not having a good day. Why were they still debating about something like this? In all honesty, not even he could do anything to save Suzaku Kururugi from his public execution. So, why was it that they were still arguing about this matter?

"He's an honorary Britannian!" Shouted one of the many soldiers in the room.

"Prime minister Kururugi was his father!" Claimed another.

Even their leader, Katase Tatewaki was still discussing this matter, with one of the more patriotic members, even for their standards, of the group, Josui Kusakabe.

"Tohdoh, what are your thoughts?" The leader of JLF turned to the 'miracle worker'.

With an internal sigh, he slowly raised his head, "We should not become involved in this public execution."

That internal sigh threatened to come out as Kusakabe spoke, "That's cowardly, you're Tohdoh the miracle worker, right?"

That was something he heard very often, and something that irked him to no end; just because he was called the 'miracle worker' didn't mean he could do anything. And especially not something as suicidal as this, "There's a difference between miracles and foolhardyness."

Undisclosed location

"I wonder..." Lelouch thought aloud, idly regarding his new mask, "Should I play it off as dramatic as last time?"

"I don't mind," the dark prince looked up to see Rolo, who had just put on his mask. It was a steel-grey and ornate Victorian ball mask. The rest of his outfit was similiar to that of Lelouch, but with greys and blacks, and less armor fitted onto it.

"Yeah, well, I thought I'd wrap it up a little this time around..." Sure, he liked flashy entrances and had a knack for theatrics, but replaying the same scenes over and over again lost its charm rather quickly.

Rolo looked thoughtful for a moment, before smiling at his older brother, "Let's go with flashy and dramatic, don't you think?" Being the demon prince's brother, Rolo had taken a liking to theatrics and drama aswell.

Putting on his mask with a chuckle, Zero replied, "Great, well, I'll see you later."

Later...

"And you're sure that this will work?"

Zero had just explained his plan to the two people that would join him during this rescue mission, but both of them were rather skeptical about driving right infront of the military convoy, with Britannia's deceased prince's personal transport nonetheless. They would be lucky to not be shot right on the spot, what with all the blatant provocation on their part.

"Yes, I am," Zero replied in his metallic voice as he inspected Clovis' car once more; just as last time, it wasn't exeptionally good work, but it would do.

"Well, then, let's begin," Zero turned to Kallen and Ohgi, "You two know what to do, right?"

They both nodded, and with that, the group of three began to set their plan in motion.

Tokyo Bridge

"Any moment now," the excited voice of the reporter was heard through the various TVs and radios, "it's a sight to see...the throngs lining the route, all of them waiting on bated breath." Large crowds of Britannians were standing on either side of the bridge, waiting for the murderer of their beloved prince to arrive with the purist-faction.

"Waiting for the accused murderer of prince Clovis to pass by; honorary Britannian and former Eleven, Suzaku Kururugi."

The execution would be broacasted live over all of Area Eleven, so that even the people at home could watch it.

"Camera five's a little slow, talk to me, Charles; you're team been deployed yet?" Diethard Ried called out over the microphone, checking the various screens and monitors that displayed the filming of the whole event from many different angles.

"What, the studio? Let 'em wait, nothing's been pushed back; everythings going according to plan." The man smirked as the camera angles on the monitors switched to capture the approaching convoy, "Here we go."

"I...I can see them, the suspect, Suzaku Kururugi is approaching!" The reporter announced.

Diethard turned off his communicator and scoffed, "What a circus, and I'm as corrupt as any of them." This was a prime example of the phrase, 'Don't believe everything you see in the media.'

As the convoy arrived, the people began to shout in scorn at the supposed murderer. If they only knew the truth. But none of that mattered to the person observing everything from afar. Four Sutherlands with another four at the ready, he smirked, though it wasn't visible as his mask covered his lips, "Perfect."

The convoy was lead by margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, who presided over the trial as acting-consul, standing atop his customised Sutherland and watching out for anything that could threaten the progression of the whole event with a keen eye.

"Acting-consul Jeremiah!" The voice was heard over the communicator Jeremiah was wearing, and he didn't like the tone of it.

"What is it?" He asked in slight annoyance.

"Vehicle approaching the main highway from third, we just let it through as you instructed, but," the voice seemed to hesitate, seemingly not sure of what to say and prompting Jeremiah to continue, "Do you believe the target could be a terrorist vehicle?"

"...Well, sir, it's prince Clovis' car..."

The margrave perked up, "The prince's car?" A smirk appeared on his face, "Well, looks like we've got a comedian." The smirk didn't leave his face as he ordered, "Don't worry about it, just let them through to us." With that, he turned back to the convoy and raised his hand in a universal stop signal, "All forces, stop here."

