rakuen | Knightly Honour Demands...

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Knightly Honour Demands...

Dinner was a noisy affair even with so few students, as people mingled amongst those they'd met already or discovered old friends they hadn't had the chance to meet already. The general furor with the chocolate fudge cake had claimed at least an hour, too. Sora had been bouncing from table to table, as she went to talk to someone, then returned to her table, then back to someone else she'd spotted, and so on. Now it was Suzaku's turn. She'd felt bad about her attack the moment the situation had been explained, but the penalty had removed most of her ability to focus on that for long enough that she felt he deserved a proper apology, Knight to Knight.

She'd located him fairly early into dinner, but he'd been deep in conversation with some of the others. Now they'd all gone to get dessert or talk to other people, and she seized her chance. With a smile to her friends, she indicated where she was headed, and slid into the seat opposite the other Knight.

"Suzaku? Um, about this afternoon. I should really apologise..."

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"Ah, but if he doesn't remember, then doesn't he think you're still his friend?" Sora scratched her head, "I don't really get how these memories work, but maybe you could explain to him now, or stay with him... then, when he does remember, you'll be able to fix it, right? It's a horrible feeling, being avoided all the time."

She could remember the first few days of school, with everyone avoiding her eyes and slipping away before she could talk to them. Until she'd met Koharu, she'd been afraid of going crazy from it. "If there's anything I can do... Knights should stick togethe-- eh?"

A girl interrupted her, dropping into the seat next to Suzaku. Sora stopped talking and stared, partly because the girl was gorgeous, with a bright, open smile, and partly because Suzaku hadn't mentioned her at all. It looked like they were friends, though. She blinked a little, but decided against answering before Suzaku did.

Suzaku frowned, she had a point but still, wouldn't Gino then think he had been decietful if Suzaku pretended they were friends and then remembered what had happened. Still he did not say anything, he did not want to insult his new found ally. Allies were rare in this place and Sora was right, they all had to stick together.

He nodded but turned to look at the girl who had sat down next to him, she was very pretty and Suzaku smiled at her politely wondering if she was one of Sora's friends.

Then she spoke, he would have recognised that voice anywhere and he jumped to his feet, eyes widening. No, it couldn't be...

She'd died... he'd failed to protect her, Zero had gotten to her and she'd died. Tear's filled his eyes and he shook his head stepping backwards. She was here, it was her voice, though he didn't recognise her he couldn't remember her face at all either. It was her... but it couldn't be.

She was dead, he'd watched her die, he'd watched her kill and he'd watched her die, and here she was.

"Euphy," he said almost choaking on the word, "Euphy?" He was trembling and he did not think he could stand for much longer, so he sat, but having moved backwards meant there was no chair. He fell to the floor. "Euphy..."

Euphemia's face slowly curves onto itself, going from the gentle yet bright smile to a look of shock and surprise-- and much more distantly, hurt.

"Suzaku?" she says, unsure, rising to her feet and crouching by him, hands going to touch his own. "I'm sorry, did I-- did I startle you?"

She doesn't understand, and her face reflects that.

Sora managed to get around to the other side of the table quickly. Not fast enough to stop him hitting the floor, but enough that she could help him up and catch the chair before it clattered and drew more attention.

"What's wrong?" She didn't want to intrude, but if there was something up, she felt the need to help them. And there was something wrong; as she leaned forward to support him, she realised he was crying. "Suzaku, is it your memories?"

"Euphy," he took a breath trying to calm himself down as she came closer and touched his hands, she was real. She was real and she was here. But she should not be, she had died, she had died more than a year ago but here she was, she was here and talking and... "Euphy!"

He looked at Sora as she came closer to him and was thankful for the support, he did not think he would get up unaided. He shook his head at her question, no it was not his memories, he remembered very well what had happened. They were seered into his memory, those events.

But... how could this be! "Euphy..." he reached out and touched the face that held no recognition for him. "It is you!"

She rises at the same time as they do, unsure and hands clasped to her chest. Her heart aches to see him in tears-- she gently brings her fingers to his when he reaches for her, and smiles. She feels on the brink of tears herself; she's never really been good at keeping it together when she sees someone else cry.

"Yes, it's me!" Euphemia says. "What's the matter, Suzaku? Are you okay?"

Sora stayed with them, one arm across Suzaku's back, in case he fell again. His reaction... She had to be someone incredibly important to him. And she could see why; from Euphie's expression, he must be just as important to her.

Of course, it also made it rather awkward to be standing so close to them both, but as long as he needed the support, she'd be there. He also apparently needed some time to get himself into a state where he could reply, so she cleared her throat and said, "Ah, you're Euphie?"

