Chapter 24: Lelouch's True Nightmare

(A/N: If it wasn't for the fact that I didn't have Spanish class today, cause it got cancelled, I wouldn't be finished with this so soon.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Code Geass

Lelouch's pov

I woke up to the sight of a wooden roof. I could hear birds chirping, but surprisingly no beeping sounds of machines showing my vitals. I also didn't see a single person around me, waiting for me to wake up. How fitting, I thought, Of course no one would come to see me. I have…no real friends.

"Oh good, you're awake." The voice I heard shook me like the tremor before an earthquake. I looked over to my left. Sitting in a chair, in her usual Britannian straight jacket, was C.C.

"C.C?" I sat up, confused. I felt pain as I sat up. I could feel bandages wrapped around my chest, but there were no wounds along my shoulders.

"I must say," she said standing up and striding across the room. "Your body has quite the tenacity to live, despite your mind and heart seeking death so strongly."

What?

"It seems Suzaku couldn't completely go through with it. It's like with Mao, you should've asked your friend to kill you instead of just to run you through." C.C held her hands apart and put up her fingers to show about a decimeter's distance. "He missed your heart by this much."

Wait…what's going on? Was…was all of that…just a dream? Have I just been in comatose for so long and I've actually been alive this whole time? No…no that's not possible…that's not even fair! What the hell gives?

"I went to get some of your things. I have a change of clothes for you." C.C told me.

"What are you talking about? I should be dead. I've been dead for sixty-eight years. I've had dreams while I've been dead!" I shouted.

"Sounds like someone had quite the coma dream." C.C told me. "Unsurprising considering you've been unconscious for a little over two months."

"No!" I got up out of bed only for my wound to be aggravated.

"You'd better keep calm. You're going to aggravate your wound if you do. Suzaku may not have been accurate, but he was very thorough." C.C told me.

"Why did you preserve me? I was supposed to die!" I shouted.

"You and I have a contract to uphold." C.C told me. "You have yet to fulfill your end of the bargain. If you don't want your life I will merely take ownership of it."

"You are the most self-centered woman I have ever met." I said with cold, grimaced eyes.

"Perhaps I am at that." She said and then threw herself onto the bed back first.

That all couldn't have been a dream. "C.C, what do you know about Soul Reapers?" I asked.

"Soul Reapers? My you must've hit your head rather hard to come up with something like that." She said.

"Don't play games, you and I met once before over fifty years ago right? Before Britannia invaded Japan, before I was even born. Right? Right?"

C.C sat up and tilted her head up towards the roof. "Getting hysterical is just the same as getting mad. I know nothing of these Soul Reapers as you call them and I certainly don't recall meeting a duplicate of yourself so many years ago."

"I told you not to tell me when we met, but it's all right now because I've seen it…no…wait…if that really was a dream…then none of that ever really happened…did it?" How could all of that just been some comatose dream? Yuna…Gin…Rangiku…Aizen…Urahara-san…Byakuya…Hisana…Kukaku…Akari-taicho…Susanna…Hirako-taicho…everyone…did I make them all up? I paused in my thoughts. It would definitely make for an interesting story if I did…but…for all of that to have been just a dream…just doesn't seem right. I was so depressed I just sat down next to C.C.

"Lelouch, you accomplished your goal, to create a new world for all. Why is it that you don't wish to see the world you created flourish with your own eyes?" C.C asked me.

"Because I don't deserve to." I responded. "After all I've done, the blood on my hands…Zero Requiem was—"

C.C cut me off, "Was a last resort because you thought your reason for doing it all had vanished into thin air. Should you die while she lives? Is that fair to her? She knows what you did, she understands." She looked forward through the window on the opposite side of the house. "While all those people cheered at the death of Lelouch the Tyrant and the return of their hero, Zero, Nunnally wept her pretty little, newly reopened, eyes dry over your bleeding 'corpse'. She loved you Lelouch. Despite everything you did your sister still loved you."

"A monster like me doesn't deserve to be loved."

"You are a fool." C.C stood up and strode across the room to the window.

