Chapter 25: Belle of the Ball

It's been edited, enjoy:

Kallen's absence was easy enough to write off as her having a sudden bout of ill-health the previous, a lie that Milly and Lelouch were more than happy to keep with the rest of the student body. The council was told it was a family issue but nothing else; Milly and Lelouch followed Kallen's wishes, not that the council pushed Kallen for details when she came to school the following day. In fact, other than some concerning looks earlier in the morning, they treated her as they always did, which she appreciated.

When the afternoon came, they had all gathered for a council meeting, one ordered by their president, who refused to say why they had to meet, just that she ordered them to do so. Kallen and Lelouch were the last to arrive, finding Milly standing at the head of the table, a mischievous glint in her eye already having Shirley on edge. Kallen could sympathize, as this couldn't be normal.

“Good, my minions have all gathered.” Milly smugly called.

"She's not even pretending anymore," Lelouch muttered as he took his seat, nodding towards Suzaku and Nina.

“Hush, my right-hand minion, I have an announcement.” Milly waved off his comment, looking far too happy for their safety. “In 2 days’ time, we’re going to host a new festival!”

"Two days?" Kallen asked, as two days seemed awfully specific. More than that, it fell on a particular day for her.

“Did I miss something? We don’t have anything planned for the next few weeks, right?" Suzaku asked, looking towards Rivalz, who shook his head but seemed willing to go along with this regardless.

"Nope, it came to me in a bright dream of inspiration and pancakes." Milly declared, which Lelouch translated to mean she just came up with and decided to bring it into reality. Sometimes, he wondered if she was the type of woman who inspired the ancient Greeks to imagine a goddess like Eris.

"Madam President, we'll never get the planning done before then, never mind setting up for it!” Shirley argued, to which Nina nodded.

"She's right. School festivals need far too much coordination to be put together in less than 96 hours, " the quiet girl said, to which Rivalz laughed it off.

“So what? It’s not like we haven’t pulled crazy stuff like that in the past.” Rivalz stated as Lelouch turned his gaze to his friend, being quite unamused with his can-do attitude.

“You mean I? You all always leave the complicated and, might I add, essential planning and organizing to me. Last time Milly had one of these ideas, I had to pull two all-nighters." Lelouch reminded them as Milly got in a similar mood when she announced one day she wished to have a human duck hunt. Despite the president being the one who wanted it most, she happily left him to actually organize it.

Milly only laughed, holding a hand to her face like a spoiled princess. “My silly minions, I might hold the title of president, but this is not a Europia. I am an absolute ruler." Kallen wondered if Milly should be as proud of that declaration as she sounded, but the rest just sighed as they recognized a lost cause when they saw one.

“And just what is your grand scheme this time?” Lelouch asked, already dreading the workload he'd have to handle on top of their late-night activities.

Milly only smiled wider at her council members' fear; they acted like she was some horrible tyrant. She was a great and lovable tyrant, thank you very much. "We'll be hosting a crossdressing party complete with games, music, and a bonfire to dance around."

One could hear a pin drop after that announcement as everyone froze at Milly's words sunk in. Kallen and Shirley instantly started blushing as they imagined the boys in drag; Nina kept silent but muttered something to herself, which also had her cheeks gaining some color. Rivalz and Suzaku shared a look before laughing at the idea of going in drag.

"Absolutely not." Lelouch didn't mince his words. With varying enthusiasm, he had helped Milly bring plenty of her wacky ideas to life, but there was no way he would dress in drag just because it caught her fancy.

Milly pouted at him, but he didn’t buy it for a second. "But Rivalz and Suzaku seem on board, and our lovely ladies haven't voiced any opposition, Lelouch."

"I don't care; you can't force me to help plan or participate in this." Lelouch rejected it out of hand.

"Well, then, how about the vote?" Milly turned to the rest.

“Did you hear what I just sai-”

Milly cut him off. "All in favor of a crossdressing party, one where we'll switch out not just our clothing but personalities to explore forbidden and yet intriguing parts of ourselves that we otherwise couldn't?" Her question was a loaded one, leading them on. Rivalz’s hand going up was a given; he would help Milly bury a body. However, Shirley and Nina were completely unexpected, despite how the former blushed.

Even Kallen and Suzaku voted for it, an act so outrageous his ravens both let out surprised croaks.

Lelouch glared at his two male friends. “Traitors.”

“It’s not as bad as you make it sound like.” Suzaku laughed his friend's look off, as sure he wasn't happy, but he wasn't doing something crazy.

