entrancelogs | [COMPLETE] Face to Face

Entry tags:

[COMPLETE] Face to Face

Who: Lelouch Lamperouge [

001999] and Zero (Kururugi Suzaku) [

zerocolors]
Where Main Entrance
When: Evening of Zero's arrival
Rating: ...PG? I doubt it would go higher
Summary: Both are doubting each other identities. The only way to check, naturally, is to meet each other right?
the Story:

This day had started out nicely. Nunnally visiting, going to Ashford together, looking at fireworks with the rest of their former friends. Nunnally had seemed happy, which Suzaku was relieved at. She had been feeling down ever since the death of him even though she tried to act as if she was all right. But Suzaku knew she wasn't. It was only natural, the two were so close. So when Nunnally seemed to be truly enjoying the time, Suzaku felt his heart become a little lighter as well.

But it all took a turn for the worse when Suzaku suddenly found himself in an unknown place with Nunnally nowhere to be found, even though she had been right in front of him just a second ago. It was discontenting, Suzaku didn't like it. He needed to find Nunnally if she was here and get out of the place. Yet, when he asked for answers, what he got were more questions.

A person denying he was Zero. Calling him a sick stalker with sick fantasies for being with Nunnally. Furthermore, this person was claiming to be him. It had to be a lie. Firstly, he was dead. And second, he should know Suzaku was not lying. He was Zero. He was nobody else.

Reaching at the main entrance, he waited for this imposter to come. Suzaku would not forgive the person for choosing to imposter him of all people. And then denying Zero's identitiy. Suzaku had sworn to continue out His Majesty's will, and nobody would stop him.

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The conversation Lelouch just had with "Zero" was almost frightening. The palms of his hands were damp with sweat. Was he really scared, though? Or was it just the thrill of digging deeper into the secret to find out who this man really was? Afterall, he couldn't really be who he claimed to be. It was impossible. Zero was here, in this mansion, but he was stuck inside Lelouch. He had denied the name after he had promised Suzaku and he never thought he'd need to relive it again... He was proved wrong. Twice. First with that ridiculous memory swapping event, and now this creep who had some wild fantasy of being Zero of all people.

Lelouch was leaving his room now and in the back of his mind, he was wondering where Suzaku was. It wasn't unusual of him to be gone...but this was......

...He slammed the door behind him and continued down the hall. Before he knew it, he had found himself stepping along the set of stairs just above the first floor. His boots clicked gently against the marble floors and the echo if it as he reached the main entrance drowned out the thumping of his heart against his ear. And then Lelouch saw him. The cape, the stance, the ever infamous mask. Completely opposite to Lelouch's own white-shirt and cream-colored slacks. He stared at the figure and stopped in his tracks, a distance of only a few feet between them.

Zero heard the steps before he saw the person coming down. Turning around, he faced the imposter, wondering just what this person looked like.

What he saw, stopped his heart for a second. His breath hitched, and his eyes widened to its maximum. This person...this imposter.....

Zero was glad he had the mask on. There was no way he could let the enemy see he was shocked by the appearance. It was the basic of basics for the soldiers: "Never let the enemy see your weakness." He took deep breaths to calm himself down, he unclenched his fists underneath the cloak. It was all right. It was not him. It was an imposter. It was a disguise. A trick to harm Nunnally or him. A terrorist. It was a cheap trick. And low.

Zero repeated that in his mind, while he opened his mouth. He made sure his voice wasn't shaking. He paid the utmost attention to his own actions. He had to act like Zero perfectly. Down the t. Nobody should be able the difference. Nobody, but two people: C.C. and Lelouch.

"I see that you were at least smart enough to make yourself look like Lelouch Lamperouge," Zero said, clearly and strongly in his changed voice.

Lelouch heard it. That uneven breath, even if it was for just that one moment. He heard it. And he felt it. The shock that radiated as quickly as it was gone. He also felt something else. Something more...familiar. It wasn't simply the clothing and it wasn't the name. Lelouch felt a sort of understanding and such a nostaligic determination through the mask and all of its cruel lies. The outfit was Zero and so was the attitude, but no, the true person behind the facade wasn't. He wasn't even close.

Lelouch shot a smirk towards "Zero" and took a step forward. "I'd say the same for you. You play your part quite well." His smirk faded and his eyes became stern, "Take the mask off." If "Zero" wasn't going to do it, then by god, Lelouch would run up to him and snatch it off if he had to.

Nobody should be able to notice the difference. Even if someone suspected, then it was up to Suzaku to crush those suspicions. It was all up to how well he could act like Zero.