With a light screech, the whole convoy came to a halt and awaited further orders from the margrave, whose eyes were fixed on the white vehicle at the far end of the bridge, approaching the military convoy.

The crowd gasped as they saw what kind of vehicle it exactly was.

This is madness, Kallen thought as she drove prince Clovis' 'personal transport' up to the convoy. Given, she had every right to claim that this was madness, since it really was nothing else than madness.

Still, she did as Zero had told her to and stopped the car infront of the military convoy.

"You dare desecrate his highness' transport? Come out of there!" Jeremiah sneered.

Suddenly, the Britannian flag that was hanging down on top of the cockpit of the vehicle caught fire, and revealed a masked person behind it. Everyone present gasped at the sight of said person, who calmly stood there, as if he wasn't currently surrounded and outnumbered by a Britannian military convoy.

With a scowl, the margrave called out to the masked man, "Who are you?!"

The figure raised his head slightly, causing the visor of his mask to gleam as he spoke with a metallic and robotical voice, "I," he smirked, "Am Zero."

The crowd gasped again, and the news reporter spoke with his usual dramatic voice, "Who is this person?! This man calling himself Zero?!"

Everyone watching this fiasco speculated about who this person could be, before Diethard offered his own, almost poetical input, "Zero...what do you mean, like, nothing?"

You've got to be kidding me, Kallen thought, positive about the fact that they'd be blown to bits any second now.

Jeremiah frowned as the crowd began to show signs of panic, "I've seen enough, Zero, this little show of yours is over." With that, he pointed his gun up at the sky and shot, signaling for the other four Sutherlands of the purist faction to be deployed.

Much to the chagrin of the margrave, the masked man still wasn't fazed in the slightest as the four Sutherlands surrounded him and the vehicle.

"First things first, why don't you lose that mask?"

"I don't think so." With that, he snapped his fingers, and the exterior of the transport blew off, revealing a strange looking device; a device that Viletta Nu and Jeremiah Gottwald recognized immediately and all too well. The former shouted, "Jeremiah, be careful, he's got the-" the silver-haired woman quickly stopped herself from continuing, so as to not reveal its purpose to the crowd and cause a panic.

Suzaku's eyes widened as he, too recognized the contraption, "Wait, you don't unders-ugh!" His sentence was interrupted by the collar he was wearing, as it started to send electricity through his body.

Jeremiah couldn't believe his eyes, his body shaking slightly as he growled between clenched teeth, "You bastard..." Seeing it as the only chance, the margrave raised his gun and trained it at the figure known as Zero.

"Unit six, bring up the sound and get that camera right in his face!" Diethard demanded as he observed the whole fiasco from the monitors in the van.

"Sir, it's too hairy out here!"

With a frown, he grabbed one of the cameras that was lying on a table, "Tch, amateurs!"

"...Fine, what are your demands?" Normally, Jeremiah wouldn't bother negotiating with terrorists, but right now, that seemed like the only option, if he didn't want him to release the poison gas.

Smiling, Zero stated his demands, "This, for Kururugi."

The margrave's eyes widened before he barked, "Like hell; he's charged with high treason, I can't hand him over!"

Suddenly, the masked man began to laugh, almost maniacally, "You're wrong, Jeremiah!" He looked down at Diethard, who was holding a camera on his shoulder and filming him. The man smiled excitedly at Zero's next words.

"I murdered Clovis!"

'Shocked' was one of the many words to describe the crowd's and everyone else's state even as Zero continued to speak, "For a single man, you can save countless lives, Jeremiah."

This...This is all one big performance to him! A gleeful smile spread across his face as he continued to record the whole event.

"You're mad! You'll pay the price for mocking the crown!" As if that was an order, the Sutherlands trained their rifles on the masked man, who was still just as calm as ever.

"Careful, Jeremiah," Lelouch smiled as memories of his loyal subordinate resurfaced, "You don't wish the public to learn of Orange, do you?"

The margrave was confused, "Huh?"

Confusion was also evident in everyone else as they thought about what the hell this 'Zero' was talking about. The guards flanking Suzaku exchanged looks, "What the hell is he talking about?"

"I dunno'."

With two quick taps of his foot, the vehicle began to slowly move forward. Time to leave, the dark prince thought as he prepared himself. "Now, Jeremiah, I need you to do everything in your power to help us escape," Zero spoke with a devious smirk hidden behind his mask as the covers on the visor slid open and his Geass flared brightly.

The margrave, who had stared right into his eyes, fell under the spell of Lelouch's Geass, "Right, understood. You there, release the prisoner!"

I take it back, the demon emperor chuckled, it's still quite amusing. That it was; seeing Jeremiah have a sudden change of mind and deciding to release Suzaku after all.

