26 「#Party」

「Area 11: Tokyo Settlement, Ashford Academy Club Hall. 1100 September 4, 2017 」

The lunch bell rang throughout the campus. Ashford Academy's club building was filled to the brim with students. The entire student body was celebrating for the Eleven who made it into the gentle hands of the Princess Euphemia. He made a jump from an honorary soldier with honorary control over a Knightmare frame which no other eleven had been given permission to do.

Walking through the halls of the Ashford Academy, Graham yawned quietly as he walked along in his uniform. One hand in his pocket, while the other was lagging behind him a bit, the edge of the sleeve being held by Anya.

Anya wore a different hair style than she usually did, having it down and straightened midway at the top, while curled along the sides. Her bangs were no longer sticking up. It seemed she just had a layered style rather than an intricate one. It made her stick out less, at least based on who would be looking for her. Originally he had wanted to dye her hair, but she had straight out refused to do so.

Many of the students stared, who were along the path to the party. Though their main objective was to reach the student council chambers, that was a long shot.

With a lolipop in her mouth and this aloof gaze, Anya watched all the students as they gawked at her. The fact that she was clinging to him like that, made many people wonder about their relationship.

Were they dating? Were they siblings? Was she just shy? No one seemed to recognize her, but she was wearing a tan iteration of their school uniform.

Was he giving her a tour? Maybe she was a transfer student? The questions continued to pile up, and yet he didn't seem to mind. The more eyes she had on her, the less freedom she had to commit nonsense.

Though that wasn't really the case, even if everyone was watching, she completely lacked common sense. If she had a Knightframe right here and now, she'd be acting the same way she did in season two during the Valentines Day event.

"Filthy half-breed, parading around with one of our own..." Someone seemed to utter, but their face had been lost in the crowds of people.

Graham didn't bother with him, he didn't care.

He glanced over his shoulder towards Anya, seeing her look up at him. She hinted at a smile again, as if she was completely innocent. She however did seem rather saddened by the fact that some people were displeased with her being around him.

He had promised her a better life, he was to give it to her. Why were they treating him so badly?

It wasn't that she didn't know the policies when it came to people of other 'areas,' since discrimination and prejudice was literally promoted in Britannian Culture. This was their way of dominating and destroy another's culture to suit their own.

It was seen all over the place.

One could tell that his gaze told her not to try anything or do anything stupid. However, her gaze in turn pretty much ignored any meaning in his. She simply went back to observing those whom were observing her. Like a child in a public place, shy of interacting with the others.

There were quite a few jealous onlookers. The girl was of highschool age, so generally they'd all have eyes on her. Though she didn't have much to offer for those who liked things in the bigger alley, she was still cute and likable.

Neither of them however seemed to make a peep as they continued. Eventually they were no longer looked upon by prying eyes and entered the council chambers. Once there, they were greeted by the clicking and tapping of Nina as she was going away on some other research project she had going on.

"Graham," Anya spoke up as she moved closer to him, this time practically snuggling up to his side. The moment she spoke with her soft, almost monotone, voice.

Nina looked up from her computer and gave the two a gander. A brow raised slightly seeing this. A girl with pink hair and red eyes, clinging to what seemed to be Graham's waist this time around. "Oh... Hello there," she leaned forward in the chair as she faced them, her arms on her knees and her hands clasped together. "What's your name?" Her head tilted to the side, an attempt to get a full view of the girl.

Nina was usually introverted, scared of any and everything. It seemed she had some form of PTSD or something along those lines.

"Her name is Anne Graham, she just transferred into Ashford Academy."

Immediately hearing the last name which followed the first, she blinked a few times. "You had a little sister?" She raised a brow and looked at him. He didn't seem like the sibling type.

"Only at Ashford Academy," Graham hinted with a grin across his lips.

Nina gulped slightly and nodded hearing this, then looked over at Anne hesitantly. It seemed her shell broke, she had no idea who she was dealing with, since it seemed Zakku was going out of his way to hide her here.

