For far longer a time than she might have cared to admit, Kallen Kozuki had pretended to be Kallen Stadtfeld. A sickly, rich Britannian girl with poor stamina, poor strength, poor health. This could not be any further from the truth without wrapping back around to the point where it starts to approach the truth once again.
Kallen hated Britannia. Hated it. It was a justified hatred as well, being half Japanese. Seeing one half of her heritage utterly stomp all over the basic human rights of the other, seeing her brother killed, seeing the injustices of it all to the point that even her own birth mother became a victim. Well. Of course she hated a holiday like Christmas that originated from Britannia, which in turn originated from other sources but that’s a history lesson she didn’t particularly care to get into one way or the other.
The point is: Kallen Kozuki hated Christmas. Call her Scrooge, call her the Grinch, call her any of a hundred thousand Christmas villains that you like. It wasn’t about the spirit of giving and receiving she hated. Nor the charity, nor the actually good aspects of the holiday such specials drill into our heads year after year after year and oh god, why won’t they stop playing them and let some original quality television play instead? Just for a change, please!
Ahem.
What Kallen Kozuki hated was the pushiness of it. The stress, the cost it had upon those that could already poor afford it. You know. The actually negative aspects of the holiday. These qualities exist. They are real. They should not be glossed over. Hell. She hated it to the point that all she could see were the negative aspects, the way that Britannia pushed it onto the Japanese people and forced them to “celebrate” whether they could afford it or not.
On the other hand… Kallen Stadtfeld, the role that she played to maintain her cover? Well! She loved Christmas! She loved it. Loved it loved it loved it. From the top of her head to the bottom of her shoes, Kallen Stadtfeld loved Christmas. Because she was a good little rich Britannian girl, because she needed to fit in as a believable rich little Britannian girl because that’s what surrounded her every day when she was at school.
So just for a little while, Kallen Kozuki became the mask and Kallen Stadtfeld - For just a few moments - became the real personality. Directing her actions. Enthusiastic about getting a gift for her classmate and fellow student council member Suzaku Kururugi. For that was the name she had drawn from her hat.
In the back of her mind, she remembered that she had somewhere else to be. But screw it! Gotta get that gift!
Though… Now that she was indeed surrounded by shops, a thought did cross her mind. What did she know about Suzaku Kururugi? Well. he was an Honorary Britannian, formerly and born Japanese. He was a soldier. He was kinda cute. That was about it.
“Kallen?” a voice said. “What are you doing here?”
She turned around and came face to face with a green-haired girl she had never seen before (except at the Black Knights meetings). Maybe from school or something, she didn’t know.
“I’m getting a gift for a friend,” Kallen said. “But… I’m not really sure what to get him.”
“Interesting,” the green-haired girl replied. “Would you please accompany me? There is something I would like to show you.”
The girl grabbed Kallen by the wrist, and she was suddenly seized by a terrible thought that this strange girl was trying to prevent her from buying Suzaku a gift! She couldn’t have that! So, Kallen twisted and threw the girl to the ground and ran inside the nearest shop, a little bit stunned at her sudden display of physical activity.
“Did I just do that?” she asked herself. “Huh. Maybe I’m starting to feel a little better…”
“Well, I didn’t realise you’d be so insistent,” the girl said, popping up behind Kallen and nearly making her jump out of her skin. “Very well then. This calendar. That should be a generic enough a gift, don’t you think? Everyone can always use a new calendar in the year to come, and ‘Spice of Life’ is a theme almost anyone can appreciate.”
Kallen grabbed it out of the girl’s hands and backed off towards the counter, keeping one eye on her the entire time. The shopkeeper seemed every bit as befuddled as Kallen did, but the strange girl just stood there watching her as if taking mental notes and finding the results terribly amusing. Ugh. Probably a complete gossip from school or something, she’d have to find some dirt on her, and -
As soon as the receipt and bag were in her hand, Kallen swayed on her feet. What was she doing again? She staggered backwards right into C.C. That mysterious girl that was always with Zero!
“How are you feeling?” C.C. asked.
“Kinda dizzy,” Kallen replied, clutching at her head. “Huh? What the - What is this?”
“You don’t remember, do you?”
“Remember…?” No. The truth was, she didn’t remember. For some reason she felt this strange… Compulsion to keep it. To wrap it up and leave it somewhere. There was a tiny voice in the back of her head telling her it would be so much fun, and - “What’s happening to me? I feel so strange, I feel so -”
“There, there,” C.C. said, guiding Kallen out of the shop. “We’ll tell Zero all about it. Okay? How does that sound?”
The only thing Kallen could do was give an uncharacteristically weak nod. The bag was clutched to her chest like some sort of precious… Something. Something she couldn’t let go of. No matter what.