“All oppose?” Lelouch’s brow twitched as he just knew Milly was messing with him. Still, he raised his hand, being the only one to do it as Milly clapped. "Well, there you have it; by popular demand and the degree of your lovely president, we're having a crossdressing party."

"And with that decided, we need to get things moving, and with less than 48 hours, we need to move fast! Rivalz and Kallen, you're on club duty; get the word out. Nina, you'll be our gal for ordering any and everything we'll need; don't worry about the costs." Lelouch let out a sigh, as he just knew the budget would suffer for this and that they'd need to perform a miracle to fix it.

"Our dear vice president will handle the final details, giving it that Lamperouge touch.” Milly turned to hand him his marching orders, and while he could refuse…who was he kidding? He couldn't if he tried.

“What about me, madam president?” Suzaku asked, eager to help, and Milly was eager to use him fully.

“You-” Rivalz suddenly didn’t like this with how Milly was eying up Suzaku. "Will be using those big soldier muscles to help prepare the ballroom. We'll have a lot of heavy lifting, and I'll need your help." Maybe this was a bad idea. Suzaku was a stand-up guy, probably one of the best Rivalz had ever known…and that was the problem; how was he supposed to match the handsome, athletic foreigner?

Worse, unlike Lelouch, he didn't know that Rivalz had feelings for Milly so he could make a move on her!

Before Rivalz’s head flew off the handle again, the door opened as Nunnally wheeled in, followed by their three dogs and Alice. The girl had taken a liking to the younger Lamperouge, who didn't seem to care for how…weird Alice could be.

“Good afternoon, everyone.” Nunnally greeted them as Alice eyed up the room, raising an eyebrow at the slumped force of the vice president. What the heck got him so down and defeated?

“Oh, good afternoon, Nunna, and you as well, Alice. How were your morning classes?” Shirley greeted back before switching to a question.

"They were okay. My teachers are getting a little used to having Cathy around as well," Nunnally replied, as she didn't detect as much apprehension about Cathy's presence in class as she used to, at least not from the teachers.

“I don’t know why it’s such a big deal. They don’t even make a fuss about being in class.” Alice added that while she didn't hate attending school, she hated feeling stupid about how much she struggled in her classes. She mostly didn't have much of an opinion of her classmates. They just seemed like spoiled brats who liked running their mouths and had silly concerns.

Still, it could be worse. Good clothes, a warm bed, three delicious meals a day, a chance to remain with her irregular sisters, and a friend and study partner in Nunnally were a nice bonus. The chance to spend time regularly in what was essentially a petting school whenever she came over to the student council building was a nice bonus, which just made it stranger to her when others were so scared of Cathy when she was a sweetie.

Nunnally's head shifted as she could roughly hear where they were. Still, her brother's breaths were hitting the table for some reason. Was it sleeping again? “Is there something wrong with brother?”

Milly waved that off. “He’s just being his grumpy old dog self because we voted on something fun.”

“What?” Nunnally asked, which led to Milly and Shirley Rivalz explaining things. Once she heard it, Nunnally was fully on board. “Oh, that sounds like it would be fun! Will we be able to bring the dogs and birds with us? We can get them into cute costumes.”

Hearing that only made the dogs whine at the idea, including the birds present, who twitched. They shared what could only be concerned and scared looks as they'd seen it, others like them made to wear human clothing…horrible.

Lelouch, on the other hand, rose when his sister asked the question, hoping that she would side with him, but that wish didn't come true. Nunnally's support and even suggestions that their wonderful animals have to dress up left him stunned and pale, as he couldn't even compute.

Milly took full advantage, quickly pulling her phone out and snapping a picture. “And we have another rare moment saved for all time!” Milly cheered, holding the phone to her chest.

"Rare?" Alice asked as she dreaded this…' crossdressing' event. If it could get someone like Zero so down, it couldn't be good.

Safely putting her phone away, Milly recalled that not everyone would know. "Oh, that's right, you and Kallen wouldn't know, but when something so out of left field happened, so against our dear VP's sensibilities, it's like his mind has to reset, and he's struck dumb." She gestured to Lelouch, who still seemed out of it as Rivalz waved a hand before his face, but Lelouch didn't respond.

"I didn't think he could make such a face," Kallen noted as she could admit it was pretty funny to know that he wasn't immune to damage like this. He often complained but didn't get flustered like the rest of them.

