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Chapter 120 ~ Happenings in the Ashford Academy Festival

“Oh, so you guys are here. Perfect. There’s something I need your help with.”

Appearing from the door, Lelouch entered and greeted the three while his hand never stopped tapping on the tablet he was holding. He was also wearing a headset which allowed him to communicate with the people and students in charge of the operations during the school festival. 

He looked very busy, and from the occasional sigh that escaped his lips, anyone could tell how tired he was. And the three could guess that Lelouch was probably being forced to work like a horse by a certain blonde-haired tyrant of a president. 

“Suzaku, the pizza cheese has been delivered. Can you help with the loading and moving it to the storage near the pizza stage?”

“Ah, sure. Are they in the loading docks?”

Suzaku quickly finished cutting his last onion, washed his hands, and took off the apron before folding it and placing it on the table. 

“Yes. Rivalz is also there. He already signed the receipt, but he needs help with moving it. There’s… too much cheese.”

“A-Ahahaha… Alright. I’ll go help him out. Yuuji, Karen, I’ll be going first. See you later.”

“Yeah, see you later. Do your best.”

“See you…”

Suzaku quickly ran out of the room, leaving Yuuji and Karen alone with Lelouch. 

“Hah… I didn’t expect this festival to be this hectic…”

Lelouch let out a sigh and took off the headset, holding it in his hand, and locking the tablet. 

“Good work. You’ve been running around the academy since morning. Must’ve been tough.”

“Yeah. That’s because I have this on my ear. She could reach me easily with this.”

Lelouch lifted up the headset towards Yuuji and Karen, and they could hear a familiar voice coming from it even now. 

“Ahahaha… Yeah, that’s tough. Good luck.”

Lelouch shook his head and held her head tiredly. 

“And there’s also one thing that’s been giving me a headache…”

“Hm? What is it?”

“It’s C.C… I saw her walking around the festival just now.”

Another tired sigh escaped Lelouch’s lips.

“Ah, that’s right. She said she wanted to walk around the festival yesterday. But isn’t it fine? She’s wearing her disguise, right?”

Yesterday night, while Karen decided to stay the night and spend time with Yuuji and C.C, C.C told them that she’ll be walking around the festival tomorrow. Karen lent her a uniform and helped her with her hairdo to disguise her appearance.

“Yes, she wore the school uniform and tied her hair into a bun and hid it under a hat. But there are soldiers walking around in this festival. There’s a chance she might be discovered.”

Yuuji smiled softly and patted Lelouch’s shoulder. 

“It’ll be fine. She promised she’ll be discreet while she enjoys the festival. But if it’ll put you at ease, we’ve promised to walk together later on. We’ll make sure she won’t be discovered, right Karen?”

“Yes. W-We’ll help her so she won’t be discovered by the soldiers.”

Karen nodded and answered to reassure him, albeit a bit stuttered. She still hadn’t gotten used to this new… reality for her. 

With Yuuji revealing his true origin, Karen also learned about Zero and Lelouch’s true identity. 

She was shocked and stunned in place for quite a while, just like when she realized Yuuji, or Mordred’s true Identity. Though there were no tears like before, she was still stupefied by the reveal.

Even now, she still couldn’t help but stare at Lelouch in disbelief. 

“Alright. Then I’ll leave her to you.”

Lelouch let out a sigh once more. But as he was about to put on the headphones back, he stopped when Yuuji placed a hand on his shoulders. 

“Make some time in your busy schedule for Shirley. She’s been looking forward to spending time with you at this festival for quite a while.”

Even though she didn’t want to show it, it was painfully obvious to everyone within the student council that she was getting more and more excited as the festival became closer and closer. Yuuji, Karen, and Rivalz had also heard her rejecting some of her friends’ invitation to explore the festival since she’ll be spending it with Lelouch. 

Seeing her looking forward to it so much, it’d be sad if Lelouch couldn’t accompany her because he was too busy.

Lelouch nodded and gave him a soft smile.

“I know. It’s why I’m doing all that I can now so I can spend the later half of the morning with her.”