<hr>
You get some weird shoppers around about Christmas time, even in a store as isolated as this one. Something about the holiday makes people get very esoteric with their gifts. Some people liked to get cute. Buy people sunglasses. or novelty glasses. Or cleaning material for their glasses. Or - Well, you get the idea.
However. Never before in the history of his long, long ownership of this shop had an honest-to-god Knightmare stood outside the building and declared the intention to purchase a pair of glasses. Never mind a white one.
It’s the sort of thing you wake up from in a cold, cold sweat. The sort of thing you have to go to therapy for years to get over. And it was happening right now. To him. A horror story, almost. It could so easily turn that way depending entirely upon the ending.
“Will these do?” he asked, showing far more confidence than he was feeling. If one were to quantify that expressed confidence, it would likely come out at a flat nothing. “They’re called, uh… Glasses of Seeking! Kind of a novelty, really. They’re supposed to be very good at helping people find things. Got some fancy radar gadget in there.”
“Thank you!” the pilot said. “Please, be careful with them. I’m sure it’s pretty fragile.”
He said that just before picking them up with robotic hands. Well. Credit him this much. He did it plenty delicately, and didn’t even ask for change. Just tossed out some notes which would’ve covered two of the damn things.
“Thank you again!” the pilot called. “I’m sure Nina will love them!”
“Whatever you say,” the shopkeeper replied, giving a very fixed and careful grin and waving goodbye as the white Knightmare disappeared down the street. “Please don’t come back any time soon. For the love of the Holy Empire, please don’t come back ever again…”
<hr>
“And you do not remember any of it?”
It was impossible to describe what it was like to be in Zero’s presence. He was larger than life. He was charismatic. He was dangerous, exciting and just a little bit mad. She didn’t think he would believe it, but - She clutched the calendar to her chest just a little bit tighter. “Yes,” she said. “That is exactly right. I do not remember entering the shop or purchasing this gift.”
“Is that so?” Zero said. “Then tell me. Who is the gift for?”
Suzaku Kururugi. The name was on the tip of her tongue, and yet she couldn’t spit it out no matter what she did. She gasped for air and everything began to swim all around her and for no reason that made sense she could feel herself fading into the background, and -
Kallen Stadtfeld looked around. She was in the student council room, standing in front of Lelouch Lamperouge. She realised what she was holding, and in a rather coy manner held it behind her back. “Ah, ah! Lelouch!” she giggled. “That would defeat the point of the game, wouldn’t it? I can’t tell you who I got it for, or even what it is, so please don’t ask!”
“… You’re right, how silly of me,” Lelouch shrugged. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
The student council room faded away, leaving Kallen Kozuki wondering why she was holding the damn thing behind her back. Almost like she was trying to keep it hidden from Zero! She shook her head. Another blackout?
“I see,” Zero said. “So it is for a student council member… A game of Secret Santa, but you don’t have any recollection of making the purchase?”
“None at all,” Kallen reiterated. “And… I think I just had another blackout. I don’t even remember telling you that! Or why I was holding the damn thing behind my back!”
Zero almost seemed to hesitate, but Kallen liked to think she knew better than that by now. He wasn’t hesitating. He was deliberating on something that didn’t make the slightest bit of sense. Anyone would have to pause, even a mad genius like him.
“I see,” Zero finally said. “If it were anyone else, I would think it was some kind of ill-conceived practical joke. But since it is you…”
“You… Believe me?”
“Of course,” Zero said. “If I cannot trust someone that has earned it like yourself, then I can trust nobody at all! Though I must concede, C.C. seems to be giving some corroboration to this unlikely tale. Still. Others among the Black Knights may not be quite so open minded! Therefore, until we have some more definitive proof we shall keep this between us. Whatever the cause, it shall be found. I would like you to submit to a full medical checkup. Now, don’t object too strongly! I am merely eliminating other causes before investigating further. After all. Blackouts could be a symptom of a medical issue.”
“Right,” Kallen said. “I understand.” She didn’t like it. But she understood. Kallen turned around and marched out of the room, then collapsed against the door. This calendar. She should shred the damn thing! And yet… And yet she couldn’t bring herself to do that! What the hell was wrong with her?!
<hr>
So Nina Einstein was pretty much a rather lonely girl with the social life of a particularly introverted rock. This is hardly news. She didn’t get out much, didn’t really have anyone to do stuff with and didn’t even know what she would do if she did. Now, she did have friends, but really the only thing that she had in common with any of them was… Student council activities. Not much to go on, is it?
Normally she spent her nights doing one of two things. She would either be on her computer working on an instrument of mass slaughter (not that she realised this quite yet), writing an increasingly awkward letter for a certain Princess or getting to know the furniture better.
