Story: CG AntiHarem

 

Oh, Suzaku Kururugi, what a difficult man you are to understand. Yet at the same time, so simple to comprehend. You're quite the paradox, perhaps even more so than your best friend and worst enemy, Lelouch Lamperouge. It's fascinating, truly, how such different people can become so close at a fundamental level.

One is a revolutionary who believes the world can only be changed by tearing it down and rebuilding it; the other is a reformist who believes that tearing it down is precisely how you ensure that the people trapped underneath the rubble suffer the most. One believes that if the rules are unjust, then the rules deserve to be broken. The other believes that if the rules are unjust, then you have to change them without becoming the sort of person who believes himself entitled to ignore rules whenever they become inconvenient.

And therein lies Suzaku's entire problem; Suzaku is not actually a man who believes Britannia is right. That's the mistake people sometimes make when trying to understand him. They look at the Japanese boy fighting for Britannia and conclude that he must have simply accepted the system. That somewhere along the line, he decided that Britannia's conquest was legitimate, that his father's government deserved to fall, that his own people deserved to be subjugated.

But no. Suzaku knows Britannia is wrong. He knows it perfectly well. He simply believes that being right about something does not give you the right to do whatever you want about it. An admirably mature principle. It is also a spectacularly unhealthy one when taken to its logical extreme - though isn't that true about any mature principle?

Suzaku has a truly astonishing capacity for suffering if he can convince himself that the suffering is serving a purpose. He'll endure humiliation. He'll endure discrimination. He'll fight for the people who conquered his country. He'll put himself in increasingly absurd levels of danger. He'll willingly make himself into a weapon and then insist that this is somehow the responsible choice.

And the reason he does this is not because he doesn't value himself. It's because, on some level, he doesn't trust himself. That's the important distinction.

Suzaku killed his father. He was a child, yes. He had reasons, yes. His father was prolonging a war that was killing people, and Suzaku believed that killing him would end it. And then it did. Except that ending the war didn't make everything better. Japan fell. His father was dead. The country was conquered, and its people became little more than Numbers, spat on, stepped on, discriminated against unfairly and cruelly.

And so Suzaku came away from that experience with perhaps the worst possible lesson for a boy who already possessed a powerful moral conscience: You cannot trust yourself to decide when violence is justified. Because he had decided once, then people died anyway. So now he has to do everything the right way. He has to work within the system. He has to obey the rules. He has to prove that change can be achieved without becoming another man who decides that his own judgement is sufficient justification for murder.

And that's where Lelouch becomes such an extraordinary foil for him. Lelouch is basically everything Suzaku is afraid of becoming. Lelouch looks at an unjust world and says, 'Then I'll change it.' Suzaku looks at the same world and says, 'Then I'll find a way to change it without becoming the sort of person who thinks he has the right to decide who lives and dies.'

Lelouch sees Suzaku's approach as cowardice. Suzaku sees Lelouch's approach as arrogance. And, irritatingly, they're both right. Lelouch really is arrogant enough to believe that he can take responsibility for the sins necessary to remake the world. And Suzaku really is willing to inflict an almost absurd amount of suffering upon himself in the name of proving that there is a better way.

They are both willing to sacrifice themselves. That's the thing people sometimes miss about their relationship. They aren't opposites because one cares and the other doesn't. They're opposites because they care about almost exactly the same things. They both want a world in which people aren't forced to suffer for the mistakes of their rulers. They both hate the circumstances that destroyed their childhoods. They both want Nunnally to live in a peaceful world. They both want Japan to have a future. The difference is what they're willing to do to achieve it. Lelouch's answer is essentially: Someone has to bear the sin. So let it be me. Suzaku's is: Someone has to bear the suffering. So let it be me.

And that makes their relationship almost tragically inevitable. Because each of them represents the path the other desperately wants to believe is possible. Suzaku wants to believe that Lelouch's revolution could have been achieved without all the bloodshed. Lelouch wants to believe that Suzaku's idealism could actually survive contact with reality.

And neither of them is entirely wrong. That's what makes them such a fascinating pair. They're not two people who fundamentally disagree about what the world should look like, despite how it may appear on the surface level. Rather, it's more accurate to say that they're two people who fundamentally disagree about what a human being is allowed to become in order to make that world exist.

And perhaps that's why they could become friends in the first place. Underneath everything else - the politics, the Geass, Britannia, Zero, the war, the masks, the betrayals - they were two boys who looked at the same horrible world and independently came to the same conclusion: This cannot be allowed to continue.

They simply answered the next question differently, and somehow, against all reasonable expectations, those two questions produced the closest friendship either of them would ever have. How fitting, don't you think? In the end, they need each other precisely because neither of them is entirely wrong.

So with that established, let's send some of the hottest pieces of ass in the setting Suzaku's way and see how long he can endure without breaking, alright? 

Now that we've done the character breakdown, let's get down to the part we're here for. Wait, wait, no, actually not quite yet. It would be more accurate to set up the part that we're actually here for. The inevitable orgy between Honorary Britannian, Imperial Princess and the third or maybe second most talented Knightmare engineer on the entire planet, depending on how up his own arse Lloyd Asplund happened to be that day, or how high Rhakshata Chawla was at that particular moment. We're talking about Cecile Croomy. A beauty in her own right, make no mistake about it.

Suzaku didn't really have any long term romantic prospects in mind, which is quite the shame because he's handsome and - let's not mince words here - a total fitness freak. Lean physique, but can bench twice his body weight. Can move like a bullet, or perhaps more like a rabbit. He can hit like a truck, his precision is meticulous. The guy's practically Star freaking Platinum in human form. If not for Britannia's inherent racism, there'd be girls lining up around the block to date him.

