30 「Kaminejima・ベギニング」

They spent the night on the island. Huddled at the entrance to the cave of the Thought Elevator on Kamine Island.

Graham had his back to the open mouth of the cave, watching as Suzaku and Lelouch struggled over starting a fire with dry wood. He simply watched them as they attempted to make the fire with the friction between sticks.

He was trying so hard not to chuckle at their fruitless effort. "You know, I'm pretty sure Britannian men should be a bit more... Resourceful." He snickered a bit, making fun of Lelouch who was already exhausted.

Lelouch groaned and leaned back, his hands holding him up as he sat there in front of the makeshift fire pit. "Oh? Does that mean you can do better?"

Graham simply smiled partially hearing him ask this question. "Yes, yes I could. I'm just waiting on you two to realize you need more than just dry wood and sticks to start a fire." He knew they needed tinder such as dry shrubs, leafs and dead plants. While they could be used to accelerate fire, if the right amount was used, it could keep it going.

"Why don't we use some Sakuranite?" Anya asked as she looked over at them, she wasn't even batting an eye or grinning or anything. She sounded dead serious about using the stone, which could very well vaporize them all if used in a fire.

Graham stared at her for a few moments, just like all the others until they all shook their head. "Bad idea," he spoke up, scratching the back of his neck. "Even a gram of that stuff could vaporize us."

Snickering a bit, Marika laid by the pit, poking at the stones which surrounded it. "Suzaku sempai, isn't it standard survival training to know how to start fires?" She asked curiously, she knew that her generic survival kit in her Knightmare frame could help in this endeavour to make a fire, but didn't say anything about it.

"Yes... Yes it is..." Suzaku let out a sigh as he scratched the side of his head, a bead of sweat going down the side of his forehead. It was clear he knew what his mistake was, but didn't correct it. "I'll go get some dried shrubs and tinder." Getting up from his knees he left the pit behind as he walked out of the cave.

The sun was going down at this point. It was clear that they were going to be here for a while, even though they could leave at any moment. The question was, why weren't they leaving?

Lelouch generally had the downplay of what was going to happen. They were going to wait to be found by either his group or the enemies. Should they be found by the enemies, they were to steal a prototype machine and abscond with it.

Suzaku and Euphemia however were completely out of the loop, and Kallen was just there following Graham and Lelouch's orders.

Kallen sat with her arms around her knees. She watched the interactions between all of them. Anya seemed to come off as a ditz, or at least someone who didn't have common sense. In addition to that, the little girl seemed to cling to Graham whenever he was within arms reach. While it was cute, she didn't find it very comforting.

She also noticed how Marika looked at the very same man who had confessed to her. She was also around the same age as Anya, if not a year older. This didn't make her comfortable at all, more girls, only a few years younger than herself, were pining for his affections. Jealousy? Was this Jealousy? Her face flushed a tinge of red, her eyes glaring at the wood before her, the intensity felt just a little under the amount needed to set the pit ablaze.

Graham's eyes were focused on Kallen at this point. He could see her thoughts written all over her face. "Don't let your thoughts become so intense, Kallen. Your head might pop off if it gets any redder..."

Kallen blushed a cherry red hearing him speak and looked up at him once more. "Eh?" Her face seemed a bit surprised, but she almost immediately calmed down, nodded with a quiet hum of acknowledgement. "Oh... Uh... Yeah, I'll try." She scratched her cheek with index finger, sweat dropping as she was a dat bit embarrassed.

Marika was watching them, looking back and forth. She could tell there was more going on between the two of them, but shrugged it off. She turned and looked at Anya who was her peer. She was adorable, especially with her hair straightened out like so.

However it was clear she lacked common sense, which was supported by the suggestion of using the highly combustible fuel to start a fire. So she believed she couldn't be trusted on her own.

Maybe that was why he was hanging around her so much? Or maybe she clung to him because he promised something to her? Marika smiled to herself, as she saw Graham in the role of Guardian to the other girls. Though he hadn't really done all that much protecting, it appeared as if he had saved them all from death and devastation with his new found power.

"So how long are we going to be here?" Marika suddenly spoke up, her eyes looking over to the exhausted Lelouch, then towards Princess Euphy who was patiently seated against the wall of the cave.

She was wearing Lelouch's cape, holding his mask in her lap, as she watched him rest from a short distance away. She wore an admirable smile. Though she was disappointed to see what he had become, she was steadfast in following her ambitions.

