Code Geass Fan Fiction ❯ Of Pawns and People ❯ Of Pawns and People ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note: The relationship between Suzaku and Lelouch is too much fun not to explore whenever possible. This isn't long, but I kind of like it. This takes place during the chess match in Turn 9. Comments and criticisms welcome.

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Of Pawns and People

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Suzaku watched on silently as Schneizel El Britannia and Zero waged on a war in the form of a chess match. Chess was an elegant game fit for royalty—that was what the two competitors were, after all—and this particular match was symbolic of the turn the war between the Black Knights and the Britannian Empire would take in the future.

The stakes of this game were incredibly high, and Suzaku could not help but recognize that this was the second time the Second Prince had wagered Suzaku's life on a gambit. The first time had resulted in Lelouch using his Geass on Suzaku to ensure their survival. If Schneizel were to lose this wager, Suzaku didn't like his chances in the hands of the Black Knights.

And as the two master strategists plotted their moves, Suzaku was left to wonder what Schneizel saw when he looked at other people. Did he actually see other human beings, or did he merely see pawns on a life-sized chess board for him to move on a whim? The Knight of Seven wanted to believe in the best in people—a weakness of his, perhaps—and the spark in Schneizel's eye when he spoke of Euphie made Suzaku want to believe in the man. Euphie wouldn't have looked up to someone who merely saw others as pieces to maneuver in his own schemes, after all.

But when Schneizel moved his King directly in front of Zero's, a move that was certain to lose him the game, Suzaku could not be sure. Even if he was merely testing Zero's character, he was betting the life of one of his own on the outcome.

And Suzaku realized suddenly that that was why Schneizel and Zero were such tactical geniuses; they were able to distance themselves from their feelings and judge their actions as if they were playing a game of chess, though the stakes were life and death. Suzaku had never been able to beat Lelouch at chess because he had been too concerned about losing individual pieces while Lelouch had seen the big picture, calculating the losses he could afford to gain the desired outcome. If a few had to be lost for the majority to survive, then it was necessary.

Suzaku's inability to look past the individuals was the reason that he could never agree with men like Schneizel and Zero. He didn't believe in strategic sacrifices for the greater good. When he looked at other people, he saw the lives that they lived day in and day out. He saw something precious and worth protecting. Every life lost was something priceless that could not be regained.

Suzaku may not have been able to beat Lelouch at chess when they were 10, but he would beat him when the scope of their game reached life-sized proportions. He would win because he saw the man under the mask while Lelouch saw him as a piece on the chess board of the battlefield whose moves he needed to predict. Though Lelouch might think that knowing Suzaku as well as he did would factor favorably into his predictions as it had before, he would not take into account the fact that Suzaku didn't care about Zero; not really. No, Suzaku was concerned with the man behind the terrorist leader, and that was where Lelouch's predictions would steer him wrong.

For now, Suzaku was merely an observer of a game between two expert tacticians, but one day, Suzaku would be the one to declare on Zero—to declare on Lelouch—checkmate.

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