Adelice slowly stepped into Lelouch's home feeling the sense of security instantly enveloping her. It felt like big warm protective arms had wrapped themselves around her. She sighed as she took a long breathe in, looking around at the dark dining room. She quietly walked around the chairs not wanting to wake up Nunally who had probably already gone to sleep.
The moonlight reflected off the wood table and onto the walls, bathing the room in a gray light that she could use to maneuver around the room without tripping. She could hardly keep her eyes open and her legs were shaking from all the adrenaline that had been running through her body. She quietly walked into Lelouch's room to see him sitting by his computer.
One arm was resting on the arm rest of the chair and the other was typing on the keyboard. He turned to her and gave her a small smile. "Are you going to tell me now?", he asked, his eyes fixed on hers. She slowly nodded as tears welled up in her eyes. Lelouch deeply frowned and stood quickly, pulling her close to him.
Adelice couldn't help but let the tears fall from her face and clung onto Lelouch, feeling safe in his arms. She felt Lelouch rest his head against the top of hers. "Did someone touch you?", he asked urgently, stroking her back with one of his hands.
Adelice couldn't talk between tears and just managed to shake her head slowly. Lelouch grasped one of her shoulders and squeezed it. "Tell me.", he whispered. Adelice slowly gathered herself and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "No... just a guard that was trying to sneak a peak at my undergarments.", to this statement Lelouch frowned deeply.
Adelice shook her head slowly. "It's nothing, he didn't see anything and I wasn't hurt.", she whispered, her fingers playing with the little beads of her bracelet. Lelouch slowly let her go and ushered her to the chair where he gently pushed her down into wanting to make her relax as much as possible from the traumatic experience. Walking over to his right, he got a warm wool blanket from his closet and wrapped it around her shoulders. Adelice smiled slightly and wrapped it around her tightly, feeling the warmth of it make her feel calmer.
Adelice turned her head slightly to see what Lelouch had been looking at on the computer. A picture of the tower was seen in the middle of a news article. She quickly turned to him and pointed to the picture. "I was there.", she said. Lelouch balled his hands into a fist, trying to make his acting convincing. "What were you doing there?!", he yelled, making Adelice jumped.
"It wasn't my idea", she quickly answered, turning her gaze away from him. "It was Milly's, she wanted to take everyone out but Suzaku was busy and you were sick... so.. it ended up being a 'girls-night-out' event, as Milly called it."
Lelouch sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "And how did you manage to get yourself trapped there?", he asked, staring at her. "While we were on the train... we got taken hostage.", she said, slowly reaching for the laptop, scrolling the little touch-pad to see what else the article said.
"Why didn't you try to contact me?", Lelouch asked, an anger to his tone. Adelice turned back to him. "Because what good what it have done? You couldn't take out the whole Japan Liberation Front by yourself... why worry you? Even more so when your in your sick condition..."
Silence fell over the both of them as Adelice words still hung in the air. Biting her bottom lip, she whispered, "Euphemia was there." Lelouch's eyes looked back at hers, slightly surprised. "And?", he asked. "She saw me.", Adelice said, frowning a little. "But... I told her that I was happy with my new life, that I didn't want to go back to a high status way of life.", Adelice continued.
Lelouch slowly nodded but didn't pry anymore even though he had an internal burning desire to know what Adelice though of the man "Zero". Asking her flat out though would mean putting some suspicion on him, regrettably he would have to wait till she mentioned him first.
"She promised she would keep my secret... and I believe her. You know Euphie... she's not one to do something to make others unhappy.", Adelice said, a small smile forming on her lips. Lelouch nodded slowly and turned his gave to outside his window. "It sounds like she hasn't changed much.", he whispered, his eyes fixed outside of his window. Adelice looked at him, despite the fact that he had slept all day, his eyes looked very tired.
Adelice slowly nodded. "I was so scared...", she whispered, making Lelouch turn his gaze back to Adelice. "I can imagine being-", he started to answer but was then cut off by Adelice. "No no... not for my own life. That man... Zero. He was there. He pointed a gun at Euphemia... I thought he was going to shoot her.", she whispered, clenching her fists.
Lelouch frowned but stayed silent not wanting to give much of an opinion on his secret. "Though... it seems like he was just testing us because he lowered his gun right away when I jumped in front of Euphemia. It was as if he was waiting to see what we would do for each other... I suppose to see how tightly bonded we were." Lelouch frowned more and crossed his arms over his chest. "Adelice, you put yourself in too many dangerous situations.", he scolded, quietly. Adelice didn't answer as silence fell over them again until Adelice broke it. "I don't know how to feel about him... I mean he killed Clovis... yet he helped Euphemia and I.", Adelice's eyes fixed on Lelouch who was still silent.