“I see. Then, I won’t be holding you back anymore. Good luck on your work.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you guys later. And…”

Lelouch nodded once more and turned towards Karen.

“Karen.”

“Y-Yes.”

Karen stiffened up a bit when Lelouch turned towards her and used the tone he’d normally use as Zero at her. 

“I hope you will keep the secret Yuuji had shared with you to yourself. Not even your mother should know of it… At least, not now. It’s for her own safety.”

“I-I understand.”

Karen nodded solemnly. 

“Good. Then, I’ll be going now.”

With those parting words, Lelouch left, leaving the two alone in silence.

Karen was still slightly taken aback by what just happened. But then, she felt Yuuji’s hand holding onto hers.

“Karen…”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Shall we meet up with C.C and enjoy the festival for a bit?”

Yuuji smiled softly and held her hand ever so gently to try and calm her down. He could see that she was still slightly shocked by everything he had told her about just a few days ago. So he wanted to do his best to ease her mind and let her feel a bit calmer.

“S-Sure… let’s go.”

Karen nodded and gave him a small smile. She noticed his effort to try and calm her down, and she was grateful for it. 

“Then, let’s go and have some fun.”

And thus, the two went ahead and searched for C.C before enjoying the school festival together.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

“...Your highness. I’m not sure what caused you to do this so suddenly, but please reconsider…”

A woman, dressed in a white shirt and long pants, whispered in a hush. Her countenance was mostly covered by a hat and sunglasses, but there was an earpiece visible on her ear with a thin wire going down from behind her ear that disappeared into her shirt. 

She was leaning towards another woman, slightly shorter, with long, light pink hair that cascaded down to her waist. She was dressed in a casual, lace top and a skirt, and similarly, her countenance was covered by a hat and sunglasses. 

Though slightly peculiar, their appearance didn’t bat any eyes of the students and guests around them. Given the weather and heat, wearing hats and sunglasses wasn’t  strange. 

The two continued on their path towards the main school building, walking through the crowd of visitors and students, as they continued their whisper. 

“I’m sorry… But there’s something I need to do. I need a moment of privacy.”

Euphemia begged the female officer assigned to her as her guard for this secret “outing” and began walking faster. 

At first, this secret “outing” was meant to be a surprise for her knight, who she ordered to take a vacation and enjoy his school’s festival. Before everything became even more chaotic, she wanted to spend a bit of private time with him and perhaps experience the festival like a normal couple that would’ve been impossible for her otherwise.

But as she looked around for him in the festival, she instead saw another person she didn’t expect to be here… Or alive. 

Her steps became faster and more determined as she looked around, trying to find the figure of a lithe, young girl on wheelchair

“Your highness…”

Her bodyguard caught up with her easily and placed her body slightly in front of her at an angle, stopping Euphie in her path. 

“Please… I need to do this…”

The tone of her voice carried a twinge of desperation. And although she couldn’t see Euphemia’s eyes behind the sunglasses, she could tell how desperate she was. 

Seeing it was impossible for her to dissuade the princess, she finally acquiesced against her better judgment. 

“...I understand. Then, we shall wait for your return. Please… Be careful.”

“Thank you.”

With no one holding her back anymore, Euphemia quickly made her way through the crowds, towards the place where she last caught a glimpse of Nunnally, her long lost half-sister. 

And finally, she saw Nunnally being pushed by a black-haired maid, slightly away from the crowds, going towards the building next to the main academy building. 

“Nunnally!”

The maid stopped and turned around along with Nunnally, as Euphie ran as quickly as she could towards them. 

“This voice…”

Euphie huffed and puffed, placing a hand on her chest to try and calm her rapidly beating heart down, as she stared at the gentle, beautiful figure of the blind girl in a wheelchair. 

“Nunnally…”

“E-Euphie…?”

Upon hearing her voice, Euphemia suddenly fell onto her knees as if strength left her legs, and held onto Nunnally’s hands.

“Yes… It’s me, Euphie. I… I didn’t expect to see you here…!”

Nunnally held her hand back and leaned forward. She reached up to touch Euphie’s face. She touched her cheeks, her brows, her nose, and finally… her lips. And with every touch of recognition, a small gasp escaped her lips. 