"Hey! I didn't even want to be alive right now I…" I started at the ground. "…I wish that I could go back to sleep, back to the dream."

"Were you having a nice dream Lelouch?" C.C asked.

"I was." I smiled.

"Was the dream better than reality?" she asked.

"I don't think this is reality." I said and stood up and walked to the window next to C.C. I looked out at the lush green prairie of fields of wildflowers where we were. I looked at C.C. "This is just a temptation, a test if you will. Isn't that right Eien Tamashi?"

"Who?" C.C asked.

No transformation…then…does that mean I really…no…NO!

"Lelouch." C.C put a hand on mine. "Just calm down."

I don't want things to be like this. I shut my eyes. I want to go back…I don't care what's real or what's fake…I want to go back to the way things were. All of the people I met…all the things I've done…it can't all just be a dream created by my mind.

"Reality might be hard to accept, but…is it really that bad?" C.C asked me. I opened my eyes to look at her. "There are tears in your eyes Lelouch, are you ok?"

"I…I don't know." I responded. "But…if I am alive…what will I do? Where will I go? I'd have to change my name. No one must ever know that I'm alive."

"You and I can go anywhere we want, but wherever we go. Let's go together." C.C said to me. She walked towards the door and opened it. "Are you coming Lelouch? The rest of our time together awaits."

"I…" I didn't know what to do. I never felt so confused. What is reality? I asked myself. Which situation is real? Did I really dream up 68 years of memories in 68 days? How…why?

"Lelouch…are you not coming?" C.C asked me. She outstretched her hand to me. "Come with me. I will never betray you. You know that. You and I are accomplices."

What is it I want to do? I…I could just take C.C's hand and go with her…I…but I want to go back…to the Soul Society…I feel…I don't want to go on like this…so many things have happened…I don't want to write it off as just a dream. It can't be just a dream. I shut my eyes and grit my teeth. I…this has to be a test…I was just about to learn Bankai…things were looking up. Is that it? Was all of that just a dream and none of it really mattered…no…that can't be true. I dropped do my knees in anguish. Eien Tamashi…if this truly is a test…please…no more…I want to wake up. Please...I can't take this.

"What does the world you are in have to offer?" I opened my eyes. There was no scenery and standing in C.C's place was Eien Tamashi.

Oh thank Britannia. I was extremely close to breaking down into tears.

"Are you that content with the way things are? Despite having suffered so much even after death you still wish to continue the path you are on. You are not content with the idea that all that has happened thus far to be a dream and to go on living?" Eien Tamashi asked me.

I found the strength to rise to my feet. "Of course I'm content. I put the past behind me. This is the only reality that matters. It's true, I wish I could've saved Yuna, I do wish I did not have to resort to Zero Requiem, but what's past is past. You know that I do not cling to it. Had I lived, I suppose I would have travelled with C.C across the world until my time came, but that is not the path fate has chosen for me. You are my partner now. That is the reality I accept. That is the reality I will shape the future for. That is the reality I live in!"

Everything went white I could hear ringing in my head and eventually I could feel pain, but…I could hear voices…beeping of a machine. I'm back…I…I'm home.

I opened my eyes. I could see many Shihakushos, but my vision was blurry at first.

"I think he's waking up!"

Hisana?

My vision adjusted itself. Standing around my bedside were Susanna, Hisana, Byakuya-fukutaicho, Rangiku, Aloman-senpai, Naomi, Nemu, Vera, Keshiba-senpai, Isshin-taicho, Otmachi-fukutaicho, Lusca-taicho and even Kukaku.

"What are you all…doing here?" I asked.

"We've been really worried about you, you baka." Susanna was tearing up.

"You've been in a coma for a little over two months now." Byakuya-fukutaicho stated. "Some of us didn't think you would wake up."

Two months? So there was…something to take away from all of that. I looked at Isshin-taicho and Lusca-taicho. "Can you two really afford to take off work to check up on an old friend?"

"Actually amazing coincidence was that we're both here to get some seated officers out of physical therapy." Isshin-taicho responded. "Most of everyone here was already here checking up on you."