Not so much tonight. Tonight she was grabbing her coat. Tonight she was wrapping up warm. Tonight, she was braving the increasingly bitter winds and snowy ground, braving the elements to acquire a gift for Shirley Fennete. She stuffed the letter into her pocket, promptly forgot all about it and yanked open the door -
To come face to face with Milly and Rivalz.
“Oh, my, my!” Milly said, barring Nina’s exit. She felt a small urge to push past, but her natural shyness prohibited this. “Wherever could you be going, my dear Nina?”
“Um…” she mumbled. “I have to… Go somewhere and pick up something.”
“How mysterious!” Milly put her arm around Nina’s shoulder and gave her that look. You know the look. Everyone knows the look. Even socially clueless Nina knew the look, and knew the look long before meeting Milly. “Care to be a little more specific? It’s not some half-baked attempt to meet a certain brave and heroic Princess, is it? Hm?”
“N-No! Nothing like that!” Nina blushed, while Rivalz just leaned against the door and grinned like a loon. “I - I need to get a gift f-for the Secret Santa game!”
It was a funny thing how the two of them went silent all of a sudden. Their postures sort of stiffened, and the mirth disappeared from their faces.
“I see,” Milly said in the most serious tone Nina had ever known from her. “Then… I must… Insist that Rivalz give you a lift to wherever you need to go.”
“But I just came back from the shops,” Rivalz said, his voice a perfect impersonation of a stereotypical science fiction robot. “Do I really have to go back?”
Milly nodded. Rivalz’s shoulders sagged, and he put his helmet back on. “Thank you,” Nina whispered, and climbed into the sidecar.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Milly shook her head and stared at the door. “Wait… Again? What’s happening here?!”
Meanwhile, back with the motorbike, Nina noticed that Rivalz was being uncharacteristically silent. She’d rarely ridden in his sidecar before, but it was so strange. He was usually cracking jokes, making wry observations or commenting on the behaviour of their passengers. He should be telling her to not try to hide her pretty face so much, or telling her to be more assertive in speaking, things like that.
Instead? Silence. So weird.
“Where would you like to stop?” he asked. Nina honestly wasn’t sure. She tapped her lips and stared out at the surrounding area. What would Shirley like? The thought was really bothering her, so she stuck her hands in her pockets and tried to concentrate on - Huh? What was this?
She pulled out a piece of paper that began with the words “To Princess Euphemia. I would like to thank you,” then went on to contain the words “marry me”, “rub oil all over your body” “lick it off” and was signed “your eternal slave, Nina Einstein.”
Right. She should probably not write any more letters just after an energy drink and a sugar cane. Just make a mental note of that for future reference. Nina couldn’t tear that letter up fast enough - And still no comment from Rivalz. Sure. It was good that he was paying attention to the road, but no questions about the letter or its contents? Weird.
“Um… I think there will do,” Nina said. Still no closer to the answer to her question, but this seemed about right. She hopped on inside, and took a quick look around, hoping that something would leap out at her and -
And something did just that, though in a far more literal sense than she intended. It actually and literally fell on her. A relationship chart. It was just a card you could hang on your wall, and write in the relationships between people you knew. Not much of a gift under normal circumstances, but… It felt sorta right as far as Nina was concerned.
With a nod and a smile, she purchased it on the spot. Shirley would love it.
<hr>
Now, the others thus far had been compelled to purchase their gifts by the magic of the hat. Shirley, on the other hand, had drawn the name of the boy she had a massive, massive crush on. You know. The kind of young love where they say or think dramatic things like “I would die for them”. Presumably inspired by Romeo and Juliet, but let’s get away from that topic before it depresses us.
The point is: Shirley was already under a spell long before the hat came along. Which had led her here, to a shop, so that by the time the hat’s magic noticed her she was already walking to the counter with gift in hand. It metaphorically shrugged and fucked right off. It wasn’t needed here. I mean, honestly it was beyond redundant. It was more likely you’d need a spell to keep her from getting the gift in the first damn place. Hell, even if she hadn’t drawn his name she’d have still gotten him something.
Now then. To understand the decision for the gift would require going back a little bit in time. Of late Shirley had been annoyed by how little Lelouch applied himself at school. The boy needed motivation. The boy needed something pushing him in the right direction. So, Shirley had decided that what he probably really needed was something to help him plan things out a little better.
Hence: An event planner! Handy little pocket-sized gadget, this. You could enter just about anything, and when it got close to the time it would buzz you, call your phone, send you an email - Anything at all to remind you. Something like that would surely help Lelouch keep on track. Right? A little push in the right direction, and he’d be right as rain!
<hr>
Lelouch stopped the recording and began to pace around the room, his mind more a whirl with calculations than it usually was. Which says quite a lot, as that boy could juggle thoughts better than any performer could juggle flaming batons. The implications were simultaneously terrifying and mortifying. Clearly, it was influencing the minds of those involved but it went on more than that.