Zero had to refrain from laughing out as Jeremiah reprimanded Kewell as the latter protested, "Lord Kewell, this is an order!"

After repeating his orders again and again, with increasing agressiveness and added threats, the guards finally released Suzaku, fearing the consequences that would no doubt follow if they were to refuse the margrave's orders. The young Japanese quietly walked up to Zero, who along with his companion had exited the vehicle and was waiting for him.

As the honorary Britannian reached Zero, he asked, "So, who the hell are you?" Doing what it was designed for, the collar activated itself and shocked him once again, causing him to wince in pain.

"That doesn't matter right now," with a smirk, he grabbed Suzaku and pulled out a small device with a button on it, all that matters now, is that we get out of here.

"Let's go."

After the masked man pressed the button, the device on Clovis' personal transport hissed to life before opening and releasing a large, pink-violet cloud of smoke. With that, the three quickly ran to the edge of the bridge and jumped down, Suzaku doubting the man's sanity as they free fell down into the city.

Chaos had ensued on said bridge as the crowds of Britannian's ran from what they assumed was poison gas, none of them eager to stay there and confirm their assumptions. Villetta Nu cursed under her breath as she quickly braced her Knightmare's rifle and aimed at where she thought Zero was.

Just as the Britannian noble woman was about to shoot, Jeremiah appeared next to her, also in his Sutherland, and quickly slammed the rifle out of her Frame's hands.

"Lord Jeremiah, what are you doing?!" Her protests went of deaf ears as the margrave fixed her Knightmare with an insane glare from within the cockpit, "You heard me! Stand down, now!"

Meanwhile, Zero, along with Suzaku and Kallen had landed on the stong fabric that was strung to the two slash harkens of the MR-1 that was underneath the bridge and piloted by Ohgi.

Said man had a look on his face that was a mix of joy and disbelief as he watched the three forms land on the fabric, which was stretched down greatly due to the force and weight being applied. Still, it held out, which caused the smile on Ohgi's face to grow even larger, "It worked! Now we ca-"

The smile was quickly wiped off his face as his MR-1 was destroyed in mere seconds; it wasn't designed for combat, and offered no protection at all against the hail of bullets that it was showered with. Luckily for him, the third generation Frame atleast had an ejection system built in, which proved its worth as the cockpit was blown out of what was left of the Knightmare.

"You imbecile, there's nowhere for you to run!" With a frown, Kewell raised his rifle and aimed for the cockpit; attempting to finish off whoever it was inside it.

And 'attempting' was all he did.

Much like with Villetta earlier, before he got a chance to shoot, he found a rifle currently trained at him, his comm-unit transmitting the dangerous voice that spoke in a tone that clearly and in bright, neon colours said, 'Obey me, or die.'

"Lord Kewell, are you going to follow orders or not?!"

Kewell Soresi was currently doubting the sanity of his superior, what with releasing their prisoner so easily and going as far as to help them escape rather...agressively.

"All units, do I make myself clear?! Do everything in your power to help them get away!"

Unbeknownst to Jeremiah, and everyone else, Zero was intercepting their communication line, laughing loudly as he listened to Jeremiah who he would've deemed mad had he not known why the margrave was acting this way. I'll make sure to have you listen to this once you're at my side again, Jeremiah, the dark prince thought with amusement as he saved the conversation, or rather him threatening them with death or worse, between Jeremiah and his subordinates.

Unknown location

Zero was currenty sitting on a piece of debris in an old, abandoned theater that was once no doubt a popular location for the Japanese to come enjoy themselves. But now, it was nothing more than a ruin; decrepit and barely recognizable due to the large amounts of debris covering it, that were once the the roof of the theater.

Below him was the his first friend and the person he had saved no half an hour ago, staring at him with suspicous and hard eyes.

"Suzaku Kururugi," the young man's eyes narrowed slightly, "After today, do you still have faith in that excuse of a monarchy that Britannia is?"

Ignoring his question, Suzaku asked him instead, "So, was it really you that murdered prince Clovis?"

With a small chuckle, the masked figure replied, "Yes, I guess you could say I did." Which wasn't far from the truth, as he had killed Clovis; just not in this 'timeline'.

The honorary Britannian's eyes narrowed even further, "And what about the poison gas? Those were civilians!"

After another small fit of chuckling, Zero replied, "Harmless, coloured smoke."

As he said that, Suzaku relaxed visibly, So, all those people...

A smile spread across the masked figures face, still as good-natured as ever, Suzaku.

The dark prince discarded that though, "Now, I think your court marshal is awaiting you."

...Was that what he had saved him for?

Suzaku blinked, and blinked again. He had extensive military training, which included simulations of situations like these, where one would be taken hostage by the enemy. In most, if not all of such scenarios, the prisoner would be tortured for information, or given a chance to join the enemy, if they were inclined to do so.