"Well I sort of talked Byakuya-sama into coming who helped me talk everyone else into checking up on you." Hisana stated. "Somehow I just got the feeling that you'd be waking up today."

"I told you there was nothing to worry about." Kukaku stated pulling out a cigarette and lighter. Isshin-taicho cleared his throat and pointed to the no smoking sign above the doorway. Kukaku lit up anyway.

"How can you just ignore that?" Isshin-taicho shouted at her only to get decked in the face.

"Ah pipe down it's not like Lelouch is gonna complain." Kukaku retorted.

I shifted down in my bed. "N-no…I'm fine…by all means." She'd better be careful of Unohana-taicho though.

"Weren't worried Kukaku?" Rangiku asked, disbelievingly. "For someone who was assured that Lelouch would make a speedy recovery you certainly came here a lot."

"Quiet!" Kukaku shouted. "I'm telling you I wasn't worried."

"Are you really going to be alright Lelouch-dono?" Susanna sniffed.

"Yeah…I think I'm going to be okay." I told her.

"Really senpai?" Naomi asked. "Are you really…going to be okay?"

I nodded. "I've never felt better." I said. "A few weeks physical therapy and I'll be fit to work."

"Good to hear." Keshiba-senpai stated.

"Ah! Excuse me!" a voice I didn't recognize called out.

"Oh, Kotetsu-fukutaicho, good day." I heard Nemu say as she bowed to whatever person was behind Lusca-taicho.

Kotetsu? Did the 4th Division change Vice-Captains while I was out? I wondered. Up stepped a tall, silver-haired woman through the crowd.

"Oh, Lamperouge-san you're awake." The tall woman stated.

"Yes." I nodded. "I believe this is the first time we've met Miss…"

"Isane, Kotetsu Isane." she replied. "I'm the new Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division since last month. Yamada-senpai, my predecessor, broke into a fit of insanity and was incarcerated."

"I always thought Yamada-fukutaicho had a good head on his shoulders. What happened?" I asked, hoping someone would answer.

"Apparently the guy just couldn't take it anymore." Otamachi-fukutaicho responded. "One day he just jumped out of the office window, tearing off his Shihakusho and ran out into the Seireitei wearing nothing but his loincloth. No one knows what caused it or why he did it, but he's been in a fragile state of mind. Central Forty Six determined him to be unfit to work."

"Mayuri-sama and I analyzed him." Nemu picked up the story. "We determined that the cause of his mania was the release of so much repressed stress. He would not be recovering anytime soon, so he was discharged and released back to his family."

"Yamada-senpai's younger brother, Hanataro, entered the academy just last year." Kotetsu-fukutaicho stated. "Taicho is hoping he'll follow in his brother's footsteps and join our squad."

"Sounds like a lot of interesting things happened while I was out." I said.

"You could say that again." Aloman-senpai sighed. "I got demoted. Madarame beat me and now I'm back to fourth seat." She sighed. "And to make things worse we have a little kid for a Vice-captain."

Rangiku rubbed her friend's back. "Oh it's going to be all right Shisato, don't let it get you down, these things happen."

"But I worked so hard to get to third seat." Aloman-senpai whined in anguish.

"Ah, I don't mean to be rude, but now that the patient has awoken I must do an evaluation. I'm afraid I must ask you all to vacate the room to allow me to work." Kotetsu-fukutaicho said timidly.

"Well then, I suppose we should go get that idiot Omaeda out of physical therapy, see if he's recovered." Otamachi-fukutaicho stated.

"Wait, I thought Omaeda Marenoshin was discharged and drained of spirit energy after he was let out of the maggot's nest for good behavior?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it's his son that Kendra and I are getting out of the medical bay. I cannot understand, for the life of me, why that guy decided upon joining our squad. His skill is seriously lacking, but the house practically begged Central Forty Six to force us to take him. I made him a fourteenth seat just get the family off our backs." Lusca-taicho seemed displeased with the next generation of the Omaedas.

"Bye senpai!" Naomi waved as she left.