"The answer would be: No," Zero stated, his voice laced with a tone that one had when looking down at someone as if they were a joke. Suzaku knew this tone well. It had irritated him to no ends when he was on the other side of the mask.

Again. The familiarity. Now it was the voice. The tone was different. It was so cold, without a trace of the cheerful smile he had grown so fond of in the past year. It couldn't be...why would he do such a thing? Suzaku, of all people, who had despised Zero so ardently...

Lelouch involuntarily took another step forward, his eyes softening, as the realization hit him. The little wonder that was clawing at him the moment he left his room, Where was Suzaku?, shook his every nerve as he stared into the mask, trying to peer through it, even though he knew better than anyone else how fantastic a wall it was. ...It wasn't possible. Suzaku just didn't return for one night, he couldn't go back in that short time, could he...?

"Suzaku..." His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. The name slipped out, he couldn't catch it. And he was only inches away from "Zero". His hands were raised, slowly edging closer around the mask...they wouldn't stop moving. His mind wouldn't stop coming up with other possibilities. Anything but this one...anyone but him.......and his hands stopped. They were firmly placed on either side of Zero's mask. And Lelouch stood still.

Zero nearly took a step back as Lelouch became closer and closer. He was numb with....something. Zero didn't know what. But he was frozen on spot, and his hesitance of moving allowed Lelouch to come closer. Close enough to reach him, and place the hands on his mask, with a whisper of a name.

It took all of Zero's will to not push Lelouch away. He couldn't. It wasn't something "Zero" would do. It would give it away. Instead, he maintained a calm voice. He thought for the best thing to say. Zero's main goal was for Lelouch to back away. To loose suspicions. He needed something now.

"....Kururugi Suzaku is dead. He was killed by Kouzuki Kallen during a battle."

That didn't phase Lelouch. Suzaku couldn't die. It was almost as impossible as Zero standing in front of him. He had remembered that particular order quite well: "Live." As far as Lelouch knew, his commands were permanent.

So, this "Zero" also knew Kallen. Kouzuki Kallen. Lelouch's hands slid down a notch, but did not leave the mask, "Kallen is without a doubt, a skilled pilot. Unbelievably so. However, your statement is impossible. Kururugi Suzaku was ordered not to die," he was giving away too much. He knew it. But he couldn't stop himself. He needed to know. The words had already reached the tip of his tongue as his voice went deep and the ice that coated it matched that of Zero's, "an order that can never be broken."

But that was where Lelouch was wrong. Suzaku knew that, and he laughed shortly.

"But the order could be broken, Lelouch," he replied, in a slightly taunting tone. "You just didn't realize." Zero moved his arm and gently placed his finger on Lelouch's left eye. It was a signal that he knew about this "unbreakable order".

Everything Zero said was true, but he left out the main part. Suzaku never had his Geass taken off. But that wasn't something Lelouch needed to know.

The touch sent shivers down his spine; it was cold. But he didn't pull away. He dare not move, because if he did, so would Suzaku. Yes, this was Suzaku. This feeling Lelouch felt was only for him, no matter what the circumstance. But he was so distant and the place where his finger was, across his eye, ached with...what was it? Pain? At realizing that although this was Suzaku, Lelouch was certain, it wasn't the one that had loved him? Or perhaps anger? At being taunted by his best friend, his enemy, his lover, himself?

He slid his hands further back behind the mask and pressed into the crevices he knew so well, attempting to take it off. He didn't say a word. He just slowly pulled against it... ...

Zero bit his lips inside the mask. How can he stop Lelouch from pulling this mask off? He wasn't ready. Suzaku wasn't ready to face this...Lelouch yet, without his mask.

It was the last resource. With his left hand still on Lelouch's left eye, his right hand gripped the gun hidden inside the cloak and jabbed it in Lelouch's stomach.

"Let go."

Lelouch tightened his grip along the edge of the mask, his fingertips just brushing along thick curls. He was about to pull harder, but his hands froze as soon as he felt the pressure of the gun against his stomach. His eyes were wide, not with terror, but with the wave of pain that crushed him. In one blink, the strike of emotion left and his eyes were blank, but his chest was still burning and it took all of him to control his shaking.

"No."

"Let go" Zero repeated in a low, cold voice. He clicked the safety off of the gun.

Suzaku didn't know what he would do though, if Lelouch didn't stop. He supposed he could shoot Lelouch's leg, so that he wouldn't be able to chase Suzaku when he ran. But..but he didn't want to hurt this person that looked so much like Lelouch. Not again.