Considering all that, Suzaku's next words came as no surprise, "...you don't want me to join you, or atleast take me prisoner?"

Those sounded like much more logical reasons to rescue him in what could've turned out to be a suicidal mission.The man simply waved him off, "Of course not," the smirk that spread across his face was hidden from Suzaku, "By announcing that I murdered Clovis, the charges against you will be dropped, and you will be a free man once again." Without willing it do so, his Geass flared wildly, hidden behind his visor, "Besides...you will join me one day, that much I can guarantee you."

An unpleasant shiver ran down Suzaku's spine, but he replied with a firm voice, "I thank you for going through such lengths to save me, but," he glared at the dark figure, "I will never join you." With that, the honorary Britannian started to make his way out of the theater.

...

"Suzaku."

Not bothering to turn around, he responded, "What?"

Another faint smirk crossed the dark prince's lips, "Wouldn't it seem more likely to you that Clovis realized what a farce Britannia was, and so decided to join me?"

After Zero finished the sentence, the young Japanese's eyes went wide and he whirled around, only to find the dark and mysterious figure gone.

"Man, I didn't think he would be able to do it," one of the members of the Kouzuki resistance cell stated as he stared off into nothing. Even though Suzaku Kururugi was an honorary Britannian, he was still a Japanese by birth and blood. Saving him, and revealing himself to be the real culprit behind Clovis' murder sure was something.

"Tch, anyone could've pulled a bluff like that," Tamaki huffed, staring into space aswell, though with a much more annoyed look marring his face; he still didn't trust this 'Zero' guy. Ironically enough, he would become Zero's biggest admirer and self-proclaimed best friend in due time.

Ohgi, the current leader of the group replied, "Still, you've got to give the man credit." All the members present turned to him, looking at him curiously as he continued, "No-one else could've pulled that off; not the JLF and definitely not us."

That much even Tamaki had to admit, whether he trusted the masked man or not.

Just who is this guy? Kallen wondered, staring off into space as she considered all the possibilities that had been opened up with Zero on their side, if the mission before was anything to go by.

She sighed; it had been a long time since they had achieved such a victory.

Ashford estate

"I'm back," Lelouch yawned as he entered the the dining room, finding quite a surprising sight before him.

Clovis was painting on a canvas that was set up next to the table, with Nunnally sitting beside him, smiling as their brother told her what he was painting.

The two looked up, and Nunnally was the first to greet him in her usual cheerful manner, "Welcome back, big brother!"

"Hey, Nunnally," he smiled, before looking at Clovis and smirking at him, "Hey, big brother."

The former viceroy stood up and walked over to his brother, leaning in closely and whispering into his ear, "I have to admit, you handled everything quite well." His answer came in form of another smirk as he replied, "Thanks."

With that, he walked over to the painting of a beautiful landscape, and whistled, "I had forgotten how good of a painter you were." The former viceroy was indeed a very talented artist.

"I wonder how you forgot that," he replied with pride and just a hint of arrogance. Yeah, he was definitely still the Clovis Lelouch and Nunnally knew and loved.

The dark prince smiled ruefully, "My bad."

After a glance at the clock, the demon emperor decided to head to his room; it had been quite a tiring day.

If he remembered correctly, C.C. would've been here with Nunnally if it went just as last time. He discarded that thought and bent down and kissed Nunnally's forehead, "Goodnight, Nunnally."

"Good night, Lelouch," she replied in a loving tone; it had been a long time since she had last seen her brother Clovis, and she was still thankful to Lelouch for returning him to them. The way she saw it, was that they were both happier with him here.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Clovis."

The former viceroy, who was back to painting just waved him off, being deeply immersed in his work.

I'll really have to talk to them about this, the dark prince thought as he activated his Geass. What was going on with it? Earlier at Babel tower, it activated on its own, and he dodged that punch that would've no doubt struck him. With a shrug, he decided to talk to C.C. and his brothers tomorrow; it wasn't like the changes were detrimental, atleast up until now.

As Lelouch approached his room, a terrifying thought struck him, causing him to quicken his pace to a run until he reached the room to his door, which opened with that familiar hissing sound.

Relief washed over him as he found his room to be more or less in the same state he left it in; in other words, not a maze of stacked pizza boxes.

It wasn't until now that he actually realized how exhausted he was. Moving to his bed, in which a green-haired woman was lying and sleeping peacefully, he dropped onto it with a dull, muffled thud, not even bothering to take off his clothes as he draped one arm around the still form of his lover and quickly drifted off into a well deserved slumber.

Another long chapter; I'm slowly getting the hang of these.

Thanks again to Tartyoab for proofreading, and, as always, reviews are very much appreciated.