“It’s really you…!”

“Yes… It’s me, Nunnally.”

“I… I’ve missed you…”

The two held each other’s hands tightly as Euphie’s eyes glazed with tears and Nunnally shed a drop down her cheeks. 

“My lady… Shall we move somewhere more private…?”

Sayoko suggested with a soft, quiet tone, not wanting to disturb the touching atmosphere. But with the festivities and crowds around them, their current location was not suited for a touching reunion. 

Nunnally quickly snapped out of her daze, rubbed the tears off her cheeks, and turned towards Sayoko.

“Yes. Let’s return to our home… Euphie, would you like to come and have tea with us?”

“Of course. I would be happy to!”

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Yuuji, Karen, and C.C walked side by side and explored the festival, enjoying the experience while still maintaining vigilance towards Britannian Soldiers. Whenever they’d see one, they’d circumvent the soldiers, making sure to keep a safe distance away from those who might recognize C.C. 

Although she was a subject of an extremely secretive experiment, they never know if the soldier they saw was a part of the experiment or not. It was better safe than sorry. 

Though, even if someone did, Yuuji could simply… “dissipate” any traces of the person who recognized her. 

C.C looked around curiously at the many interesting festival food, games, and attractions the students had prepared. And once in a while, she’d have Yuuji buy her some things. 

Meanwhile, as she looked around, Karen noticed something that caught her attention more than the festivities that surrounded her.

“...Why are there so many Japanese people here…?”

She said in a soft voice that only Yuuji and C.C could hear amidst the loud voices of the crowd around them. 

While still in the minority, there were many Japanese people who came here to enjoy a Britannian’s school festival. There were more than she expected.

Families, couples, friends… They all came and enjoyed the festival just like everybody else. And the students… the Britannians… They treated the Japanese people without any prejudice or discrimination. They treated them like any other guests who came to enjoy their school’s festival.

It was unbelievable… Having seen, and even experienced it herself, the discrimination and suffering the Britannian had brought upon the Japanese more than she could count, seeing such a thing… She simply couldn’t believe it. 

“They were drawn towards happiness. Humans always seek happiness, right? Seeing the festival, they must’ve been drawn by the festivities.”

Karen turned towards Yuuji as he looked around at the crowds and festivities. 

“But… It’s a Britannian school’s festival… Aren’t they scared?”

“Why would they be? Does that look like something to be scared of?

Yuuji pointed towards the crowd and Karen followed the direction he was pointing at.

There, she saw a student of Ashford, a Britannian, serving a Japanese family with a wide, warm smile and kindness. 

“Kindness will be repaid in kindness. Just like how good things will always happen to good people eventually. Although not always immediate, it will happen. All it would take for kindness and happiness to spread, is for everyone to show kindness towards others.”

“Kindness…”

Her eyes lowered down and her lips curled into a frown as she clenched her hands into fists.

“But not everyone would be kind towards each other… If they would, then no war would befall this land.”

“Yes… But it’s not impossible for us to remedy that. Look. You’re seeing it for yourself. It is possible for Britannians and Japanese to live in harmony.”

“...”

Karen raised her head back up and looked towards the festivities. 

She saw a Britannian student guiding an old japanese couple towards a seat. She saw a Britannian man sharing a table with a Japanese man over a drink, talking and laughing like old friends. She saw a Japanese young man acting bashfully around a Britannian female student who was cheering for him for a game he was playing. 

There were many… many more proof that harmony was possible. Much more than she had ever seen in her life.

And before she even knew it, a seed of hope began to sprout in her chest. 

Would it be possible… For Britannians and Japanese to live in harmony with each other…? Even in this war torn world?

“Is it really… possible?”

“I believe so. After all, we’re fighting to make it possible. Right?”

Karen turned towards Yuuji, and saw a soft, reassuring smile and a determined gaze on his countenance. 

“Mm… You’re right. That’s why we’re fighting…”

Her heart thumped with a renewed determination as she nodded at him. Her smile returned to her lips. 

And just then, the crowd began cheering as an antique, navy blue knightmare frame rose from its feet, and began tossing a massive dough into the air.