However, that's not why our pretty pink Princess and our frustrated genius engineer are interested in him. They're not shallow people by any means. Euphemia is already used to wannabe Nobles looking to take a step up the social ladder trying to schmooze with her. Despite her not being announced to the public at large until recently, she was still a known entity among nobility, and marrying a Princess like her would be a huge, massive boon for any family. Many of them were, shall we say, quite fit and handsome and knew how to talk to a Princess.

But they didn't talk to her like Euphemia.

It's similar to Cecile. Suzaku doesn't treat her like a pretty woman, nor as Lloyd's assistant. He treats her kindly, like a human being. He shows her concern when she's working too hard, he'll stand up for her if Lloyd does something stupid or insensitive.

So it's not a carnal thing for them. They like Suzaku for being Suzaku, because Suzaku treats them like human beings.

And right now, those three human beings were in the same room together. In Lloyd's lab, while he's fine tuning stuff, and - 

And... There was some lust in the air right about now, let me tell you. Euphemia herself wasn't used to being turned on. Most of the guys she met? Turned her off quite a bit. Cecile kept on having to adjust her collar, and she kind of wished she was in her own personal plugsuit right now.

If you've not seen Cecile in her plugsuit, go look it up. I'll wait. What, you think I'll even notice? I'm words on a page, here. Go on, check it out, do a little image search.

You're back? You're welcome!

"It's nice to meet you both," Suzaku said, and both women immediately felt the need to change their underwear. Oooh, they were suddenly nice and moist. "To think I'd get the attention of a Princess."

Oh yeah, you got yourself the attention of a Princess, boyo. She was biting her bottom lip hard trying to avoid doing or saying something that made it clear how ravenously thirsty she was right now, when he was the only cool glass of water she'd ever laid eyes on up until this point.

Cecile was in a similar boat. If she wasn't careful, she'd be rubbing her hands right through that skirt of hers. Her attempts to calm herself down were starting to get noticeable, and she was in the presence of freaking Royalty too, calm down, calm down, calm -

Suzaku stood at a rigid attention, his back a perfect vertical line. He wore the Honorary Britannian uniform, the fabric straining slightly across his shoulders. Every time he shifted his weight, the subtle ripple of muscle beneath the cloth caught the light.

"I must apologize if my request comes as a surprise, Sir Kururugi," Euphemia said. She leaned back in her chair, her violet eyes tracing the line of his jaw. "I know your duties are demanding, but I felt a personal escort was the only way to ensure my safety during these excursions."

"It is no surprise, Your Highness. It is my duty to serve," Suzaku replied. He bowed, a crisp, precise movement. 

Cecile Croomy watched the bow. Her gaze didn't linger on his face, but on the way his thighs flexed against the trousers as he descended. She felt a sudden, sharp heat bloom in her lower abdomen. She shifted in her seat, the fabric of her skirt feeling suddenly too restrictive, too abrasive against her skin.

"Duty is one thing, but the mental toll of constant vigilance is another," Cecile intervened. She stood and walked toward him, her heels clicking on the polished floor. She stopped just inside his personal space, the scent of her floral perfume mingling with the metallic tang of the lab. "You spend your days in a cockpit and your nights training. When was the last time you actually rested, Suzaku?"

Suzaku blinked, glancing down at her. "I manage my schedule strictly, Cecile. I don't feel the need for extra rest."

"That's exactly the problem," she murmured. She reached out, her fingers grazing the sleeve of his uniform, ostensibly to brush off a speck of lint. Her touch lingered, her fingertips pressing into the hard mass of his bicep. "You're far too tense. Your muscles are like iron."

Suzaku jumped slightly, his face flushing a deep crimson. "I-I prefer to stay alert!"

Euphemia let out a small, airy giggle, but her eyes remained hungry. She stood up and joined them, stepping close enough that her shoulder brushed his chest. 

"I find the alertness charming," Euphemia said. She looked up at him, her voice dropping an octave. "There is something so... dependable about you, Suzaku. A strength that doesn't need to boast. Far too many of the Knights in the homeland bray loudly about their prowess, and their... <i>virility</i>"

Suzaku felt like he was being hunted by two very graceful predators. He stepped back, nearly tripping over a tool cart. "I... I think we should focus on the itinerary for the tour. The Princess's schedule is very tight."

"The schedule can wait," Euphemia whispered.

"Indeed," Cecile added, her voice sounding strained. "The technical specifications are secondary to the human element."

Suzaku's brain scrambled for a tactical retreat. He looked at the empty glasses on the table. 

"You both look thirsty," he blurted out. "Please, excuse me for a moment. I'll get some refreshments from the lounge. Water? Tea? Something chilled?"

"Something chilled sounds wonderful," Euphemia said, her gaze following the movement of his hips as he turned to leave.

"Please, take your time," Cecile added, her voice barely a whisper.

The moment the automatic doors hissed shut behind Suzaku, the atmosphere in the room shifted. The pretense of royal decorum and scientific professionalism evaporated instantly.

Euphemia collapsed back into her chair with a heavy sigh, her hand sliding down to her lap. Her face was flushed, her chest heaving.

"Good heavens," Euphemia breathed. "Did you see the way he moves? It's like every single muscle in his body is tuned to a frequency I can actually feel in my bones."

Cecile didn't answer immediately. She was staring at the door, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. She leaned against the lab table, her legs crossing and uncrossing quite rapidly. The two of them locked eyes - and both knew, at some level, that they were about to have a profoundly impactful conversation that was absolutely not appropriate for an engineer and a princess to have!