“I’ve never seen him do it; he always seemed so adaptable or nonchalant about stuff.” Suzaku noted that even back at the shrine, Lelouch, despite being just a little older than him, always worked to keep emotions out of his decisions and tone. Other than anger, that seemed to flow off him like mist. It was nice to see that Milly found ways to get to that soft side without appealing to his brotherly instincts.

"I've seen it just once before, but Milly over here has managed to make him react like this 4 times. The first time was when she managed to flash him." Rivalz pointed out that this got Alice, Kallen, and Suzaku to turn to the president.

“Milly!” Kallen yelled as Milly held her hands up.

“What? I didn’t mean it; he was far too stiff for his own good. Besides, you can’t tell me the face he made wasn’t worth it.” She pulled her phone out and showed them all the pictures, one taken the day she met Lelouch.

The three leaned in, seeing what had to be a younger Lelouch dressed in rather plain clothes that seemed like he had bought them secondhand. His face, which didn't look too different from what he typically looked like these days, had an expression of confusion and horror.

Shirley was the only one who didn't find it funny. "It's not funny that you do that, too."

Line break

When Lelouch finally rebooted, he was less than pleased that Milly got another photo of him like that, one which he knew he'd never be able to get rid of as she always made copies. His mood worsened when he recalled the reason for the meeting, and while Alice seemed to agree with him, his sister was all for it.

For the rest of the meeting, they hammered out some details and other things Milly and the rest wanted, with Lelouch only having the power to veto things that even he couldn't make happen in 48 hours, not without his geass, but even if was morally grey enough to use it for this, he was going along reluctantly and thus would bother. The dress code was a little tricky, but ultimately, it was decided that as long as it was stuff for the opposite gender, it counted, saving time on things as clubs could pick whatever they wished if they so chose.

Food and drink suggestions were recorded, debated, and quickly handed off to their VP to handle, along with Nina. Lelouch groaned as he left to work on things. The sight of this made her giggle as she just found it funny. This was the same guy who could stand down the Purebloods, repeat that against Cornelia, and even fight off a knightmare without flinching. Yet, here he was, scared of wearing a dress.

Leaving the meeting, Kallen shook her head at the slogan that would be posted all over the place for the upcoming event, coined by Shirley, who, as time went on, got almost as invested in this as Rivalz.

“‘Let the you in you free’," Kallen repeated, as it wasn't a bad idea. Still, with this and the surprise costume party for Arthur, she was starting to see what Lelouch meant when he talked about Milly and the unpredictability of her whims."

"Kallen," she turned and saw Rivalz approaching, surprised to see him as she thought they'd split to cover the entire school in time. You want a ride? We can get around a lot faster on my bike, and you don't need to exhaust yourself." Kallen smiled, but she hated how he thought she couldn't handle something like that.

But it was for her cover, and at least it showed that Rivalz cared if he thought about that. So she graciously agreed, and he led her to his bike, handing her his spare helmet as she got into the sidecar. As they sped off, both ignoring a teacher telling them off for driving on campus, she thought about something.

“Hey, Rivalz,” She spoke up.

“What’s up, Kallen?” Rivalz replied though he kept his eyes ahead, as it would be bad if he hit something…or someone.

“About Nunnally, I know she’s an honorary council member, but she often shows up for meetings." Kallen didn't know how else to express her concern, but she hoped she didn't come off rude.

Lucky for her, Rivalz took it as it was and laughed. "Well, she does live in the building; it's hard to avoid us sometimes. Besides, she probably enjoys them; you saw how animated she got about this crossdressing ball," He paused before he added another bout of snickering. “Even if Lelouch looked like a mopey old bloodhound.”

Kallen didn't disagree with that, especially in that last meeting. Nunnally even talked Alice into not booking it once she found out what crossdressing meant. A person like that seemed like the type who had active social lives, and not even Lelouch's overprotectiveness could stop it. Hell, if he were any more like her brother with Nunnally, he would want her to have friends her age.

"It's just that I would imagine she would spend time outside class with her friends." Kallen voiced that, which got Rivalz to drop his smile, the man sobering him, which Kallen instantly caught, freezing as she wondered if she said too much, dug too deep as a council member or not, she was still new to the fold and unlike Suzaku, had no prior connections to them.

"It's complicated." Rivalz's tone said to drop it, which she did without a word.

Line break

That was how it remained between them for a while, though when they made it to the areas, classrooms, and other spaces that the varying clubs of Ashford called their own, they managed to put up a cheery front as they explained things. To Kallen's surprise, she found that most were on board, with the two not needing to do much to sell them on the idea. The weirdest was the school rugby team, who all seemed excited to flex their muscles while in heels.

