“Y-You…?! How…? H-How are you… alive…?!”

  Color drained from Taizo’s face as he stared at the revealed tenanordred” with widened eyes.

  He must’ve been mistaken… No, it must be a mistake!!!

  But unfortunately, it was impossible, for he had ied the appearance of both his mother and the Demon of Britannia, the madman who created ons of mass destru. The devil who led the crusade against those who are not of Britannian blood. The demon lord who he took part in taking down…

  “H-How… I-I was sure…”

  “Alexander” let out a soft smile at the stunned old lord.

  “A miracle, Lord Kirihara. A simple miracle. And worry not… I have not e to exact revenge. Instead… It is the opposite.”

  “...Huh?”

  The old man looked at the figure of the young man before him, that reminded him of the hellish pain and suffering many of his rades had gohrough due to the Devil of Britannia and his minions, in fusion. And when he bowed, the old lord froze in shobsp;

  “Thank you very much fing that monster down. He is not someone who should be allowed to walk this world. Now, the world is oep closer to peace thanks to your as.”

  “...”

  Kirihara Taizo doubted his ears for a moment. Did such words truly e from the son of Arthur von Mstar…? The Devil himself? And towards him, the one whed the “disappearance” of the Mstar family…

  “Are you… Truly… his son…?”

  “Unfortunately…”

  “Alexander” nodded with a sad smile as the old man scrutinized his every expression, words, and as as he ched onto his wooden staff.

  “...Do you not hold a grudge against me, boy?”

  “Of course not. As I said, you did the right thing. And if you didn’t… I would’ve do myself.”

  “...”

  Taizo looked the young man in the eyes. Eyes that were beautiful beyond words and charming enough to disarm even the most guarded person before him.

  His heart swayed. He had seen through the true nature of many charismatic devils in his lifetime. And though no one had the charisma on par with the young man before him, he was still experienced enough to dis the truth from the lies that came out of his mouth.

  And to his shock, he found nothing but the truth and genuine gratefulness.

  He turowards Lelouch.

  “...Do you trust him?”

  “Of course. He is one of my closest friends and trusted fidants.”

  Lelouodded immediately. If he couldn’t trust even his rades and friends in the Chat Group, whose true nature and life he had seen through their life “stories”, then there was no one in the world worthy of his trust.

  “...Very well.”

  Lord Kirihara nodded and turned his gaze back at Yuuji.

  “So? You’ve revealed yourself to me. What do you want?”

  “I am simply here to vey a message. A message from “Shiba”.”

  Once again, Taizo’s eyes widened in shock as the st word “Alexander” uttered reverberated like thunder in his mind.

  “Shiba…? Do you mean… That Shiba…?”

  “Iheir son is alive, and he wao thank you for your efforts in supp them and proteg them until their st moments.”

  His hands began to tremble along with his entire body. A siear flowed down the eyes of the weathered old man as the figure of a handsome man aiful woman, both bck of hair, pure of hearts, and kind beyond words appeared in his mind…

  “How… Just how…? I was sure…”

  “It is yet another miracle, Lord Kirihara. Their son had grown up and their legacy was also still intact. They’ve left the location of their legacy to their son.”

  Both of the Shiba were the brilliant, steadfast, and shining light of hope that would’ve illumihe future of Japan. And when he failed to protect them, that light disappeared along with a part of his heart.

  The moment he received news of their death, the death of those he had sidered his own flesh and blood, a part of him died along with them.

  But now… He finally found it once again. A new light… A new hope.

  “I see… I see. That’s good…”

  Taizo closed his eyes and collected himself. He took in a deep breath a out through his mouth before looking at “Alexander” once again.

  “I assume he’s with the Bights as well.”

  “Alexander” nodded.

  “Indeed. But it is not time for his parent’s legacy to be revealed to the world. Lest, we’ll attract the attention of the powerhouses of Britannia.”

  Taizo nodded in agreement.

  “Good choice. You are still few and weak. If you used it, you would’ve been akin to a child wielding a gun fighting against a trained veteran. Wait until you stand on your own two feet. The t this war to an end.”

  “Yes, Lord Kirihara.”

  “Mm. Until then, we shall assist you in this war.”

  “I appreciate it, Lord Kirihara.”

  Lelouch donned his mask of Zero once again and turned around, his cape fluttering in the air.

  “Alexander” bowed o time before his devilish mask closed, hiding his true tenance from the world, and followed after “Zero”.

  And as they walked away, Taizo watched their back recede in silence.

  Finally… The winds of victory had blown in our favor…

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  After finishing their business, Zero had Karen, Ohgi, and Tamaki return to Tokyo Settlement by themselves while he and Mordred took care of some remaining business in Kyoto.

  Zero didn’t say what their business was when they asked. And when Karen asked Mordred in private, she too failed to get an answer, leaving her disappointed as the three made their way back to Tokyo on their own.

  Ohey’re gone, Zero and Mo to find a hiddehey arrived at a quiet street he outskirts of the Kyoto settlement, and after making sure no eyes, human or mae, had their sights ohey ged from their suit and armor intur, civilian’s clothing.

  Where previously stood two spicuous looking men, now stood a pair of eye-catg handsome youhe taller one dressed in a bck shirt, bck leather jacket, and long bck jeans, and the other dressed in a caramel jacket, bck shirt, and dark pants.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yes. I just got a text from Shirley that she’s about to head to our meet up point. She’ll probably arrive ihan an hour.”

  Yuuij nodded with a fident smile.

  “No problem. We’ll arrive even faster. What about her prote?”

  “Satoru-san had both “Momonga” and “Perorono” guard her stealthily. Mao won’t be able to touch her.”