Lelouch. She had called him Lelouch. And he had responded as Lelouch. Not as Zero. As Lelouch. Then it had been dropped, and both he and Kallen had behaved as if everything was normal. Thankfully only C.C. was there to observe. Unfortunately that also meant C.C. was there to make fun of him.
“Silly of you to ask,” C.C. said. “That’s how you should feel whenever you pester me with your usual barrage of questions, you know.”
“This is not helpful. I don’t remember saying this, or hearing her say anything like that!”
“Oh? And what do you remember?”
What did he remember? He remembered approaching her, and then she automatically hid the bag behind her back prompting him to back away. Then she had mentioned the Secret Santa game. Or had he done that? Had he asked about it? Mentioned the student council? Or was it she that brought it up? Something was turning his mind inside out and the more he tried to focus on the source the less clear it became!
Lelouch bit his lip. Perhaps some research would help him out… Yes… He had an Internet enabled computer right here, so why not use it for that very purpose? He could spend some time researching similar effects. This didn’t seem to be connected to Geass, and C.C. professed genuine ignorance on the issue, so maybe -
A finger snapped in front of his face, prompting Lelouch to blink. He found himself staring at a jewelry website, a mere click away from purchasing a heart-shaped pendant.
“Did I just -”
“Yes,” C.C. said. “Just like Kallen. How very interesting.”
Alright then. He drummed his fingers and stared at the price. A bit cheaper than he would have expected given what it looked like onscreen… Indicating it was probably not quite as good as it appeared. Except. This seemed to be the website for a respectable jeweler. The price was well within his personal budget. His fingers were feeling itchy, too. Sweat pouring off his brow. Just concentrating and holding on barely enough to keep himself from making the purchase. He had to get Milly a gift. He had to complete the circle.
Then there was the part of him wrapped up in the mystery. What was happening here? What would happen if he bought this gift? What would happen if he didn’t? That was the sneaky thing about this. He wanted to buy it. He wanted to wrap it up and give it anonymously to the student council president. This whole thing. It was absurd! He was Zero! He was the leader of the Black Knights, the shining beacon of hope against a tyrannical Empire and here he was paralysed into inaction by some stupid game instigated by - of all things! - an apparently magical Santa hat!
So he did the only rational thing he could do in the situation, and clicked on that final button. The details went through, and he felt rather glad that the Black Knights’ technical administrators had already been Geassed to ignore and suppress information heading across the network related to Lelouch Lamperouge. Damn! This relief wasn’t natural. He’d lost a fight against whatever it was, but now he had another question on his mind.
“Alright then,” Lelouch said. “For now… I would like to understand exactly what it is that this hat is capable of. Are you with me, C.C.?”
“For once,” C.C. said, “I’m every little bit as curious as you are.”
<hr>
<b>Gifts</b>
<i>From Milly to Rivalz</i>: One Pair of Groping Gloves. Affords user a measure of telekinetic powers, limited to their own arm strength. User may experience tactile sensation through telekinesis if desired.
<i>From Rivalz to Kallen</i> : Placebo Pills. Magically induce expected effect upon whoever takes one.
<i>From Kallen to Suzaku</i>: Spice of Life Calendar. Every day, the calendar describes the day with a single word. An event will occur over the course of that day which is similar to what is described.
<i>From Suzaku to Nina</i>: Perverted Glasses of Seeking. When worn the wearer will see hints and pathways that can potentially aid in the gaining of anything they want with a strong sex based desire. Assuming the viewer can properly interpret what the hints mean.
<i>From Nina to Shirley</i>: Relationship Wishing Chart. Whoever uses it can alter the relationship connections of anyone they wish. Rivals can be made into friends, mothers turned into their daughters' daughters, anything the user desires. Whether or not more than just the relationships change, such as personalities or ages, depends on the user's wishes.
<i>From Shirley to Lelouch</i>: My Event Planner. This device is an electronic event planner, with fields including Time. Date. Participants. Event Name. Any event entered will occur at the specified time. Participants cannot refuse.
<i>From Lelouch to Milly</i>: Pendant of Love and Lust. A pendant that permits the wearer to manipulate the levels of lust and love a seen subject feels towards any person object or concept.
- The day of the gift exchange arrives.
- Lelouch attempts to experiment with the hat. From a distance. Hilarity ensues.
- Kallen tries to destroy her gift. Fails. Further hilarity ensues.
- Suzaku has to explain to Lloyd (and himself) what the hell he was doing. Yet more hilarity.
- Milly has cottoned onto the fact that there’s a mystery going on, and grills both Rivalz and Nina about their behaviour. Hilarity attempts to ensue, and succeeds.
- Something else that may or may not involve hilarity.
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