A meeting with Milly's favorite club for obvious reasons, the Fantasy Seduction Club, went the same as the rugby team; they were fully on board, though it was more for the chance to try out some new seduction techniques that would come via crossdressing and appealing to those forbidden tastes…more than they already did as God, Kallen was not prepared to walk in them covering the club president naked body in whipped cream and cherries.

As she strapped on her helmet, eager to leave before one of them tried coaxing her back in for 'a talk', Rivalz spoke up.

"I love coming here, to Ashford, I mean. I've made some good friends here, plenty of memories, and even found the lov-" Rivalz cut himself off before he could mention his crush; that wasn't important right now. "But I'm not dumb; I know that the school's got some issues, not from policy but from students."

"Ashford is pretty liberal as far as schools go, and we get away with a lot. It's why Suzaku can attend here, but we still attract students from all walks of life, and some might not take kindly to how we do things or the people that attend." Kallen could see where he came from as she recalled those earlier days with Suzaku. Even now, he still had some detractors but chose not to discuss them.

She would be worried, but she knew that no one would dare make a move against him after those two who ruined his PE walked up to him in the middle of the day and apologized, with all the school as a witness. She thought it suspicious until she learned their club got a budget cut, and she recalled who balanced the books.

"It was unfair how some saw it. Sure, he was arrested, but the entire thing blew up in the authorities, and everyone knows he was just a scapegoat." Kallen stuck to the more reasonable complaints on this, as she didn't distrust Rivalz, and he cared for Suzaku. Still, she preferred to play it safe after she kept slipping these last few weeks.

Rivalz frowned. "It's because he's an honorary, and the country doesn't have the best view of people like him who were born Elevens…people like Nunnally who can't see or walk on her own." He noted, Kallen grimacing as she imagined that Nunnally wasn't popular when things were put like that, a fact easily forgotten when she had only ever seen her with the council or, more recently, Alice.

“Kids in her group tend to avoid her because, to them, she's not what she's supposed to be." Kallen's grimace turned into a scowl at that comment, one that Rivalz shared. What she was supposed to be? What sort of crap was that? "She used to have friends, but they just wanted favors from Milly…or little girls that wanted to get close to Lelouch."

Kallen crossed her arms, saying, "Yes, as much as I hated it, I could see that being a thing. "It's disgusting, befriending someone just to use them like that."

“Hey, you won’t hear arguing about that from me or the rest of the council," Rivalz added, though his mood only seemed to drop as he recalled something. "There…there was an incident in my...our first year. It was before I was a member of the student council. I had just started hanging out with Lelouch after he bailed my ass out from a bad chess match."

“You gambled before him…in chess?” Kallen incredulously asked him, to which Rivalz got defensive.

“Hey, it’s not like Lelouch is the only one who’s good at the game.” Rivalz wasn't half bad at the game and could fill in against decent opponents just fine.

“And yet, he had to bail you out.” Kallen reminded him.

Rivalz slumped. "…And yet he had to bail me out. He only stepped in after the noble changed the bet so the loser would crawl around barking like a dog." He admitted, recalling how Lelouch demolished the guy, even writing out his moves in advance, as if he could see the future.

‘That seems like something he would do.’ Kallen found that weird for the VP, but considering how far his hatred for Britannia went and how willing he was to face literal knightmares on foot, she could say that he would totally get a kick out of a noble acting like an animal because he let pride get the better of him.

"Lelouch was even more closed off then, if you can believe it. He knew everything about every student, or so he claimed, but no one really knew him; it didn't change when we started hanging out, giving him rides like I do know as he was cagey-real cagey. I swear, the first time I brought up Nunnally, he gave him a look." Rivalz noted as they approached their next stop, but neither got off the bike.

“What look?” Kallen asked.

"The type that said he'll sabotage my bike's breaks and stand by as I had an accident," Rivalz casually replied, which got some skepticism from her, which he picked up on. "Don't give me that look; you've seen how he can be about his sister."

"True…" Naoto wasn't murderous, but he could be annoying in other ways when protecting her.

"Yeah, well, I didn't. I just thought he was the eccentric loner who was extra. His parents weren't in the picture, and he had some dogs, but that just about." Rivalz sighed as he got back to the meat of the conversation. "Then, one day, Nunnally fell down the stairs. No, she was pushed."

Kallen gasped at the idea that someone would do something like that to such a kind person. "We were in class," Rivalz continued. "Lelouch is her primary contact and was informed immediately. Before and since, I've never seen him run that fast or look that rattled.”