She tried not to sound too baffled. She failed.

Through the tears in his eyes and his confusion he saw the face that he did not recognise, but that he knew belonged to Euphy, he saw her own confusion and the tears that were welling up in her eyes and instantly felt bad for upsetting her.

He still did not understand how she could be here, but the point was she was here and from her reaction to him she remembered very little. Or she would not be confused at why he was crying. Blinking tears out of his eyes he sat up, not removing his hand from hers. "You startled me is all!" He said, trying to keep his voice calm, his tears under control. "I am so happy to see you," there he could be calm, calm for her sakes.

If she could not remember it was definatly for the best and Suzaku knew it was best to keep it that way, working out how on earth she was here with him, past this being some sort of Refrain induced halucination, which he really wasn't convinced it was, could come later. "Eupie, this is Sora Himoto, she is a knight." He gave a weak smile, trying to act normal.

"Sora this is Princess Euphemia li Britannia," he said and then almost winced a moment later, though he was careful to keep it off his face, would Sora recognise the name? Know what Euphie had done? He hoped she didn't or if she did that she was sensible enough not to mention it.

He took a deep breath, calm, he could be calm. It was amazing she was here, that he could see her again, no matter how it had happened.

"Ah, I see." And she laughs light and small, taking his hand and squeezing it reassuringly. She'd never seen Suzaku in tears before; surely being surprised was not all there was to this. So to say it was startling was to put it mildly.

She does feel overwhelmingly happy, though-- her brother and her knight are here together, two people she loved very dearly. She wasn't alone in this foreign place.

"It's good to meet you, Sora," she says politely. "Who do you serve...?"

Luckily, and obviously, she didn't recognise the name at all. Mostly she was just thrilled to be meeting a real life princess. "Ah, pleased to meet you!" And then she asked who she served, and Sora froze. Then looked across Suzaku's shoulders, to where her hand with all of the names was currently hidden.

"Uhhh," she glanced down, but the treacherous paper was somewhere back in her room, left in her other blazer before dinner. She'd have to guess. Except, technically she served all of them, right? Not just her Player. "Ah, I serve my princesses." She nodded to the table across the room, where they were all still seated. "The three there!"

Aaand back to Euphie. "Do you know Lelouch? You have the same family name..."

Suzaku looked between Sora and Euphie as they spoke, he was still in shock, but hiding it well because he did not want to upset Euphie in any way. He glanced over to where Sora had pointed out her princesses, he was more sure now that their names were some of the things that Sora had forgotten.

He also realised he was still sat on the floor and ushed himself to his feet giving a small shaken smile of thanks to Sora for helping him when he had fallen. He rerighted his chair and waited for the other two to sit down before joining them.

He let Euphie answer the question about Lelouch, let her decide what information she wanted the people here to know. As they settled though he saw that Euphie was holding, and had persumable always been holding, a piece of chocolate cake.

She hadn't been on the list of players Sora had given him so... "You have a Player Euphie?" He asked, he wondered who it was and he felt himself becoming angry. He didn't like the idea of Euphie being anyones weapon, of anyone 'owning' her. He had been explaining to people all day how he thought they should play along, but now it was someone he cared about. Well he wanted to rip apart the school to find who was keeping them and demand that they let them go!

She had set the plate down when she had sit at first, and does so again. Sitting feels less formal, more personal somehow, and she likes that. Euphie glances where Sora points and smiles gently. She'd thought Sora a knight of one of her siblings perhaps, but it's evident now that isn't what she is-- an unofficial knight, then.

"He's my brother," she says and takes a bite of her food. "You've met him?"

Then, Suzaku speaks up. Euphie turns her attention to him and replies, "Umm... that's right. He's someone I've met before at a fancy dinner party. His name is Gino, do you know of him?"

"During the orientation," she flopped down onto her seat and leaned onto the table. "He's really nice! He reminds me of a good friend from home."

It really was reassuring that people had family with them. She lay her arms down on the table, and rested her chin on her folded wrists, tired out from the meal and the day's many events.

Suzaku raised his eyebrows, Gino? So she had met Gino and she was now his weapon. That was interesting and even though Suzaku still felt wary of the Knight, knowing that he had forgotten that he and Suzaku were now enemies he felt much better knowing that it was him who Euphemia was vowed to. After all Gino was trained in how to protect Britannian nobles, there was no one better to make sure Euphemia was safe.

