Standing Tall 2 (Patreon)

Lelouch knew his day was going downhill the moment Shirley walked in.

Normally, this would not be a problem.  The hidden prince tended to welcome visits from the orange-haired girl, even with the latest emotional distress that she’d found herself burdened with.  If nothing else, she brightened up a room with her mere presence, often distracting him from his own inner turmoil.  In this case, though, Shirley’s entrance heralded nothing but oncoming difficulties of the worst sort…

It really didn’t help matters that Tamaki was holding the door open for the girl as she entered Zero’s personal quarters.

Briefly, Lelouch was struck by the surrealism of a member of the Ashford Academy, that wasn’t Kallen, walking into the headquarters of the Black Knights.  Of course, the moment was brief, but it didn’t at all brighten his expectations for the inevitable coming turmoil.  Thankfully, the chess piece-esque mask over his face shielded the moment of gaping shock before he was able to compose himself.  Still, his mind being as lightning-fast as it was, it took all of a handful of seconds to deduce why the girl was here.  In the moments it had taken him to regain the ability to think straight, Tamaki and Shirley had crossed the distance between the door and his…Zero’s desk.

“Uh…Zero, I…found this girl wandering around asking for the Black Knights.  Said she wanted to join up,” Tamaki stated somewhat lamely, an embarrassed smile on his face and his right hand scratching the back of his head.

“And so you felt you should accompany a young Britainnian schoolgirl to our hideout,” Zero stated, his modulated voice thick with disbelief.  Absently, he noticed Shirley attempt to hide a flinch at the intimidating sound of Zero’s tones.  “Tamaki, I believe I wrote a set of security guidelines and protocols for accepting new members for this very reason.  Please, at least assure me you weren’t followed and you checked her for tracking devices?”

Zero…Lelouch, knew she wouldn’t have one on her and knew exactly why she was here, but that didn’t change the fact that Tamaki had displayed a serious and perhaps deadly breach in regulations.  If it had been anyone else, they would be up to their eyes in Britannian Knightmare Frames right now.

Tamaki flushed slightly in embarrassment, but snorted and turned away from the Black Knight’s leader.  “Aw, ‘com on Zero, whaddaya take me for?  Of course I made sure we weren’t followed.  Anyway, I wouldn’t have even brought her, but she was gettin’ all teary and stuff.”

Honestly, he didn’t know what was more surprising: the fact that Tamaki had a weakness for damsels in distress or that he didn’t have an even more inane reason for pulling this kind of stunt.  Allowing his subordinate to stew for the moment, his mask pivoted to face the orangette.  Once again, Shirley did an admirable job of hiding a flinch.  A long moment passed while Lelouch, behind his mask, pondered what he could possibly do to get Shirley out of this rather complicated situation she’d created without arousing too much suspicion.

“Your name?”  Zero asked curtly.

“Sh-Shirley Fenette…Sir!”

“And you want to join the Black Knights?”  Zero said, making it sound more like a statement than a question, which it really was.

“Yes sir,” Shirley said, innately grasping the respect which Zero commanded.  Even though the masked man scared her, she had come here for a reason and wouldn’t let herself be intimidated…

Even if he was very, veryscary.

“Obviously, you are a Britainnian and, therefore, it is suspicious that you would come to us just as the Black Knights are rising in status.  I will ask you directly, then…are you a spy?”

“No!”

“And can you prove that you are not a spy?” Zero pressed.

Shirley was silent and, Lelouch hoped, realizing exactly how stupid it was coming here.  Finally, indecision fell away from her eyes and she met Zero’s gaze unflinchingly.  “Then…k-kill me!  If I can’t earn your trust…I might as well be dead!”

A long moment of silence ensued, wherein the only sound was Zero’s gloved fingers tapping slowly, thoughtfully, on the desk in front of him.  “Tamaki,” he said suddenly, the man snapping to attention unconsciously at the obedience his commander’s voice demanded, “you’re dismissed.  I’m not to be disturbed while speaking with our new prospective recruit unless an emergency arises.”

“Yes sir!”