Taking off the helmet, Rivalz got off the bike, Kallen mirroring him. "She ended up in the hospital with a broken leg and sprained wrist. It turns out she was getting bullied, but Nunnally, being Nunnally, didn't want to burden Lelouch by telling him. Maybe she thought she could handle it, maybe she thought it'd die down; I don't know if it's probably best you don't ask them. I know that when Lelouch found out, he raised hell."

"The teachers tried to find out who did it, but no one fussed up." Rivalz glared at nothing as he recalled hearing Lelouch talking to her homeroom teacher. While he came off as calm, he and the woman could hear how much wrath was bubbling close to the surface when he was told that despite a week's investigation, nothing was found, no evidence, no witnesses.

"2 days," Rivalz stated. "It took him 2 days to find out who did it, who laughed when she went down, and who did nothing, and…his revenge was brutal."

"What…did he did do?" Kallen was almost afraid to ask, as she knew firsthand from his work as Zero how effective Lelouch could be and, more importantly, how ruthless and vicious he could be to his targets. More than once, she'd seen him use that shotgun to blow off limbs or his dagger to slide throats ear to ear without missing a beat.

"That's the thing, we don't know." Rivalz's response caught her surprise. "All we know is that one of the bullies' families found themselves forced to pay a huge amount of debt, which financially ruined them; another had their factory burn down with insurance refusing to pay because of evidence of arson on their part, and the last's father was arrested for tax evasion and money laundering," Rivalz recalled Milly talking about her grandfather questioning Lelouch about it after the fact.

She was unnerved by how…calm Lelouch was during the entire conversation, during which he neither confirmed nor denied he did anything. At times, he mentioned how one could do it and that it was perhaps reckoning for some slight they had committed against someone, but he never said more.

For Kallen, she supposed that that story sounded exactly like she thought it would be. Lelouch, as Zero, was meticulous and never left evidence; he always seemed to move through shadows like he was one. You only saw him when he wanted to be seen, so if he wished to act to make some brat's families suffer for their spawn's actions, well-good luck finding proof he was even near those places.

"With their families being torn apart, Lelouch went after their clubs here at school as we control the middle school division's finances. Every club in the middle school division suffered budget cuts. He framed it as ‘austerity measures due to a shortfall in revenue,' but I'm pretty sure no one bought it." Rivalz had been made secretary of the council around them, so he had been in the room when Lelouch proposed the measure without flinching, smiling, frowning, or doing anything.

If he didn’t know the context, he would have believed his excuse to get it through.

“Club leaders came begging for him to reverse it,” Kallen caught the fact Rivalz said him, not them. It seemed he wasn't wrong that no one bought Lelouch's stated reason for the mass budget cuts. "They even tried begging Milly to reverse it, but she left the decision to him, and Lelouch shut them all down."

"You can guess that once people got past the budget, they focused on the why, and those 3 who had been bullying Nunnally become pariahs, so much so they were the ones being isolated." Rivalz shook his head, recalling how those 3 looked like husks by the end, their social lives ruined, their families in debt or scandal.

"When the next semester rolled around, Lelouch reversed course, but he made the message clear, as well as having Nunnally attend classes with not just her seeing eye dog, Doby, but also Cathy, who you can tell, is more rip-your-throat-out dog." Rivalz finished, and the two had moved to lean against the wall, taking advantage of the shade as Rivalz finished the story.

Hearing all that, Kallen needed a moment to process as she knew he could be detail-orientated, but to be so thorough. "That's."

“Heartless? Callous? Cold-blooded? Right on all three,” Rivalz replied for her. “Anyway, she’s not been bullied since, but now she’s got a new problem.”

"Cross her, and she'll tell her brother, so one way to never cross her…is to not get close." Kallen figured, as to a bunch of terrified middle schoolers, that would seem like the best bet. Though she doubted Nunnally had ever acted in a way that seemed bratty or vindictive but, when Lelouch hit the entire group for them refusing to come forward, logic gave way to fear.

"Yeah, Lelouch's response put the fear of God in all of them, so she's safe, but she's alone, which is almost as bad. So, she hangs around the council.” Rivalz replied, and Kallen understood more why Milly didn't seem to have an issue with how lazy Lelouch was.

He was their attack dog, and an attack dog at rest meant there was no perceived threat. But at least with Alice and her sisters around, Nunnally wasn’t on her own anymore. Yeah, they weren’t normal girls, but when the normal ones were such trash, she deserved exceptional.

