Aria Cross's Story

Tap. Tap. Tap
The origin of the sound drowning amongst the chatter of the class room came from a mechanical pencil that was being brought down against the lined, unblemished piece of paper, the annoyance behind the simple gesture almost tangible. The owner of this agitation, a mere girl aged 16 years, was unlike the other attendees of the Academy, all of whom were rejoicing in the filtering sunshine; giggling about their frivolous activities which had taken place over the weekend and dreading the signal of a new week that, without a doubt, would bring insomniac late nights spent doing 'countless' and 'useless' assignments. This girl, like everyone else, was annoyed with the end of the weekend but not for the reason you'd think she would be; the start of Monday symbolized the shattering of her peace, of her bliss.

Aria could only allow for a small sigh of resignation to pass through her parted lips and for a frown to carve it's way onto her delicate features as she, regrettably, closed her notebook. The action, as much as she would have liked, did not go unnoticed by a few hovering students near her desk, each one distinctively reminding her of a vulture. Within only a few heartbeats, the loosely crafted band became a mob as males and females alike began to address her, the teenagers all vying for the attention of the doll-esque girl with rose tresses and sparkling crystal eyes. Come now Aria.. they are just being friendly chided the inner voice, a small half-smile vainly attempting to replace that frown. Thankfully, it was successful. Sending them a few polite nods and sprinkling in a soft, under-the-breath, giggle, the high schooler really had no choice but to nervously watch the clock, each second spent in a mild form of loathing. After all...the sooner class started, the better.

---

You're late to your first meeting.. way to go, Arcadia.. You just had to spend a few more minutes in your daydream, didn't you? mused the reprimanding inner voice, an audible sigh and a slight shake of her head soon pursing it. Raising her stature from her assigned seating absentmindedly, the high schooler habitually reached a slender hand upwards to lightly run her tapered fingers through unnaturally colored pigtails in exasperation. As always, the silky smoothness mellowed down her nerves instantly. I wonder if they are all waiting.. whispered her pondering thoughts, a slightly bitter smile playing on that gardenia mouth at the thought of this whole gathering being nothing more than a joke. However, that trance was soon shattered by the distant chiming of a clock, Aria's doe-like eyes widening further in surprise. "Oh my..!" came the small exclamation of alarm, her feet deciding now would be a wonderful time to take control. Shoving her textbooks and notes into the simple black messenger bag before clutching it against her hip, the high schooler began to full on pace walk down the halls and threading through the crowd with a lithe grace. It was only when the stairs to the rooftop came into view did she take a pause. Coming to a halt, those impossibly blue eyes darting on either sides down the abandoned passage, Aria took a few moments of standstill to assess her thoughts and emotions.

Deciding not to waste another moment on silly aspects such as regret or disappointments, the young woman drew in a fluid breath before beginning the climb up the stairs. Continuing with this mindset of 'just-go-with-it', the foreign-looking high schooler wasted not even a second to push open the door to the platform, the smell of sunshine carried by a gust of wind being the first to welcome her. Attempting her best to peer past the pangs of the attacking rays of light, Aria blindly emerged from the shadowed doorway and into illuminated space, the outlines of four figures becoming visible. Biting her lower lip, her baby blue orbs sliding over each individual, Aria couldn't help but feel a flash of surprise seeing a familiar face; Toshi Ridashippu. W..whats he doing here..?! resonated her incredulous thoughts, clearly taken back inwardly. Forcing a slight smile to appear, Aria did her best to appear pleasant."Um.... I..I'm Aria Cross.. Its.. nice to meet you all.." floated out her distracted words, a glance every now and then being directed at Toshi.

Tap. Tap. Tap
The origin of the sound drowning amongst the chatter of the class room came from a mechanical pencil that was being brought down against the lined, unblemished piece of paper, the annoyance behind the simple gesture almost tangible. The owner of this agitation, a mere girl aged 16 years, was unlike the other attendees of the Academy, all of whom were rejoicing in the filtering sunshine; giggling about their frivolous activities which had taken place over the weekend and dreading the signal of a new week that, without a doubt, would bring insomniac late nights spent doing 'countless' and 'useless' assignments. This girl, like everyone else, was annoyed with the end of the weekend but not for the reason you'd think she would be; the start of Monday symbolized the shattering of her peace, of her bliss.

Aria could only allow for a small sigh of resignation to pass through her parted lips and for a frown to carve it's way onto her delicate features as she, regrettably, closed her notebook. The action, as much as she would have liked, did not go unnoticed by a few hovering students near her desk, each one distinctively reminding her of a vulture. Within only a few heartbeats, the loosely crafted band became a mob as males and females alike began to address her, the teenagers all vying for the attention of the doll-esque girl with rose tresses and sparkling crystal eyes. Come now Aria.. they are just being friendly chided the inner voice, a small half-smile vainly attempting to replace that frown. Thankfully, it was successful. Sending them a few polite nods and sprinkling in a soft, under-the-breath, giggle, the high schooler really had no choice but to nervously watch the clock, each second spent in a mild form of loathing. After all...the sooner class started, the better.