Not even Suzaku because he had managed to fail her. Fail her which had led to her death at the hands of Zero. So why was she here, Suzaku went cold as he wondered if this was the emperor, the old emperor that was, Charles' work. After all wasn't that what he wanted? A stilled world, a world where you could talk to the dead?

It was a creapy thought but he had to focus on the present. "Yes I have met Gino," he shot another look at Sora hoping she wouldn't mention what he had said about them falling out, or having been friends before. He didn't want to confuse Euphie anymore.

Euphemia giggles a little, once nervous but more at ease. Whatever came over Suzaku just now must have passed. Completely unaware of her knight's thoughts, Euphemia tilts her head slightly.

"He's a very kind person," she says. "I hope that I don't let him down as his weapon."

"I'm sure you won't," Sora had caught Suzaku's look, and hoped fervently that she didn't let anything slip. Actually, the more she thought about it, the less she was sure what he was trying to tell her. Better to remove herself, for now. They'd want to talk without her there. "Um. Oh! I should probably get back to the others. I've been gone for a while." She glanced over, and slumped a little in relief as one of them happened to look her way. She waved, and stood from the table. "I'll see you both tomorrow! It was nice meeting you, Euphie."

Suzaku smiled at Sora, he hoped she didn't feel like they were excluding her but nodded as she said she was going back to her friends. It was probably for the best, if she was their knight it was best that she was close to them so she could protect them in case anything happened. "It was nice meeting you Sora, I will see you around I am sure!"

He looked back at Euphie, still shocked and still uncertain but determined not to let her know this. He did not want to upset her and he did not want her finding out what had happened.

"Of course you wont let him down!" He said completely certain of this face. He took another deap breath, almost completely calm now. "It is so good to see you Euphie," he smiled.

She waves little to Sora as she leaves, "It was good to meet you too, Sora."

And then, back to Suzaku. She eats a bit before replying. It's getting late and her stomach is rumbling-- she hasn't eaten all day. "I'm not even sure what my, ah, weapon is supposed to be. Hopefully it's something useful. And..." she looks from her plate back to him, suddenly a bit shy. "I'm very happy to see you too."

Suzaku pushed his plate away, he had finished his dinner and as he did not have a Player he was not allowed cake. Not that he minded, with everything else that had happened today not having cake was very low on his list of concerns, if it was even on there at all.

"I am sure it will be, I don't think you should worry," he gave a soft smile. He had the vague recolection that his weapon was a sword, as if he had dreamed about this, dreamed about pulling a weapon from his chest and it being a sword. He shook his head, that couldn't be, surely. It was very vague and he couldn't concentrate on it at all without it leaving his mind.

He smiled again incredibly happy even if he was incredibly confused.

Euphemia's own dream is muddled and confusing; there was only a brief moment of clarity before she woke up, and she can't quite put her finger on it now that a day or so has passed.

"I'll do my best not to... it's difficult, though. Do you have a player?" she asks.

Suzaku smiled reasuringly at Euphemia, he hoped that she would be alright and that she would stop worrying, she didn't need to worry. He didn't want her to worry. At her question he shook his head. "No, not yet I haven't been able to find a Player yet." He should though, like Sora says the only way for them to play this game and beat it was for them to take part, and for Suzaku to take part he needed a Player.

She smiles and thinks for a moment. "I wonder if Gino would mind having you... did you know each other back home?"

Suzaku blinked, if Gino had not lost his memories then he definatly would not want Suzaku to be his weapon, as it was Suzaku was wary of restarting their friendship because if Gino got his memories back he would know Suzaku had been lying to him and pretending they were friends.

He was not going to mention any of this to Euphie though, she could not know, because she would wonder how they had managed to become friends and then enemies without her ever knowing. Suzaku felt bad for hiding the truth from her, but really he did not think anyone, especially Euphie could cope with the knowledge that they were actually dead.

So instead he just shrugged, "Yes I knew him back home." That would have to do and hope that Euphie just assumed they had met through Suzaku's job in the military. "I do not know if he would want me as a weapon though..."

"Why not?" she asks slowly, figuring what he had hoped: they knew each other through the military. "He's very friendly, and if you knew each other back home I'm sure he'd be very happy to see you."

Suzaku nodded slowly, there was nothing else he could say to dissuade her from this or convince her that this was a bad idea, not without telling her the whole truth. He hated keeping things from her and he hated lying to her like this but in this case the truth would be much more devastating then letting her believe nothing was wrong.

"Alright then, I saw him this afternoon," best he let her know that, or he'd be confused at why Gino didn't show any surprise at him being there. "I guess theres no harm in asking."

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