"But hey, he's getting better. If that hotel jacking had happened in our first year, he would have pulled his sister from classes." Kallen rolled her eyes at Rivalz’s attempts to find a silver lining in how much of a protective monster their VP was, but she couldn’t help but smile at it.

Line Break

When the day came, Kallen was surprised by what they had achieved, as with such little time, they had managed to pull it off. As the grounds in front of the student council building had been done up, tables had been set up, food and drink readied, and many had already arrived, all following the dress code, which led to many weird but interesting fashion choices.

Kallen was no different. She came dressed like a high school delinquent, complete with an oversized jacket and large headband. "So, this is it?" she asked Milly, who had addressed her like a noble rouge, the sort who would have been great friends with figures like Robin Hood.

"Yup, and it looks like things are coming out nicely. There are smiles all around!" Milly declared, proud of her minions' work to get down.

"I have to admit, things are being fun." Shirley, dressed like a policeman, added to things as the music started to play. People fell into their roles as those acting like servers went back and forth, making sure people had something to snack on or drink before the main feast kicked off.

"Hey, where's everyone else?" Kallen asked, as she didn't see any of the council's boys or Nunnally, who would be hard to miss.

Milly sighed, as it seemed like Lelouch would give them more issues. "They'll probably still try to get our VP into costume. Come on, let's go get them." Stepping in, they made their way over the Lamperouge residence wing, finding Sayoko, dressed like a butler instead of a main, outside the dressing room.

"Are they still getting dressed?" Milly asked their maid, who had even worn a fake mustache, to sell the look.

"It's not that they undressed and more like it's taking some time to convince Master Lelouch to partake as well," Sayoko explained, as they could hear the fight happening on the other side, along with some barking and chirps from their many pets the Lamperouge had taken. Seems like it wasn't just Lelouch fighting to get out of this.

"Well, good thing I put Suzaku on Lulu duty, else he would have found some means to escape." Milly chirped as she knocked on the door. “Boys, are you done in there?”

Line break

"Give us a minute; he's one slippery one!" Rivalz called back. The secretary was already dressed in a white French maid outfit. He had even gotten out to get a bra, filled it, and worn lipstick to convincingly crossdress and look good while doing it.

“Dammit, Rivalz, I will kick you if you even try getting that on me!” Lelouch was on high alert, having been backed into a corner, already missing his shirt and a shoe, but still resisting them. They were lucky that despite having Pedro and Blue Hammer with him, none had deemed the fight important enough to use their teeth.

“Oh, come on, Lelouch. It's so bad once you try it." Suzaku, dressed like an anime schoolgirl, replied, which only confused Lelouch more.

“Suzaku, you’ve done this before?” Rivalz asked him, though both kept an eye on Lelouch, or else he got past them…again. The mess that the room had fallen into is a testament to how many times he had outsmarted them or just fought like hell to escape when they did catch him.

Suzaku, for his part, mentioned that the army did something similar with all its recruits, having them wear a women's dress uniform for a whole week, so at this point, it hardly bothered him, though he admitted that then, the skirt had been longer.

“Have you no shame? You’re wearing a skirt.” Lelouch asked, recalling that the boy he once knew would have never gone along with this and should be fighting with him to get out of this. Instead, he had surprised him as he tried to sneak off campus and dragged him back here on Milly's orders.

“Well, it is kinda drafty down there.” Suzaku lifted the skirt a little.

“Don’t rise it you, buffoon, it’s indecent!” Lelouch felt like smacking some sense into him.

“I’m a guy, remember.”

“By that logic, men can walk around without pants.” Lelouch deadpanned, eyeing the place for something he could use to get out, a task made harder as Milly was outside, no doubt with Kallen Shirley. Both he knew wouldn't let him pass easy, and if Kallen was smart, which he knew she was, she'd use the fact she was 'frail' to keep him from forcing his way past her, all while moving to ensure she was always an obstacle.

C.C., dressed like Merlin, the wizard, lounged at the side along with Nunnally, who had just worn something of her brothers. "Nunnally here might not be able to see, but remember that it's quite suspicious if you were comfortable with flashing people when she was close by." She remarked.

“What? I was joking!” Suzaku shot back, only to hear Nunnally giggling as the chaos continued.

“Oh, man, just wear this fabulous little number; it'll bring out your eyes." Rivalz held up a purple and blue cocktail dress with some heels.