"Well that paperwork isn't going to get itself done, let's go Rangiku, Vera." Isshin-taicho told her.

"See you later Lelouch." Rangiku bade goodbye to me.

Vera stared at me for a while. Before she left she opened her mouth and spoke to me. "Bye." She said and left.

"I suppose we should be leaving as well." Byakuya-fukutaicho spoke to Hisana and Susanna.

"Right, we'll see you later Lelouch." Hisana told me.

"Please get better soon." Susanna requested as she left.

"Well, I guess I'll get out of your way then. If you want to talk to someone later Lelouch, I'll be just outside the hall. I'm in no hurry to get back to my division. Bunch a meat heads. At least one good thing about Zaraki-taicho is that he's not very high on work ethic so not a lot of paper work has been heading our way recently. I think my subordinate, Ayasegawa Yumichika, is really the only one who really gives anything about paperwork." I watched Aloman-senpai walk out.

"The same goes for me." Kukaku said. "I'm not under Gotei jurisdiction so I can go where I please. I'll be out in the hall."

"Ah, no smoking in the medical wing!" Kotetsu-fukutaicho told Kukaku. Kukaku gave her a glare. "Ah, never mind."

"I will be returning to my duties now Lelouch-sama." Nemu bowed to me and left.

With everyone cleared out Kotetsu-fukutaicho took a deep breath before she spoke to me. "So, do you feel well enough to walk Lamperouge-san?" she asked me.

I nodded and swiveled my legs so that they hung out over the side of the bed. I stood up on my feet. "I should be fine, but I might need some support."

"Ah, yes." Kotetsu-fukutaicho stood next to me and guided me down the hall to an examination room. I sat on a cold table.

I hate health exams. I thought to myself.

"Ah, you…you need to take off your robes." Kotetsu-fukutaicho told me. I removed my robes, leaving myself in my hakama and saw the triple set of bandages wrapped around my shoulders and the center of my chest. Dried blood coated the bandages. I took a look at my body. I had certainly toned up since my time being alive. Sure I didn't have massive pectoral muscles or hardened abs, but I was in much better physical shape than when I first took my entrance exam to the Shino Academy.

"R-r-right…I-I-I'll…e-e-examine you." Kotetsu-fukutaicho sounded incredibly nervous. I turned to see her staggering towards me with a reddened face that matched Susanna's eyes. She put the stethoscope to my back. I sucked in a deep breath. That thing was cold. "D-deep breath." I took a deep breath. Kotetsu-fukutaicho had me repeat the process a few more times. "R-right…I-I'll…ch-change your bandages." My wounds had started to scab over for the most part. Healing Kido was really amazing. Wounds like the ones I had suffered would take years to heal, or perhaps regenerate improperly, but with Healing Kido such wounds were easily treated as if they were mere paper cuts.

While Kotetsu-fukutaicho changed my bandages, I decided to start up some small talk. "So what's it like working under the fabled Unohana-taicho."

"I like Unohana-taicho." Kotetsu-fukutaicho responded with a big smile on her face.

Poor, naïve girl. I thought to myself.

"She's very nice and always looking out for me. People say she's scary, but I've never had a problem with her." Kotetsu-fukutaicho responded.

Maybe because you haven't done anything to upset her yet. I thought to myself.

As Kotetsu-fukutaicho rewrapped my right shoulder bandage she said. "I was overseeing your treatment even before Yamada-senpai had his mania attack. I thought taicho was going to swap me out for my replacement, but she recited an old proverb saying how it's not a good idea to change horse's midstream."

"You sound relieved." I said.

"I…er…" Kotetsu-fukutaicho dropped the roll of bandages. "Ah, I'll get that." She bent down to pick it up. At the angle I was sitting I could see right down her robe.

Lelouch! Eien Tamashi scolded.

What? There's no harm in looking. I used to take glances at Milly when she wasn't aware of it all the time…and Kallen, Shirley and C.C too. Eien Tamashi sighed at my statement. I could practically see her rolling her eyes.

