Downward Spiral

Chapter 3

Over the next few days, Lelouch had gone to class, though it was clear he wasn't there, mentally; he'd just wanted some sense of normalcy, though the lack of a greeting everytime he went to the apartments he'd shared with Nunnally was far from normal. In fact, the silence only reinforced the fact that Nunnally was gone. Despite having declared on several occasions that he'd protect her, he'd failed, and, now, he had an unknown and still unseen enemy out to get him. That enemy had already taken Nunnally, but Lelouch was too smart to fall into any traps, even as distraught as he was. Besides, Suzaku had started following him around campus like a self-appointed bodyguard.

The day after the funeral, Millay had assured him that he could still live in the Clubhouse. The Ashfords had been close enough friends to his and Nunnally's mother, Lady Marianne, that they'd taken them in and assisted the two royal siblings in creating false names and false records. Since Lelouch had, of course, skipped every Student Council meeting since Nunnally's death, Millay had a new project for the Council, Operation: Cheer up Lelouch, which everyone on the Student Council had admitted would be easier said than done. Lelouch was pretty depressed, after all.

Right now, Lelouch was sitting at the desk in his room, trying to concentrate enough to do the few homework assignments the teachers had assigned, but he was finding it difficult to think.

"Lelouch, why don't you take a break? I'm sure the teachers would understand if you don't get those assignments done," Suzaku said from the chair he'd been sitting in, reading. Just watching his friend suffer like this was difficult for him.

"No...I...need something to take my mind off things," Lelouch said, his tone flat and unemotional...almost dead sounding.

"I also need to start going to the Student Council meetings. I'm the Vice President, I need to be there," he added.

"Lelouch, the Pres and the others more than understand why you're not at the meetings," Suzaku said before grinning as he leaned forward in his chair a bit.

"Besides, I heard that the Pres has come up with a new project that involves you."

"What? They're going to try cheering me up? How can I feel cheery when she's gone and that note was left on the table?" Lelouch asked. At hearing that, Suzaku looked a little surprised; Lelouch hadn't mentioned a note.

"Where is the note? What was in it?"

Lelouch sighed as he opened his desk drawer and handed the note to Suzaku.

"This is it, and, as for what's in it, read it for yourself."

Suzaku read the note and went a little pale.

"Do you know who wrote it?" he asked and Lelouch shook his head, eyes fixed on the desk in front of him, but not really 'seeing' anything.

"No, but whoever it is obviously knows who we really are and apparently killed Nunnally to show that we aren't safe anywhere. I feel...vulnerable."

Suzaku nodded, sighing again. He was suddenly glad he'd arrived when he did. Now that he was here, he could watch over Lelouch whenever his duties with the military allowed him to. He knew he couldn't take Lelouch with him, since someone would eventually recognize him as part of the royal family and he'd have to deal with the plots and backstabbing that he'd talked about after they became close friends. He knew that Lelouch wasn't in any condition, mentally, to deal with all of that, regardless of how eerily calm he was at the moment. Yes, it was definitely safer for him at the school.

"Why us, Suzaku? Why are we being targetted? There's no way Father would've let Nunnally take the throne and I gave up my claim to the throne before we were sent here. It's not like we're a threat to anyone's political ambition. All Nunnally wanted was a kinder, more gentler world and all I wanted was to give that world to her. Besides, the rest of the family thinks we were killed during the war. H-how could whoever it is even get the idea that we were still alive?" Lelouch said, desperately wanting to know the answers to questions that Suzaku couldn't answer, but wished he could answer them if it would help his friend feel the tiniest bit better.

Suzaku sighed again as he looked over at Lelouch; the other boy hadn't looked up from the desk the entire time he'd been talking, and he was beginning to worry about him. Sure, Lelouch could be very serious, but he'd never seen him like this.

What can I do to make this easier for you? All I can do is protect you as best I can, but that's not enough for me. I want to do more. You're the first real friend I had and it hurts seeing you like this, Suzaku thought as he watched Lelouch.

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A/N: Again, possible suckage toward the end because I was running out of ideas at that point. Also, unbeta'd, and I tried to catch any mistakes or awkward wordings when I edited the chapter for posting. So, if there are any mistakes or awkward wordings, let me know and I'll fix them. ^^;

As usual, comments and constructive criticism are welcome.