---

You're late to your first meeting.. way to go, Arcadia.. You just had to spend a few more minutes in your daydream, didn't you? mused the reprimanding inner voice, an audible sigh and a slight shake of her head soon pursing it. Raising her stature from her assigned seating absentmindedly, the high schooler habitually reached a slender hand upwards to lightly run her tapered fingers through unnaturally colored pigtails in exasperation. As always, the silky smoothness mellowed down her nerves instantly. I wonder if they are all waiting.. whispered her pondering thoughts, a slightly bitter smile playing on that gardenia mouth at the thought of this whole gathering being nothing more than a joke. However, that trance was soon shattered by the distant chiming of a clock, Aria's doe-like eyes widening further in surprise. "Oh my..!" came the small exclamation of alarm, her feet deciding now would be a wonderful time to take control. Shoving her textbooks and notes into the simple black messenger bag before clutching it against her hip, the high schooler began to full on pace walk down the halls and threading through the crowd with a lithe grace. It was only when the stairs to the rooftop came into view did she take a pause. Coming to a halt, those impossibly blue eyes darting on either sides down the abandoned passage, Aria took a few moments of standstill to assess her thoughts and emotions.

Deciding not to waste another moment on silly aspects such as regret or disappointments, the young woman drew in a fluid breath before beginning the climb up the stairs. Continuing with this mindset of 'just-go-with-it', the foreign-looking high schooler wasted not even a second to push open the door to the platform, the smell of sunshine carried by a gust of wind being the first to welcome her. Attempting her best to peer past the pangs of the attacking rays of light, Aria blindly emerged from the shadowed doorway and into illuminated space, the outlines of four figures becoming visible. Biting her lower lip, her baby blue orbs sliding over each individual, Aria couldn't help but feel a flash of surprise seeing a familiar face; Toshi Ridashippu. W..whats he doing here..?! resonated her incredulous thoughts, clearly taken back inwardly. Forcing a slight smile to appear, Aria did her best to appear pleasant."Um.... I..I'm Aria Cross.. Its.. nice to meet you all.." floated out her distracted words, a glance every now and then being directed at Toshi.

Tap. Tap. Tap
The origin of the sound drowning amongst the chatter of the class room came from a mechanical pencil that was being brought down against the lined, unblemished piece of paper, the annoyance behind the simple gesture almost tangible. The owner of this agitation, a mere girl aged 16 years, was unlike the other attendees of the Academy, all of whom were rejoicing in the filtering sunshine; giggling about their frivolous activities which had taken place over the weekend and dreading the signal of a new week that, without a doubt, would bring insomniac late nights spent doing 'countless' and 'useless' assignments. This girl, like everyone else, was annoyed with the end of the weekend but not for the reason you'd think she would be; the start of Monday symbolized the shattering of her peace, of her bliss.

Aria could only allow for a small sigh of resignation to pass through her parted lips and for a frown to carve it's way onto her delicate features as she, regrettably, closed her notebook. The action, as much as she would have liked, did not go unnoticed by a few hovering students near her desk, each one distinctively reminding her of a vulture. Within only a few heartbeats, the loosely crafted band became a mob as males and females alike began to address her, the teenagers all vying for the attention of the doll-esque girl with rose tresses and sparkling crystal eyes. Come now Aria.. they are just being friendly chided the inner voice, a small half-smile vainly attempting to replace that frown. Thankfully, it was successful. Sending them a few polite nods and sprinkling in a soft, under-the-breath, giggle, the high schooler really had no choice but to nervously watch the clock, each second spent in a mild form of loathing. After all...the sooner class started, the better.

---

You're late to your first meeting.. way to go, Arcadia.. You just had to spend a few more minutes in your daydream, didn't you? mused the reprimanding inner voice, an audible sigh and a slight shake of her head soon pursing it. Raising her stature from her assigned seating absentmindedly, the high schooler habitually reached a slender hand upwards to lightly run her tapered fingers through unnaturally colored pigtails in exasperation. As always, the silky smoothness mellowed down her nerves instantly. I wonder if they are all waiting.. whispered her pondering thoughts, a slightly bitter smile playing on that gardenia mouth at the thought of this whole gathering being nothing more than a joke. However, that trance was soon shattered by the distant chiming of a clock, Aria's doe-like eyes widening further in surprise. "Oh my..!" came the small exclamation of alarm, her feet deciding now would be a wonderful time to take control. Shoving her textbooks and notes into the simple black messenger bag before clutching it against her hip, the high schooler began to full on pace walk down the halls and threading through the crowd with a lithe grace. It was only when the stairs to the rooftop came into view did she take a pause. Coming to a halt, those impossibly blue eyes darting on either sides down the abandoned passage, Aria took a few moments of standstill to assess her thoughts and emotions.