"W-welcome to Ashford Academy, Anne. What brings you here?"

Anya stared at her for a few moments and smiled faintly, "Graham~" She pointed up at him with her freehand as she spoke with sharp sarcasm, while tugging on the torso of his shirt. Symbolizing that he was the one who brought her here.

She may lack common sense, but now she was just playing dumb, or getting back at him for tying her to more than one chair at once.

Nina gave a dead expression before looking up at Graham, "You two will get along nicely. Huh?"

The two of them both gave Nina a stoic expression, though this was also in agreement. They knew they would get along with one another. While he had initially forced her into joining him, he gave her more pros than cons.

"Anyways, we're going to go join the party, would you like to come with?" Nina blinked a few times hearing this question erupt from Graham.

"No, I'm fi..." She stopped halfway through the word as she recalled the letter he had given her. "Lloyd is going to be here?"

He nodded in response and she nodded back. Nina stood up from her chair, turned off the computer and made sure the BIOS password was active. Last thing she wanted was to run into him, last she needed was for him to look at her assignments.

While Graham had indeed instructed her to delete her work pertaining to the fuel, she had kept it saved. However she had still abandoned it and encrypted it. The last thing she needed however was for someone to take it.

As the trio left the council chambers, they made their way out to the common building where everyone was gathered. Suzaku, the star of the show, had already arrived. People were happy, cheering.

Once they were inside, the first thing he noticed was Kallen wearing a conflicting face. In her hand was a pouch, her knife pouch. He narrowed his eyes and glanced over at Nina. "Why not go find Milly?" He asked curiously as he strayed off almost immediately.

He was skilled at vanishing, even with Anya in tow.

As he appeared behind her, he grasped her wrist just before Lelouch could intercept, his other arm wrapping around her waist. "What'cha doin'?" He asked curiously, he could feel her shudder from the sudden surprise of his appearance.

"Where have you been..?" Kallen seemed to whine as she lowered her head, disengaging her knife and concealing it in between of her both hands.

"Places," He responded as he rested some of his weight against her back. Her hands rested over his as he let go of her wrist and held her waist. "Did Diethard put you up to something?"

She nodded quietly, looking up at him, resting the back of her head against his collarbone in the process. Of all times, she appeared vulnerable. That was until she noticed the pink hair and red eyes looking up at her.

Blinking her big blue eyes, she stared at Anya. "Who're you?"

"Anya Alstreim," Anya said her name quickly and on purpose before he could respond for her.

"... She's registered as Anne Graham here at Ashford Academy. She's a former Britannian Pilot, an elite." He informed her, attempting to make sure she knew the situation since she was to be more in the know than Nina.

Anya figured that out pretty quickly and opened her phone and began going through her digital diary.

"And why is she clinging to you?" Kallen was slowly turning into an inquisitor with all the questions. "Where did she come from? How and why did she defect? Why's she following you if she's not Japanese?"

"Kallen, why are you following Zero if he isn't Japanese?"

That's when she paused as he answered the last question with a question trying to deflect all the other questions that came before it. However this was a shocker, she felt like a hypocrite for that one measly moment. "Are you going to do something about Diethard?" She asked curiously, wondering what exactly was going to happen.

"Maybe... I've been thinking about it since his untimely defection. He's an egocentric Britannian with an eccentric demeanor. Killing him during today's operation should be quite easy." He rested his head on top of Kallen's as he was seamlessly talking about killing someone. Considering the person had tried to make her kill a friend, a comrade, she didn't seem phased by it at all.

At that moment, the sound of gasps could be heard as Lloyd and Milly's engagements were announced publicly in the room. Despite Rivalz not being on the council in this iteration, one could still hear him freaking out over the whole ordeal. It was only a matter of time, all they had to do was wait for Suzaku to be summoned to his highness's side, in so would start the Battle of Shikine Island.