She knew what she had to do. She knew how she was going to do it. The Princess moved her eyes to look at Graham, awaiting the answer to Marika's question.

"Until tomorrow, when the Britannian Forces and Avalon arrive. Zero and Kallen will abscond with the Gawain Knightmare frame which was used to almost kill all of you. Adding to the symbol of what Zero is, and will become..." It was clear he was a supporter of the Black Knights and their Justice. He wanted to help Zero become a powerful symbol, one which could be used to either obliterate or change the country known as the Holy Empire of Britannia.

That was not all however as he continued to explain what his plan was in further small details. "On the other hand, Princess Euphy and Sir Suzaku will be rescued in this attempt by the Prince Schneizel. Marika and I will watch from a distance to make sure everything goes as planned."

As the man known as Graham had spoken of Suzaku with the title of Sir, she smiled a bit. It appeared he was educated in the ways of old Britannia. Referring to those whom were Knighted as Sir before their true name.

While she thought of giving him a complimentary title, Euphy decided against it, considering the fact he would likely deny it. It wouldn't look too good for a Japanese Emperor to hold a Britannian Title of Knight. It would bring about a scandal, or even make others skeptical of his Loyalty and intentions for Japan.

"I trust you know the rest of the plan, Euphy," Graham winked at her which made her shook her head with a snicker of her own. He knew her only love interest was Suzaku in this moment and likely also her half brother Lelouch.

Lelouch was familiar with the plan he had set forth since he was there when it was proposed to Cornelia and Euphemia. He practically promised them the Throne of Britannia, by supporting a rebellion against the Prime Minister with his own Approval and Charles zi Britannia.

Without his power of the Geass, people he overwrote and forced to follow him, Charles was losing his grasp on his own nation. His influence was diminishing, internal strife was evident, especially after the early terrorist attack in the Capital of Britannia, the city of Pendragon.

Marika raised a brow hearing this. Not entirely understanding what he was talking about pertaining to the Prime Minister approving of a rebellion against him.

Graham could spot this from a mile away. His eyes locked onto hers, they seemed to sparkle with pure enthusiasm, as if fireworks were going off in her blue orb-like irides. "Euphy is putting forth the notion to grant Area 11 honorary Independence and regain the name of the Japanese. This places her as the Prime Minister of the Neo-Japanese Empire. And Then, we'll expelled the Britannian Military forces with the Hidden Japanese Self-Defense Corps."

"Hidden Self-Defense Corps?" Lelouch asked as he looked up at his friend. He had no idea that the had such a group. The name in itself had spoke legions. He had a hidden fighting force this entire time, and hadn't used it. "Who is your backer?"

Graham smiled, looking at his friend Lelouch, "We share the very same Backer, my metaphorically adopted father, the man who gave me my dream. Mister Kirihara of the NCA."

Lelouch fell back, laying on the cold ground of the cave. Covering his face with one hand, a wide toothful smile across his face. "Haha... Perfect, this is perfect... Using you to gain control of Japan through Independence, only to hand it to corpora–"

Lelouch was cut off as Graham cleared his throat. "Why would I hand the Empire to corporate collaborators?" This immediately had Lelouch look over towards Graham, who wasn't wearing much of an expression on his face anymore.

"What are you planning to do?" Lelouch slowly pushed himself up, so he was sitting up with his legs crossed. His hands were planted on his knees, listening intently.

"Kaguya Sumeragi will be the only survivor, the others are seen as collaborators by the general public, no one in their right mind would follow a government which supports them. They'll be used as Martyrs."

Lelouch's eyes almost spaced out as he heard these words. He knew what he was getting at. As he spoke of this, he remembered the tears that Graham wore on his face only days ago. "You don't want to kill them, but you believe you have to." He knew of the sentiment involved. He had problems even closing his eyes whenever he remembered Clovis and his last moments.

Euphy's eyes traced the rocky surface at her feet hearing about death, premeditated murder in the name of public peace. She was innocent, she was fragile, she was young. She knew the world was ugly, filled with death. While she would live peacefully should that not be true, it seemed she was going down a path of damnation. Oddly enough, the feeling was starting to loosen up, she felt as if she was going to grow numb to the world's struggles. Was this what it meant to grow up?

Anya was eating a piece of chocolate which she had pulled out of a small pouch she was wearing around her waist. The loud clack sound was heard as she bit into it, breaking a piece off with her front teeth.

Just briefly, everyone's eyes moved over to the small figure for a moment, before turning their gazes back to Graham just as Suzaku reentered the cave.