Lelouch growled when he saw it, wishing for it to catch fire. “I’ll gouge out yours if you try and feed them to Matila! You are not getting me or my hounds into some dresses!” He headed towards a window, one he was sure would be right over a hedge; the only issue was getting the dogs with him.

C.C. saw where he was eyeing and smirked as she shut that down. “Nice try, but the windows are all locked, and Suzaku's already in the room. You don't have many options here. Either willingly get into the dress, or they can force you like they did the cat costume."

"I'm sure brother will agree sooner or later, as dressing up is fun. This will be something I can't wait to look back on when I can see." Nunnally cheeped, and the three boys turned to her.

"But you're here with us," Suzaku noted.

"And I'm grateful, but I know Milly always takes pictures of events like this, so that means when I recover my sight, I won't just have the memories of being here with all of you, but I can experience them all over again, seeing what you all looked like as we had all this fun."

With his sister's suggestion that she would use such things to experience the joys of like she had been denied, even Blue Hammer looked at him, lost and unsure what to do. Lelouch, too, was afraid of what this meant, as if…if that was the course…Lelouch and his hounds slumped, the animals whining as they gave up the fight.

Marching to the door, Lelouch knocked on it. “Sayoko…I surrender, but if I’m going to crossdress, I'm not going to half-ass this. I'm going to be the best-looking…girl there." Lelouch gulped as if this was a bitter defeat, but he couldn't bring himself to take this away from his sister. He would and had killed for her. He could get himself into a dress, heels, and probably a wig.

Sayoko opened the door just enough to speak with him in case he had somehow got the rest to quiet down as he made another break for it. “What would you need, master Lelouch?”

“Your help primarily, as I don’t trust those two with make-up,” He pointed towards Suzaku and Rivalz, the latter crying foul as he had done his own make-up and looked great. “And some supplies from the fantasy seduction and drama clubs. Call over their club presidents as well.”

"As you wish. Shall I lead you to another room to wait for them?" Sayoko suggested that perhaps this room would need to be cleaned.

Lelouch coughed into his fist, a little embarrassed now that he wasn’t in fight-or-flight mode. “Yes.”

C.C. and the rest watched as Lelouch calmly walked off, a snap of his fingers. Gustavus the Tibetan Mastiff, Blue Hammer, then Rottweiler, and Pedro the Bullmastiff followed along, walking like they were all going to the pet to get snipped.

While the rest were surprised that Lelouch would do that, C.C. was more impressed as she turned to Nunnally. "You are just as devious as your brother." She started, with Nunnally only making it clear that she hadn't just spoken up for fun.

"I wasn't lying about it, I swear…but I know brother doesn't like saying no to me." Milly and Suzaku blinked at the little angel, as it was easy to forget, but she was just as much a royal as her brother, but she just didn't use that often.

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With Lelouch promising that he wouldn't dash, they relented and left the building to join the party once more. As the two who had gone in to help returned, looking quite pleased with themselves, Milly tried to get them to tell her what they had done, but neither would talk, only saying it would ruin their hard work.

Eventually, the time came, and Sayoko stepped out and took a deep breath. "Presenting Lady Luciebelle Lamperouge!" she declared as Lelouch stepped out. The entire audience was stunned and silent at what they saw.

He…she stood over 6 feet tall, her silhouette commanding attention. Long, dark lashes framed starling violet eyes, framed by just a touch of make-up that made them pop. Her dark silk smooth hair flowed down her back like gentle ocean waves. Some of it tied into braided locks that met at the back of her head, while tiny sapphire beads added color to her hair.

Luciebelle had worn a sumptuous silk taffeta: deep sapphire blue on the bodice and overskirt, fading into soft lavender panels trimmed with silver lace at the hem and sleeves. A plunging square neckline, edged in ruffled chiffon, reveals a pearl-studded stomacher. The full, elbow-length sleeves puff at the shoulders, and the voluminous skirt, supported by wide panniers, sways with each graceful step, her feet fitted with shining crystal heels.

At his sides, all three of his dogs had been given a quick make-over, cleaned, brushed, and made-wear dresses of a cheaper, stylish appearance that matched their coats.

Walking down the stairs in what looked to be crystal heels, she kept perfect poise and balance, many wondering how she would pull it off. However, Lelouch grew up in a high society and idolized his mother. Of course, he watched her as she moved and could mimic it, though he couldn't help but wonder if he was moving right or if he had anywhere near as much grace as she did as when he looked at himself in the mirror, with his hair made long with a wig and in a ball gown like this, he couldn't but see her…and he hated it.