  “That’s good. Well then, shall we?”

  “Mm. Thank you for doing this, Yuuji.”

  “No problem. Let’s go.”

  The two began to float up into the air as their appearance slowly vahen, as the literal space around them bent to propel them forward without the o fight against air resistand gravity, the two head towards Tokyo with speed surpassing even a fighter jet.

  Ahan 30 mier, they arrived near Lelouch’s meeting point with Shirley as promised.

  “e really did arrive ihan half an hour… So this is your top speed.”

  “My top speed is still a bit faster. I didn’t want you to get a headache from seeing the sight around you move so quickly, so I held back a little.”

  Yuuji undid his invisibility spell and pced a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

  “Alright then, off you go. Good lu your date. And have fun. You deserve it.”

  Lelouch smiled and nodded softly.

  “Thank you. Then, I’ll be going.”

  Lelouch went straight towards the pza and stood in front of a fountain. This was the pce he had agreed upon with Shirley for their meet up point.

  And after waiting for several minutes, Yuuji saw the two meeting up aowards the cert hall like a regur young couple. And after knowing what kinds of things Lelouch had to gh, the sight brought a smile to his fabsp;

  You deserve happiness, Lelouch… And now that we’re here, we’ll help you obtain it.

  Yuuji took out his phone aed Satoru.

  Tsubakihara Yuuji: “Satoru-san, did Mao approach Shirley?”

  Soon, a reply came to him.

  Suzuki Satoru: “He did. He tried to approach her while she was on the way to their meeting point. But I had “Momonga” put him to sleep before he could reach her. He’s been dragged away by a few poli who found him.”

  Tsubakihara Yuuji: “That’s great. Thank you, Satoru-san. Lelouch has also met up with Shirley, so they should be fine now.”

  Suzuki Satoru: “I’m gd. I’ll leave “Momonga” to watch over them and have “Perorono” return to be a look out for the base.”

  Tsubakihara Yuuji: “Alright. I won’t be returning to the base tonight siold them that Leloud I have business in Kyoto. So I will return to our home tonight.”

  Suzuki Satoru: “Sure. Tatsuya-kun said he will be staying at the base tonight to tiudying Excalibur and the Guren. But I’ll return hom. See you there.”

  Tsubakihara Yuuji: “Alright, see you, Satoru-san.”

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  Uhe clear blue sky, a serey stood atop the rooftop of the academy building as the breeze blew her beautiful leaf green hair that was tied into a twin tail.

  Her golden eyes gazed into the distance, seemingly to view something even further. Something… intangible. Something in the past. Her past.

  If she were to describe her life up to this point, she could easily describe it with just two words.

  “Pain” would be the first. And the sed, “Suffering.”

  She had seen all the pain and suffering humanity went through. She had experiehe cruelty of man and the world, es pain with her immortal body, and experiehe despair that turned her heart numb.

  Her eyes remairanquil even as memories of her “deaths” recur in her mind like a never ending nightmare. In fact, most of, if not, all of her dreams were nightmares. She was simply used to it that it didn’t wake her up at night any longer.

  At this point… She was simply tired of it all.

  She was tired of this never ending life…

  “Hm? What’s wrong?”

  The leaf green-haired beauty uttered those words into the wind as a breeze blew over her, sendiwin tails swaying in the air.

  “What? Are you that bored that you started g about that?”

  “Yes yes, I know already. You’re a helicopter mom.”

  “How could you evehat? You asked me to watch over him. And now, you’re askio observe his friend!”

  An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as she shook her head.

  “I get it, already… But you know that I ’t reveal myself to just anyone, right? Even for you, I won’t risk being turned into a b rat again just so I tell you about your son’s friend.”

  “T-That was just an act. I didn’t-”

  Just then, as C.ced down onto the courtyard, she saw the figure of the “most handsome student in Ashford” looking up towards her with eyes widened in surprise.

  Her body immediately froze. And in the moment, she immediately run away as her heart thumped loudly in her chest.

  C.C quickly made her way back to the Student Gover Clubhouse, where Leloud his little sister were staying. She immediately went to her room, locked the door, and slumped down onto her bed.

  “Hah… Hah… Shut up… I know it already!”

  C.C at the voi her mind as she panted in exhaustion.

  This would be the sed time “he” had seen her… And this time, he definitely saw her sihey even made eye tabsp;

  And to make things worse, he was the “friend” they voi her head was referring to.

  Leloud Alexander had gotten close ever sihe tter became an “honorary” member of the Student cil. It seemed like Alexander had been helping Lelouch with his work and the two grew closer because of that. And before long, they got along very well and could also be seen talking with each other and even having lunch together.

  And now… She, whose identity aence were supposed to be unknown by anyone in the academy, had beewice by him.

  If things g, her e with Lelouch might be revealed.

  “How… Did you even e to that clusion…? My heart is beating fast because I ran all the way back here…!”

  “His appearance doesn’t matter…!”

  “What…? What nonsense are you talking…? Love at first sight…? Hah… It seems your brain have rotted since you haven’t been using them much tely, huh?”

  “...Alright alright, I get your point. But I disagree.”

  “Yeah, I’ll talk to you ter.”

  C.C let out anh as the voi her mi. She rolled around in her bed and hugged her favorite pizza restaurant mascot plushie called “Cheese-kun”.

  “Love… I’ve long since lost the heart to love long ago, Marianne…”

  She closed her eyes, and memories of her torturous past filled with death, pain, and suffering fshed across her mind.

  But fortunately for her, darkness quickly cimed her sciousness as a siear rolled down the er of her eyes, with the final image in her mind being the tenance of the boy she met eyes with previously.

  VergsX