Lelouch blinked and his expression did not change. However, his left hand slowly slipped off of the mask and wrapped around Suzaku's wrist, guiding it up and away from the abdomin and pointed the gun directly above the heart.

"Where are you aiming? Didn't your superiors teach you to shoot here?" His right hand still hung on firmly to the mask, while the other clung onto the wrist and gradually pulled it further, deeper and he felt the cold tip seep through his clothing.

Suzaku slightly tugged his hand away from Lelouch's. The right hand on Zero's mask....Lelouch so close.

It all dubbed to that day of the parade. Of the day where everything ended and everything started. It was too much.

Suzaku's left hand backed away from Lelouch's eyes, and instead made contact with his chest, pushing Lelouch away from himself.

Lelouch's hand fell away from the mask without resistance and he staggered back. The warmth that used to be Suzaku's hand was gone and the cold touch of Zero's glove remained floating along his chest, his eye.

The distance was too great. The wrenching pain that tugged at his heart was unbearable. Suzaku had forgotten him, the days they spent at the mansion...

...no, Lelouch wasn't going to break. It was so unlike him; so he smiled. "Why didn't you shoot?"

Suzaku took a few steps back as well, his right hand with the gun facing the floor. The hand that pushed Lelouch was clenched to a fist near his chest now, trying to get the image of the day out of his head. He got over it. It was all for the plan, and Suzaku told himself he was okay with it. He had accepted that day and his position in the Requiem. Suzaku thought he was over it.

To Lelouch's question, Suzaku didn't answer for a while. "It sounds as if you want to get shot."

Lelouch disregarded Suzaku's statement with a light shrug of his shoulders. He let out a low chuckle, but did not speak. He just closed his eyes and thought about it. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. His pride told him it was for the people. The people who hated him, how pleased they would be to see him die. But what people? Where were they? They weren't here; they weren't in the mansion. No one knew he was Zero except those select few. And so Lelouch figured it was his own guilt. He understood and accepted what he did. The ends justify the means -- a policy that Lelouch religiously upheld. But now what...? He's given nearly 2 years inside a mansion where no one knows his past and he momentarily forgets his pride and finds...peace, despite the events. He finds a ready-to-forgive Suzaku.

And then he's gone, replaced by this...

...Lelouch slowly opened his eyes and the smile was still there. "Are you afraid to hurt me?" He wanted him back. He wanted Suzaku back.

Suzaku looked at Lelouch with a smile on his face, looking back at him. This person was Lelouch, no doubt about it. He didn't understand how this worked, but it was him. Yet, it wasn't him in the way that, this Lelouch didn't seem to know about his own plan, the Zero Requiem. But Suzaku could tell. This Lelouch suspected him of being Zero. He didn't know what to do. Lelouch was the person to come up with the plan that Suzaku become Zero in the first place. Lelouch was his Emperor, his Majesty. Suzaku followed his orders now.

So should Suzaku just let Lelouch unmask him? Why was he hesitating in the first place? It was only Lelouch. It wasn't Gino or Anya or Nunnally. It was Lelouch, who knew everything. ..Or at least would.

He ran these thoughts through his head, as he replief to Lelouch. "I have no hobbies of hurting civilians. You are no longer a threat to me, so there is no need to."

(deleted comment)

Suzaku was taken aback at Lelouch's laughter. Why was he laughing? What was so funny? Suzaku didn't understand. He was confused.

Suzaku looked at the smiling Lelouch and his smil once more, before turning his back to Lelouch.

"No."

Lelouch expected that answer. He shrugged, not minding the refusal at all. There was no point in arguing about the matter now. In due time, he was sure Zero would reveal himself. He couldn't keep his identity a secret forever -- not that it was a secret anymore, since Lelouch ~~assumed~~ knew.

For a moment, he stared at Suzaku's -- ah, Zero's -- back and smiled before turning on his heels, their backs facing eachother. "I'll take that as an 'eventually'."

Lelouch's eyes widened slightly as he almost gaped at Suzaku (Zero). And then he broke into a brisk, refreshing laugh through all the tension. The small glimpse of Suzaku he saw in those words was so incredibly real: ...No hobbies of hurting civilians... And his smile, in turn, was more relaxed.

"It seems I've finally convinced you. Then will you let me remove your mask?" The answer didn't matter. Lelouch knew who it was; it couldn't be anyone else. But he wanted to see his face...just to make sure.

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[COMPLETE] Face to Face

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