Kotetsu-fukutaicho stood up and began rerolling the bandages. She started muttering to herself. "Let's see...over and under and over and under." She repeated the mantra as she rolled up the bandage tape roll. She finally rolled it up and began dressing my shoulder again.

"So how long will I be out of commission for?" I asked.

"Well you won't need as many layers as you did when I first applied your bandages. Your shoulders will still be sore for the next month or so, but you should be fit enough to work if you rest for a week and keep the strenuous activity to a minimum." Kotetsu-fukutaicho told me.

"What qualifies as strenuous activity per say?" I asked.

"Well swinging your Zanpakuto around for one. Anything that would aggravate the ball and socket joints in your shoulders qualifies really." Kotetsu-fukutaicho responded.

Which means I'll have to cool it on the Kido training, wonderful. I thought to myself.

"I don't understand why so many officers are so eager to return to work." Kotetsu-fukutaicho responded. "I know Fourth Division gets a bad view, especially from the Eleventh Division, but we do our best to make sure our patients make speedy recoveries." Kotetsu-fukutaicho walked around the table to dress my other shoulder.

"Well I for one have important business I need to take care of." I told Kotetsu-fukutaicho. "I don't know about the others."

"Well, taicho doesn't like it when people overexert themselves when they should spend time resting. It would really be good if you spent the whole week here recovering rather than going back to your division, many officers do." Kotetsu-fukutaicho told me.

"Well, I've never gone against the advice of a medical professional before," I stated, "I'm not about to start."

"Ah…th-that's good I…" Kotetsu-fukutaicho dropped the bandage roll again. "Ah…oops…l-let me get that."

What's with her? I asked myself.

Clueless. Eien Tamashi hummed.

Oh you have got to be kidding me? That again? How many women am I going to attract?

Kotetsu-fukutaicho picked up the bandages again and re-rolled them. She finished dressing my shoulder and then went to work on the wound on my chest. She used a surgical scissor to cut the bandages rather than unravel them since my shoulder bandages overlapped onto them. I could see Kotetsu fukutaicho's flushed cheeks as she towered over me. However, that wasn't my biggest focus considering Kotetsu-fukutaicho's height put her chest at my eye level and rather than crouching she was doing her best to simply lean forward to dress my wounds. I had no idea if she was doing this on purpose or not.

"You've certainly ah…grown in well." I said as a compliment. Kotetsu-fukutaicho froze and dropped the bandages again. "Ah, I'll get that." I volunteered.

"Ah, no I'm the medical professional, I'll get it." She responded, but by that point I was already crouching down to get it. My purple eyes met her gray ones. Kotetsu-fukutaicho turned such a deep shade of red that it wouldn't be a very outlandish theory to be mistaken that she just invented a 257th color on the spectrum of visible light. She withdrew away from me and went over to the sink and began splashing cold water on her face. I spent that time rolling up the bandages. If she's so attracted to me how did she dress me so well the first time? I wondered.

It's easier to deal with one's crush when they're in comatose I would suspect. Eien Tamashi responded.

Why? I asked. Eien Tamashi made a noise indicated she didn't have a reason for suggesting what she did. I handed the bandages back to Kotetsu-fukutaicho after she dried her hands and face and then dressed my wounds.

"I…I think that…that will be all." Kotetsu-fukutaicho stammered. "You…you can put your robe back on." I redressed myself and then Kotetsu-fukutaicho led me back to my room. I lay back down on my bed and took a deep relaxing breath.

"So…what I just lay here all week?" I asked.

"Ah…you're allowed to walk around the grounds, but I would have to accompany you." I looked at her wondering if she was saying that professionally or if she just wanted to hang around me. "It's procedure." She said.

"Well, all right." I wasn't about to argue, wasn't worth it. Having Kotetsu-fukutaicho for a nurse was actually kind of enticing after I let the idea sink in.

"So do I get a bell or a pager or something in case I need anything?" I joked.

"Ah, yes…" Kotetsu-fukutaicho went and got something out of one of the cabinets on the other side of the room. She was holding a buzzer in her hand and fumbling with it. "I'm always unsure how to calibrate these things properly." She said solemnly.

