Code Geass: Lelouch and Nunnally of the Rebellion

Chapter 4

As the welcome party was over, everybody went home. Except for Kallen, the new member, who had a small incident with the champagne and got herself wet. So while she went to have a shower, Lelouch went to grab her some dry clothes.

Nunnally thought Kallen was a nice girl, though she seemed somewhat too serious and distant. Milly told her that she hasn't been at school for a while due to health problems. So maybe she just found it hard to re-accommodate among people.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. Someone was at the door.

"Sayoko!" Nunnally shouted, "There's someone at the door! Sayoko? Are you home? Maybe she's not at home. I should go open the door."

She decided to go to the entrance in the wheelchair and open the door herself. A part of her feared that this person would come and ask about Lelouch and about the death of Clovis. She prayed this was not the case.

"Good afternoon," asked Nunnally, as she opened the door to the visitor. "May I help you?"

"Excuse me for intruding," the voice of a middle aged man came back. "I'm just looking for a student, they told me she was here."

"Who are you looking for?" the girl asked.

"A girl that studies here at Ashford," continued the stranger. "Her name is Kallen Stadtfeld. Do you happen to know her?"

"Oh, yes," replied Nunnally, relieved that this man had nothing to do with Lelouch. "She's here, but she is taking a shower at the moment. You could wait for her inside, if you want."

"Thank you for your kindness, I will come inside then." answered the man. "By the way, my name is Diethard Ried."

"My name is Nunnally Lamperouge," replied the girl softly. "Nice to meet you. Aren't you the producer from the TV?"

"Oh, yes," he replied. "The one and only."

"You seem exhausted, I can tell from your voice," replied Nunnally politely. "Please have a seat."

"Thank you, young lady. I will," replied the reporter as he took a seat on a comfy armchair. "I had a hard day. I've been in Shinjuku all day, filming the results of the incident. So much destruction. I haven't seen this kind of horrible scenery in many years."

"Was it..." mumbled Nunnally, concerned. "Was it that bad?"

"I'm afraid very bad indeed," Diethard admitted. "So many Eleven were killed. Most of them were innocent civilians. I doubt they even caught the terrorists."

"Did... did the terrorists have Knightmares?" she wandered.

"Indeed, but how do you know that?" Diethard asked. "They disclose such information on TV yet."

"A... a relative of mine was there at the time," Nunnally replied, attempting to brush it off. "He told me that."

"Yes, they had Knightmares," replied the journalist. "Britannian Knightmares. They took them from the attackers themselves. It makes absolutely no sense, I can't figure out how they did it, but it was like magic. The Britannian military has never been so severely injured in all seven years since Area 11 has become part of the Empire. Of course, I am not allowed to disclose this information publicly on TV. They keep it secret so they can still pretend they are in control of the situation, despite the catastrophic military failure they've been through."

Nunnaly paused, as tried to let this new info sink in.

"Anyway," continued Diethard. "The guy who led the terrorists during this fight must be a genius."

At that moment Kallen came from upstairs.

"Excuse me!" said Diethard politely, as he rose from his chair. "Are you Kallen Stadtfeld?"

"Yes, I am.," replied Kallen confused.

"My name is Diethard Ried," replied Diethard. "I came for our interview."

"Interview?" exclaimed Kallen. "What interview?"

"Oh, didn't Principal Ashford tell you?" wondered Diethard. "We're getting some interviews with the best students in this academy."

Kallen had no idea what that was about.

"No problem at all," the journa.ist continued. "Would you be available to have the interview now?"

"Well... sure, if we have to," replied Kallen, a bit suspicious.

"Amazing! Let us go outside, if you don't mind. The light is not that good inside here."

As Diethard and Kallen went out, Nunnally remained silent. She had a strange feeling about this. Something was wrong with this guy. When he was speaking about the military's failure he seemed very relaxed, but when he talked to Kallen about the interview there was a slight change in his tone.

"Miss Nunnally," came Sayoko's voice from the other room. "I'm sorry I didn't come when you called for me, Miss Nunnally, but I had to give an important phone call."

"It's alright," the girl replied. "Could you do something for me?"

"Of course, Miss Nunnally."

"I want you to follow these two that just went outside," said Nunnally, "and listen to what they're talking. I think this guy is up to something. Don't let them see you. And if something bad happens, call me. Ok?"

Sayoko nodded and left. Nunnally couldn't see the nod, but she assumed Sayoko understood, so she remained there, worried. Five minutes later, the maid came back.

"Anything wrong?" Nunnally asked.

"The military police arrived!" cried Sayoko. "They took the girl!"

"They took Kallen?" exclaimed the girl. "But why?"

"That man asked Miss Kallen something about Shinjuku," replied Sayoko, "about being some Q-something, I don't know what that meant. The girl became alarmed, then they exchanged a couple of whispers, but then the police came. It was as if they were already nearby, prepared for action."

"Nunnally, can I talk to you for a second?" came Lelouch's from the other side of the room.

It was as if he appeared from nowhere. Lelouch took Nunnally's wheelchair and they went to the girl's dorm room.

"Lelouch, what happened?" the girl inquired, her voice trembling with fear.

"It's pretty nasty, I know," replied her brother. "But you did very well."

"I did?" asked Nunnally, surprised.

"Kallen was among the terrorists from Shinjuku. She is actually half Eleven. Apparently this journalist suspected something about her, so he came here to make sure Kallen from Ashford Academy is the same as Kallen from the Shinjuku Ghetto disaster. But you felt something was wrong, didn't you? You told Sayoko to watch from a distance, didn't you? I heard what Sayoko said a moment ago. Thanks to you, I now know what happened to Kallen."

"But what will happen now," asked the girl.

"They might try to convince her to confess to the murder of Clovis," he replied calmly, "or at least to her involvement in the fight. But thanks to you, we might be able to save her just in time."

"LeloucH?" Nunnally asked softly.

"Yes, Nunnally?

"Take care of yourself..." she uttered, trying to hold back a tear, "and... please save Kallen as well..."

"I will," he replied soberly and left in a hurry.

Next time, Kallen's rescue! Prepare for some action!