rex_sun | [blurb] Deceptions [Code Geass]

Suzaku looks up, only to find himself at the bad end of a gun barrel.

The Black Knights. Their uniforms nearly blend in with the encroaching darkness here in the ghettos, away from the neon shining lights of the Britannian city, but their guns shine by the moonlight. Suzaku stares down the closest man, but they're all carrying guns, and Suzaku feels his mind start to go hazy under the power of that damn Geass curse.

Suzaku snarls and tightens his grip on Lelouch's arms. With all the murderous intent he can muster, Suzaku turns his gaze back to Lelouch-- ready to see that horrible, superior smirk on his face, that terrible feeling of being played sinking in his gut even though he expected this all along --but... Lelouch is afraid.

And Lelouch, also, has a gun pressed right up against his head.

"W-wait!" Lelouch breathes. His face is stony, but Suzaku can hear the barest shiver in his voice. "Why are you--"

"Well, how convenient!"

Suzaku draws in a sharp breath. That voice-- the metallic, robotic voice of the Zero mask --sends a shiver up his spine. Suzaku fights the Geass threatening to overtake him and charge at the gunmen so that he may turn, one hand still clutching Lelouch's arm, and face his nemesis.

Zero melts out of the darkness, tall and thin, just like Lelouch but even taller. Suzaku gapes at the figure, startled and confused enough to forget temporarily about the guns aimed at his head.

Zero says, "I set one trap and caught two mice. You make things too easy, Kururugi, coming here where my people are wired."

Suzaku tries to say something, but can't. He stares at Zero, drinking in the appearance of that uniform, that faceless mask, and then swings his head to stare at Lelouch. But Lelouch, like Suzaku, is entranced, eyes wide and mouth in a tight frown.

"Y-you..." Suzaku whispers finally. Lelouch whips his head around to Suzaku, startled that something so venomous is being directed not at Zero but at him. "What kind of game is this, Lelouch?"

"Me!" Lelouch snaps, scandalized. "They're here for you! Sir knight of seven, man who captured Zero one year ago!"

"...what?" Suzaku feels his brain go numb, not from Geass this time but from his own confusion. Suzaku looks back at Zero, as if he can find some sort of answer in that clueless mask.

Zero laughs darkly. "Poor boy. So he really has lost his memory?"

Lelouch opens and closes his mouth, working like a fish. He appears to be dumbfounded, and finally says, "Memory? You're mistaken! I haven't--"

Zero pushes on, interrupting Lelouch smoothly, and even Lelouch, who would bow usually to no one, is cowed by Zero's sheer oppressive presence. "I heard there was some sort of amnesia. The Black Knights were constantly trying to retrieve him, after all, but there was never any response."