The pneumatic hiss of the door closing was loud in the still-silent room as Zero and his unknowing classmate stared each other down.  After what seemed like an eternity, the leader of the Black Knights spoke.  “All the people under my command have suffered at the hands of Britainnia…some have lost loved ones, some feel the general oppression of their brethren, and others have their own reasons for pursuing justice.  Each of them have their own skills, though, which they can bring to bear in the name of that quest.  The question becomes, if you are not a spy, then do you have the willingness to do everything in your power to challenge Britainnia?”

“Yes sir,” Shirley said, her tone grim and her eyes challenging.

“You wear the uniform of Ashford Academy,” Zero stated, leaving Shirley blinking in confusion at the sudden change of topic.  “I know this because of the fact that a classmate of yours, Kururugi Suzaku, is in the military and earned considerable notoriety when I saved him during his faux-trail for Clovis death.  To prove your loyalty and willingness to follow orders, you will assassinate this man.”

Shock and horror blew Shirley’s eyes wide open at the suggestion.

“I won’t!  Suzaku’s a good person!  Why would you want to kill him anyway!?  Y-you saved him!”  Shirley protested violently, her disbelief raging.

“You come here asking to be a Black Knight and then refuse a direct order?”  Zero asked, his tone difficult to discern.  “Are you sure this is the path you wish to take?  This is the last time I will ask.”

“I won’t kill my friend!”  Shirley cried, tears clouding her vision now.  “I don’t care if you kill me!  Britainnia might have killed my father, but killing Suzaku won’t bring him back and won’t change Britainnia!  I didn’t come here to follow another monster like the one Britainnia’s become!”

“Then why did you come?”  Zero asked, his question almost…contemplative.

“I-I had to do something!”  Shirley shouted.  “Britainnia killed my father just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time!  He was a good man and they killed him!  I don’t want anyone else to have to suffer like I have!”

“And you are willing to do horrible things to achieve this end?”  Zero continued.  “You will kill?  You will go to war against the land you called home?  You will submit yourself to my command as long as I wield you against Britainnia in the name of your fallen loved one?”

Shirley, still stunned from the earlier command to kill her friend, refused to answer for a time, the silence eating at both of them.  Lelouch had played his only ace in this situation, the only way he could feasibly put a stop to Shirley’s self-destructive behavior.  The girl needed to understand that, once started down this path, she could no longer return to being a normal student…and that she would forever bear scars from the things which would happen hereafter.

“I-I won’t kill my friends,” Shirley stated finally, “But I’ll do anything else you want.  I knew I would have to kill people…when I came here.  I’ll become a soldier, I’ll stand guard, or even fix Knightmares…just please let me help!”

Zero leaned back, fervently ignoring the pains in his heart as he looked on one of his dear friends and the pain his eternal enemy had inflicted on another person.  Could he allow another person so close to him in so much danger?  A negative response was on his lips when the door slid open, admitting an apparent teenager with long green hair into Zero’s office.  Inwardly, the fallen prince groaned…

This was exactly what he didn’t need.

“So…I suppose only your own motivations are valid?”  C.C. stated, entering the conversation as if she had been there for the duration.  “Very close-minded of you, you know…I think the girl’s pain is just as meaningful as yours.”

“C.C.  I don’t recall requesting your opinion on the matter,” Zero stated evenly.  “Perhaps, for once, you should keep you mind to your own business.”

“And let you do as you please?  The great Zero would fall to ruin without my sage wisdom, I’m sure.  Just look at how close you were to destroying this girl…you should know this better than anyone.”

“And you would have me induct her into the Black Knights?  A Britainnian student who has likely never held a gun in her life, someone who is little more than a child?”  Zero asked.

“You forget that you are all little more than children, to me at least,” C.C. said quietly.  “She has her heart set on it, you would be cruel to do anything but accept.”

Zero sighed, the sound hollow and echoing inside the mask.

“Despite passing my test…you would be an excellent soldier, an honest person, and a loyal friend…I would have told you no.  What you are asking me for, I cannot in good conscience give you…but, it seems I have been overruled,” He stated.  “I am placing you with the intelligence division.  For now, until you prove yourself, you will report anything of interest to a contact.  Your contact’s identity will remain a secret to anyone outside of this organization.  Should anyone learn of her, you will be regarded as a spy.  Are your orders understood?”
“Y-Yes sir!”

Hitting an intercom switch, Zero’s modulated voice spoke, “Q-1, to my office please.”

C.C. rolled her eyes and muttered something resembling ‘petty’ under her breath.