"I know we would have both died if not for him... so should I be thankful?... Does that make things even for Clovis' death? How am I supposed to hate a man that saved my life and yet took another from me?", Adelice asked, more to herself. Lelouch frowned a little. He didn't know how to answer what Adelice had just said. It wasn't the best opinion that he wanted to hear but it wasn't the worst. He would have to improve things... but that was to debate over for another day.
He slowly stood and placed a hand on her head. "You need rest, it's been a long day.", he said, turning her head up to look at him. Adelice slowly nodded and stood slowly, walking over to his bed. She didn't even have the energy to change out of her clothes as she fell on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
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Adelice was quickly ushered into the student council room. "Come in! Come in! You're just in time to help set up for the party!", Milly exclaimed, a giggle in her voice. "Oh joy~", Adelice answered back, looking out of the corner of her eyes at Milly. What had this girl planned for today? She could only imagine based off of all the other things Milly's brain had come up with.
As they stepped into the room she saw Rivalz who had his face painted like a cat. He had yellow ears on his head and an outfit that looked something along the lines of felt. Adelice couldn't hold back a laugh as she looked at him. "Rivalz, what on earth is painted on your face?", she said, trying to hide her laugh.
"We're having a party for the new arrival!", Milly said happily as she quickly walked over to an open box. She shuffled around with some clothing. Adelice got a sinking feeling. She hoped that she wouldn't have to wear one of these ridiculous costumes. Her eyes traveled to Nina who seemed to be disconnected from the group as usual.. nonetheless she had a tiger hat on for the "event".
Milly suddenly stood up holding a green two piece. There was much less material then regular clothes... something Adelice was not comfortable with. "No.", Adelice said, before Milly could even ask her. "Oh come on Adelice, you would look adorable. I'm sure Lelouch wouldn't mind seeing you in this~", Milly said, smirking a little. "No.", Adelice said again, shaking her head.
"It's not so bad, really... I got used to it after awhile.", Shirley said as she entered the room. Adelice was a little taken aback by Shirley's sudden act of friendship.. perhaps Milly's "Catch the Cat and Get a Kiss" event had someone how made Shirley trust her a little. Adelice let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes. "Just for a little while.", she whispered, biting her bottom lip a little.
Milly quickly shoved the outfit into her hand along with the shoes. "Get changed! And Hurry! We're gonna try to catch Lelouch!", Milly said, pushing her toward one of the empty rooms. "There's no way you are going to get him into an outfit, Milly.", Adelice told her shaking her head. "No no, I know... but nothing stops us from holding him down and painting on his face!", Milly said happily.
"You're terrible.", Adelice said shaking her head. She closed the door behind her and slowly set the clothes on the floor. Of all the things Milly had come up with this was one of the strangest but she might as well have fun with it. At least she would have time to just be with the student council. All today she had been asked about being kidnapped and taken hostage. She really didn't want to have to explain anymore about it.
The more she didn't have to talk about it the better. She wanted to put it back farther into her mind and forget the whole thing. All the questions had seriously started to become annoying. Adelice sighed, even if she had to wear this stupid costume... it was better then being asked over and over about the incident. She quickly set about taking her clothes and shoes off and slipped into the shirt first.
The shirt was a bright lime green color with a fake fur collar. It ended right below her breasts. Of course it would be something risque... she had never doubted Milly to find "sexy" clothes for them. Adelice tries to pull the shirt down further to cover some of her stomach but there just wasn't enough material. Thankfully she had some cover for her arms at least, the sleeves went all the way to her wrists and had a fur trim the same as the collar.
The bottom half were pants that came down to just below her knee. There was a little fake fur around the bottom as well. Adelice shook her head again, she probably looked ridiculous. Biting her tongue and pride, she slipped into the halls and gathered up her regular school clothes into a neat little pile.
As she held the clothes in her arms she made her way back to the student council room. Kallen was leaning against the wall of the student council room yawning. "You don't want to go in there.", Adelice said, starling Kallen. "Huh? Why?", Kallen asked, staring at Adelice in her outfit.
"If you don't want to end up like me, you will run down the hall.", Adelice said, a slight laugh in her tone. Kallen ran her fingers through her hair as Adelice reached to open the door. She could hear yelling from outside the door. "Come on Suzaku, hold him down!", Milly yelled. "Damn it, Suzaku, cut it out!", Lelouch yelled. Poor Lelouch, Milly had probably trapped him. Adelice stepped inside to hear Lelouch still screaming, Kallen quickly followed her.