He hated it because Nunnally and Euphemia had always made him crossdress, but…but those had been better times. Times when being told he looked like a spitting image of his mother made him laugh and smile, now they just reminded him that she was gone. But this was for Nunnally so Luciebelle could stomach her apprehension and ensure she performed marvelously.

Gazing over the crowd, Luciebelle kept her nose up to all of them in a way that reminded Kallen a bit of the bitch she called a stepmother. Reaching the bottom, he held out a hand, and Sancia, who had already been in the crowd, appeared and took it. Lucretia and Dalque falling in line.

Nina, Suzaku, and Milly wondered why Sancia would just know how to do that. Kallen recalled seeing the drama club president talking to her, so he probably passed the message along. Besides, the collected and rational middle schooler looked quite fetching, dressed like a calvary officer, who, much like Milly, carried a prop saber at her side. The quiet Lucretia had one with a naval officer’s uniform, while construction worker, which broke the look they could have done for, but she hardly seemed to care.

Approaching them, Luciebelle opened up her fan to cover up the bottom half of her face. "Apologies for the delay, but a lady needs to look her best." Now Kallen was thrown for a loop, same as the rest at the voice as that…that didn't sound like Lelouch. It was as if someone else was speaking for him with a much softer, feminine voice.

Luciebelle looked back Suzaku and Rivalz over, “Lady Kururugi, Lady Cardemonde. It brings me joy to see you both in good health."  She greeted as she picked a glass off a student's tray, playing the help for the night. Said student, probably a girl or perhaps a boy, blushed when they saw how Luciebelle looked before they made themselves scarce.

"I hope that they know you're a boy," Kallen noted as how that waiter looked at the vice president; she could imagine a certain someone would be in their dreams for a while after this.

Milly laughed, finally getting back into rhythm. "I tell you, it seems like Lady Luciebelle here will be building up a fanbase among the boys as much as she’s done with the girls.”

Luciebelle sighed, fanning herself. "What an utterly dreary conversational topic. Can we move on to why you went through all this, Lady Ashford?"

“Real reason?” Kallen asked as Milly smiled as she turned.

"You're right; the night's not getting any younger." She walked off, getting into the makeshift stage, where she grabbed the microphone and said, “Listen up, everyone! Thank you for coming tonight. I hope you're having a good time,” she asked, with the crowd cheering in approval of the party.

“Yes, I know, I'm a gracious host, but it's time we unveil another surprise; bring out the birthday cake!” Milly announced as she stepped aside as some students wheeled up a cake that Kallen hadn't seen earlier. The thing was massive, and looked to be made up of 5 different tiers but what stood out was the camera feed as someone walked with a small camera connected to the screen, allowing everyone to read the message on it.

‘Happy Birthday Kallen!!’

“What is this?” she asked, looking at the rest of the council, who smiled back at her.

“Isn’t it obvious, Sir Stadtfeld?” Luciebelle smirked. "Lady Ashford discovered that this day was the day you were born. But she couldn't have just given you a simple cupcake. Oh no, we know she would not be the president if she did that."

Milly had heard that and picked things up from there. “She’s right! And since you’ve been down lately, I decided to go all out and make sure this was a night to remember, so everyone, let’s all say it as one..1..2…3-!”

As one, the students all cheered. “Happy birthday, Kallen!”

“You guys…I don’t know what to say?” Kallen started to tear up. She hadn't even been planning to do anything. How could she when everything else seemed so much more important? But it seemed her fellow council members felt different.

“You'll figure that out, quirk because I think the birthday boy should come up here and give us a little speech!” Then Milly threw a wrench into things, and the woman was unable to help herself.

“Wait, what?”

Rivalz and Shirley started pushing onto the stage, all while Luciebelle watched in mild amusement. “Good luck, Sir Stadtfeld. You’ll need it.”

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Well, last week’s chapter was long, like really long and I couldn’t really help it. So when it came to this one, I tried to keep it constrained but also take full advantage of it being original to help flush out the characters more, which is needed as the irregulars weren't in the original plans for this story. I don't want to underuse the. Also, it's weird that R1 had 25 episodes, and I've now hit 25 chapters with over 180K words. We're only between episodes 9 and 10, and with my notes, I'm using material that should have been from chapter 17.

Also, I'll be putting up a poll along with this for my BBB and CG story on the name of a character's evolved form. Those on my Discord would have seen it earlier, as it was posted there first.

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This came down to the wire there. Before I forget,  Lucie is derived from the Latin lux, meaning "light," and Belle – Directly means "beautiful" in French.