Chapter Text
Prologue
"Eh? What's this?" Kallen Kozuki picked up the small book that had fallen out of the box.
"I don't know. Just put it away and help me move this thing!" Tamaki complained.
Kallen turned the book over in her hands, examining it.
"Kallen!" Tamaki yelled.
"Sorry, I've got to go! You take care of this!" She raced around the corner, her heart racing in pace with her thoughts. Could it really be?...
She had to find out.
She ran corner after corner, trying to find a place where she could have her privacy.
"Eh? Kallen?" Ohgi asked her, but she was already around the corner as the words were coming out of his mouth.
She quickly left the building, running nowhere. She had no idea what to do. She had no idea if she should even read it.
She finally collapsed when her legs couldn't carry her anymore. And Kallen realized that she had subconsciously came to the perfect place.
Sitting on her knees, she gave a sad smile to the gravestone in front of her.
"Hello, Lelouch," she whispered.
After catching her breath, Kallen looked at the journal in her hands. Shifting her body, she put her back against Lelouch's headstone.
Could it really be? She wondered.
She opened the journal, and started to read.
Several hours later, she heard footsteps.
"You're going to get sick if you stay out here. It's getting cold," Ohgi said.
"I know."
Ohgi said nothing, and just watched her. "Well, what are you reading?"
"Nothing. I finished it."
"When?"
"I don't know. An hour ago?"
Ohgi sighed. "So, if you're not reading, what are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm thinking."
Ohgi sighed again and put his hand on the gravestone next to him, doing a double take as he recognized the name.
"Kallen? What are you doing at this traitor's grave?"
Kallen jerked up to her feet and slapped him.
The world around them stopped for a few minutes.
Ohgi touched his red cheek with his hand. "Kallen! Would you…care to explain?"
"Don't talk about him that way."
"Who? You mean the Demon Emper – uh, I mean, Lelouch?"
"Yes," Kallen said quietly. She waited a bit before asking, "Ohgi, what are you doing today?"
"Well, the day's almost over-"
"No, I mean…you're the Prime Minister of Japan. So what are you doing, helping us clear out the Black Knight warehouse?"
"Well, to be honest, I miss the old days."
Kallen gave a small laugh. "What even qualifies as the 'old days'? Running around with Zero? Before that?"
Ohgi laughed. "I guess you're right. I guess you could say that I miss working with everyone else. I had to get out of that office. It's stifling."
Kallen stared down at the book in her hands. "I have a request."
"Eh?"
"I…want to release something to the public."
"Okay…what is it?"
"I'm not tell you."
"What?"
"Listen, you'll find out when everyone else finds out. But please, will you let me release it to everyone? All I need is a couple of hours. And I need it to be broadcasted around the entire world. Also, it needs to be live."
"Kallen…do you realize what you're asking? I don't have that kind of power…"
"Then get me an audience with Nu – with Lady Nunnally."
Ohgi stared at her for a bit. "This…this is really important to you, isn't it?"
She nodded, looking down at the book.
He sighed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you."
Three days later, Kallen got an audience with Lady Nunnally.
"Kallen!" Nunnally smiled at her.
"Hello, Lady Nunnally. Thank you for meeting with me," Kallen began.
"You don't need to be so formal, Kallen. You're my friend."
Kallen took a deep breath, and nodded. "I need to ask you for a favor. And it's a big one."
"What is it?"
"I need a few hours. To publically broadcast something around the world. And it needs to be live."
"What do you need to broadcast?"
"It's a secret."
Nunnally sighed. "Kallen, if I don't know what it is, I might not be able to do this for you. I might be the Empress, but that doesn't mean I'm all powerful."
"Please Nunnally. It's something…something that needs to be done."
Nunnally watched her for a bit, and then nodded. "Do you have a certain date in time?"
"No – wait. Actually, yes." Originally, Kallen had wanted to reveal the news as fast as possible, but since it would take a few days anyway… "This Friday."
"I should be able to set it up by then. How about we start the broadcast at 11 AM, here in Japan?"
"That should be fine," Kallen said. "The time isn't important."
"Alright. But Kallen, do you understand the significance of having it this Friday?"
"Yes."
"Alright. I will see you this Friday."
A few hours later, when Kallen was waiting in Ohgi's office, the news channel displayed the flag of Britannia, and the screen showed Nunnally sitting in her chair.
"Hello everyone," she said. "I would like to make an announcement. In agreement with several other countries, there will be a broadcast this Friday. It will be aired live all over the world, and be several hours long. It is not something you want to miss. Your news channels should be telling you what time it will be on in your area, according to your time zone. Have a nice day, everyone."
The screen went back to the flag, and started displaying the time of the broadcast according to timezone.
"Wow. You're actually doing it," Ohgi said. "Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to read what's in that book you haven't let go of for over three days?"
"Yes."
"What's so special about this Friday?" Ohgi asked.
It's Lelouch's Birthday, Kallen thought. Aloud, she said, "Nothing. Just a random date."
Two days later, on Friday, Kallen sat in a fancy chair on the stage. She was just happy that it felt more comfortable than it looked, because she was going to be there for a while. In front of her where closed curtains.
On the other side of those curtains, rows full of people sat, and cameras. Cameras from linking to every news station – to every channel in the world. Even if it didn't show the news, but rather, television shows – it would still be broadcasting it today. No matter what channel you turned on, you would see Kallen sitting in that chair, reading a book. She had a microphone hooked onto her shirt, that would air her voice into the cameras and broadcast it on every radio channel in the world.
There was no way you could avoid this broadcast, unless you where in the middle of nowhere, completely cut off from society.
"Five minutes, Kallen," Alicia Loymeyer said. Over the last few hours, Kallen had gotten to know this lady, Lady Nunnally's advisor, much more than she wanted to. "Lady Nunnally will be announcing this first, and then the curtains will open, and it will be your turn. I will be next to the cameras. When I give you a thumbs up, it means that the microphones are ready and you can start talking."
"Understood, Mrs. Loymeyer," Kallen said. They've gone over this so many times, she'd lost count.
Mrs. Loymeyer disappeared, and Kallen heard a hush go over the conversation in the other room. Her heart started beating faster, like it was trying to leap out of her chest.
But she had to do this.
"Hello, everyone," Lady Nunnally's voice boomed over the speakers. "Today we will have the reading of an important document. I would like to warn everyone that even I do not know what it is, so I will be just as surprised as everyone else. This is being recorded. This is also being aired on every television channel and every radio station, so you can listen to it that way if you need to leave. I now present to you a dear friend of mine, Kallen Kozuki."
The regal red curtains pulled back, and Nunnally started her wheelchair and left the stage.
This was it. The moment. Kallen saw Mrs. Loymeyer give her a thumbs up from next to one of the cameras.
Kallen swallowed. She was really doing this.
The entire world's eyes were on her.
She took a deep breath, and started.
"My name is Kallen Kozuki. Quite recently, a very important document has fallen into my hands. I will be reading this to everyone, live. I would like to ask for no interruptions, and to save questions for later. If someone is watching at home, the number to call in and ask questions should show up when I'm done reading this. While I do not have official documentation of it's authenticity, I know that this is real, as I recognize the handwriting, the thinking style, and it fills in a lot of gaps of what exactly happened over the last few years."
She opened the book in her hands to the first page.
"This is the diary of Lelouch vi Britannia…."