"Stop it! I'm not kidding!", he yelled. Adelice let out a giggle when she saw that Lelouch had been tied to a chair and someone had put cat ears on him. "Sorry Lelouch, but it's the President's orders.", Suzaku said, feeling a little guilt. "Like you're not enjoying this at all!", Lelouch retorted back.
"Will you hold still?!", Shirley yelled at him while she painted a whisker on his cheek. Milly turned to her when she heard Adelice laugh. "Oh you look adorable", Milly said, smirking and giving her a wink. "I look ridiculous.", Adelice corrected her with a smile as she set her clothes on one of the sofa's.
"What.... is all this?", Kallen asked, not really believing what she was seeing. "It's our welcome party for Arthur." Adelice looked at Lelouch who gave her a look like he wanted to just die. Adelice smiled softly and just shook her head. She shrugged her shoulders a little, silently telling him to just let them have their fun and don't fight them on it.
"Sounds like fun...", Kallen said, trying to not sound like she was scared of being put into one of these outfits. Adelice's eyes travled to Arthur who was perched up on his little home, watching them torture Lelouch. "We might as well have some fun right?", Milly said, waving her paw covered hand. Shirley smiled at her and pointed to the box of clothes.
"We set stuff aside for you. Take your pick from the clothes.", Shirley said, going back to painting Lelouch's face. Kallen looked like she was going to be sick. "What for me?", she said trying to think of way to get out of this mess. "She doesn't need a costume.", Lelouch said, making Kallen look at him funny. "You're already wearing a mask, right?", he asked, a slight smirk appearing on his face.
Adelice raised an eyebrow, not understanding what Lelouch meant by his comment. Whatever it was, it seemed to make Kallen angry. "You really are a riot, you know that? You outta be on television.", Kallen answered back, a slight annoyance in her tone. Adelice shook her head and sat down at one of the tables nearby.
"What do you think, Ms. Television Star?", Rivalz asked, turning to Shirley, making her sigh. "Would you quit joking about that? The whole thing is a huge pain in the butt.", Shirley said, rolling her eyes. "I agree with Shirley, I've already been asked so many times, 'What was it like?'... how annoying.", she said, rolling her eyes as well. Shirley nodded her head in agreement.
"We've been hounded with questions day and night.... I mean even in the bath!", Shirley said, crossing her arms over her chest. Adelice couldn't have agreed more with her, the whole thing had gotten so blown up at the academy that she just wanted to hide anytime someone called out to her.
"We haven't been able to leave school grounds in a week. I've been having to use Adelice's suite for a bed.", Milly said crossing her arms over her chest. Adelice shook her head. "It's fine Milly, really. It's not like I don't have a place to sleep.", she said. Milly turned and smirked at her. "Oh I know, though I wonder how much sleep is actually getting done.", Milly said with another wink. Adelice blushed slightly and made a face at Milly.
"Lelouch is a perfect gentlemen, he's not doing anything bad.", Adelice said. Milly turned to Lelouch who looked like he was waiting for the nearest oppurtunity to escape this room. "Well then~ I'll just let you keep that outfit, Adelice. Seems like you two need help with having 'fun'.", Milly said, painting another whisker on Lelouch's cheek.
Adelice crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, honestly Milly...", she said shaking her head. Rivalz turned to Milly as he continued to hold the cat ears onto Lelouch's head. "Not that I don't feel for you guys but why do we have to stay here too?", he asked.
"That's the price of friendship!", Milly said, happily trying to completely justify her actions. She stood proud and tall and recited a novel. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: It matters not that we were born apart, upon this day, we die as one!", she said.
Adelice silently stood up and walked over to Lelouch and untied him from the chair. Rivalz shook his head. "Is that your idea of friendship?", he asked, raising an eyebrow. Adelice shook her head. "Milly's just special.", Adelice said, a smirk playing on her lips. "This is so unfair! Right, Suzaku?", Rivalz asked, turning to Suzaku.
Adelice turned to Suzaku as well, she was surprised to see him get all teary eyed. "I'm so glad we could spend time like this..", he said, remembering the though of almost losing Adelice, Milly, Shirley and Nina.
Rivalz was a little taken aback but decided to make light of the mood in the room again by putting his arm around Suzaku. Adelice smiled as she knew how scared Suzaku must have been, watching them on TV. It had indeed been one of the most frightening things she had ever been through.