"Let me take a look at it. I used to be part of the Twelfth Division." I requested.

"Ah sure." Kotetsu-fukutaicho handed it to me.

I opened the back of the device. "So, what do I set this to in order to ring your Soul Pager?" I asked.

"Ah my page code is seven-seven-three." Kotetsu-fukutaicho stated. I calibrated the settings to function as such before closing the back.

"Let's see if this works then." I said and hit the button. Kotetsu-fukutaicho's hakama began to vibrate. She pulled out her Soul Pager.

"Ah it works." She stated.

"Good, then there's nothing to worry about." I said and turned over to go to sleep.

"Ah wait you'll put pressure on your shoulder like that!" Kotetsu-fukutaicho turned me over back onto my back. She and I were inches from each other again. She turned red with embarrassment. She backed away like a skittish cat. "I…do…do you want me to get you some medicine to help you sleep?" she asked.

"No thank you, adjusting the angle of the bed and bringing me a new pillow would be very helpful though." I told her.

"R-right. I'll be right back with a pillow. Don't move and don't go anywhere." Kotetsu-fukutaicho left and came back with a new pillow and adjusted the angle of descent of the upper half of my bed until I admitted to being at maximum comfort.

"Isane." The voice I heard was one voice I knew I would hear from being here, but was hoping to avoid.

"Ah, taicho." Isane was beaming. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I heard Lamperouge-san had woken up."

I sat up. "Yes, Kotetsu-fukutaicho has been taking good care of me."

"I'm glad to hear that." Unohana smiled, but it was a pleasant smile. "She's been trying hard to adjust to her new position." Her smile turned into that infamous smile of hers. "I trust that you won't make things difficult for her yes?"

"N-no of course not Unohana-taicho." I said and pressed my back flat against the bed.

"That's good then. Carry on then Isane." Unohana-taicho told her.

"Hai, taicho." Kotetsu-fukutaicho responded. After Unohana-taicho was long gone Kotetsu-fukutaicho sat down on the stool in the room. She turned around to face me. "Lamperouge-san…I didn't want to say anything in front of taicho, but…you don't need to refer to me so formally." She smiled kindly at me, her cheeks were slightly flushed. "I…I'm your nurse…b-before I'm the fukutaicho. And I…I would…l-l-l-like to be friends." She stated.

I smiled at her. "Friends? But we've only just met."

"Ah, I know," she panicked, "B-but…I…I've been taking care of you all this time and I'll continue to do so throughout the week s-so…I…I just thought."

"It's okay," I responded. Yes…it's perfectly fine…after all…everyone who showed up today. They are my friends…or what the Japanese would call Nakama. I remembered the test that Eien Tamashi had given me. Now I really understand…why I didn't want to give this life up…I have…friends…actual friends…who trust me.

Yes you do. Eien Tamashi told me.

"I'm glad." Kotetsu-fukutaicho responded, drawing me from my thoughts. "You seem like you would be a good friend.

I feel warm and fuzzy inside. I thought to myself. "So," I scratched the side of my head with my index finger, "Since you don't want me to call you Kotetsu-fukutaicho anymore what about Kotetsu-senpai?"

"Th-that feels even more formal." She responded.

"Isane-chan?" I asked with a smirk.

"Ah…th-that's…s-so informal…I…I…um…"

I laughed. "Sorry, Kotetsu-san works just fine for me if it does for you." I said.

"Ah…ok." Isane responded.

"I should probably get some rest." I stated and closed my eyes.

"Sleep well." Kotetsu-san told me. I grunted in acknowledgement and went to sleep.

Chapter 24 End

(A/N: I want to know how many of you I psyched out with that bit in the beginning. I drew inspiration from that scene from an old Garfield the Cat comic written in October of 1989. If you want to know more about that, you need only ask. And the next person to add themselves to Lelouch's harem is Isane. And also Lelouch realizes that he has friends who will stand by him; friends who trust him. How trusting are they? Only time will tell. Well, this chapter is done. I'm going to go lie down. Maybe I'll give you guys a double feature if I think of some more stuff. See you later).