Deciding not to waste another moment on silly aspects such as regret or disappointments, the young woman drew in a fluid breath before beginning the climb up the stairs. Continuing with this mindset of 'just-go-with-it', the foreign-looking high schooler wasted not even a second to push open the door to the platform, the smell of sunshine carried by a gust of wind being the first to welcome her. Attempting her best to peer past the pangs of the attacking rays of light, Aria blindly emerged from the shadowed doorway and into illuminated space, the outlines of four figures becoming visible. Biting her lower lip, her baby blue orbs sliding over each individual, Aria couldn't help but feel a flash of surprise seeing a familiar face; Toshi Ridashippu. W..whats he doing here..?! resonated her incredulous thoughts, clearly taken back inwardly. Forcing a slight smile to appear, Aria did her best to appear pleasant."Um.... I..I'm Aria Cross.. Its.. nice to meet you all.." floated out her distracted words, a glance every now and then being directed at Toshi.

Hearing a familiar voice, he looked over at Ken. Sighing ever so lightly at how excited he sounded. "I was quiet because, I chose to be." Shaking his head a little, he didn't feel like getting teased at the moment, though he usually goes through this everyday. "If this person doesn't show up, we'll have to start without them." He didn't really care for lateness, just as long as they had shown up. Opening his mouth a little to say the meeting has begun, it was delayed by another familiar voice. Looking at the person for a while. What is she doing here? Ignoring her lateness, he would soon begin the meeting.

"Now that everyone is finally here," He then turned around looking up at the clear sky above him. "There is a reason I sent this message to you guys. There is a reason that you were the only ones that could solve it." He took a silent deep breath before continuing. "You guys have something I need. Something I need to show this world that there will be a change. Once I put all these things together, in a team, we will be successful." Turning around he looked at every person, standing around him. "I don't know how i'm going to do it but, I know that once I figure it out we will be unstoppable. Now, let me explain to you why I truly called you out here." Looking away once again, he was sure that, they could be successful just as The Black Knights were.

"Now, Ten years have passed since Zero took the life of the Demon, Emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia. The public story says that Lelouch really captured the real Zero and took his place, for his own desire. This is not believable to me, not at all. How about you?" Gritting his teeth he continued talking,"We are the students of a new age of Britannian life, under Empress Nunnally, being acquaintance by Zero, people believe there is still peace. I know that, that part of the story is full of crap. Zero cannot be the real Zero. Because, the real Zero wouldn't be gliding by the Empress, guiding protection and doing whatever command by her is given."

Shaking his head he began to pace back and forth,"Murders, mysterious disappearances, kidnappings, torture. The unjust treatment of the Japanese; of the Elevens; has become a major criminal business." The more he talked, the more upset he had gotten. Hopefully these people felt the same way he did.

Takeshi woke up late, as usual. He did everything slowly, taking all the time in the world. He put his uniform on and grabbed some toast. He walked out of his dorm and eventually decided that it was time for his flashy entrance into class. On the way to class, he glanced at the announcement board and saw the unsolvable puzzle. Although it was in Japanese, he was lucky his dad was an ultra-otaku. His dad taught him Japanese as his second language and now he spoke it fluently. The unsolvable puzzle read “Zero's knight's assemble. The time learning ends. Rooftop.” Zero’s knight’s? Ha, this was something he had to see, Takeshi thought to himself. Maybe they were just a bunch of otaku’s doing a roleplay, or maybe they were the real thing. Takeshi gave himself a mental note to go check out the roof after school ended. He continued walking towards his class. By the time he reached the door of his classroom it was already past noon. He opened the door and strode in like it was something he was born to do. Takeshi smiled at the pretty ladies in his class. He heard some of them swoon. Then, he walked to his seat in the back of the class and set up his stuff.

“Takeshi, what do you think you’re doing coming to school so late?” the teacher shouted angrily.

“Oh, you don’t want me here? Okay, then bye!” Takeshi said opening the window and jumping out with his stuff.

“Takeshi!!! Get back here!!!” his teacher shouted at the top of his lungs.

Of course Takeshi heard him, but he didn’t care. He walked to his little hiding place behind the school and went to sleep in a tree.

Takeshi woke up when he heard the end of school bell ring. He decided he was hungry and snacked on his food that were in his backpack. He remembered that it was time to go to the roof. When he got to the roof he could hear someone talking.

When he opened the door he heard a guy say "Zero cannot be the real Zero...Murders, mysterious disappearances, kidnappings, torture. The unjust treatment of the Japanese; of the Elevens; has become a major criminal business."

“You’re right about that Zero being a fake.” Takeshi said walking through the doorway.