Sumeragi Kaguya—the gentle, doll-like princess of the Kyoto Six. To the world, she is nothing more than a sheltered figurehead, a girl too young and too soft to wield any true power. But behind those innocent eyes lurks a soul that has already lived one life—the soul of Haman Karn, the Iron Lady of Axis, reborn into a world of Britannian oppression and Knightmare Frames.
When Zero, the masked leader of the Black Knights, comes to Kyoto seeking money, weapons, and machines, he expects to charm a
Code Geass: Kagura of the Shadow Reign - Alone, into the tiger's den—when the masked princess reveals her true face
A room in the Kirihara residence lay steeped in the darkness of night.
Moonlight filtered faintly through the paper sliding doors. From the garden pond came the soft sound of water. Sumeragi Kaguya sat facing Kirihara Taizou. Her black hair, tied back with a vermilion ribbon, cast a shadow across the pale nape of her neck.
"The Britannian Intelligence facility in the Tokyo Settlement."
Kirihara's voice was low and heavy. The old man—his short, graying hair neatly combed—slowly worked the prayer beads in his left hand.
"That's where we take the Kusakabe family's secret pact documents. It's the only way to overturn your removal as head of the house."
Kaguya clenched the hands resting in her lap.
(I know. I know, but—)
"Uncle. Kaguya will go."
Kaguya wore a smile like a flower blooming. Her large, round dark-brown eyes sparkled with innocence. But deep within them, for just an instant, a cold light utterly unbefitting her age flickered through.
"Kaguya. You take too much on yourself alone."
Kirihara's already narrow eyes thinned further.
"The future of Kyoto, the future of Japan—they don't all rest on your shoulders alone."
"Uncle..."
Kaguya lowered her gaze.
(This old man worries for me like a granddaughter. But I cannot afford to lean on that.)
Inside Kaguya, Haman Karn's voice echoed quietly.
(That's right. If you don't act, who will? Kirihara is seasoned, but on the surface he's a Britannian collaborator. If he moves too openly, he loses everything. You are the piece that must break free of this impasse.)
Kaguya raised her head.
"Uncle. Kaguya has already made up her mind. I will infiltrate the Tokyo Settlement alone."
Kirihara gripped his prayer beads anew.
"...Hmm. Then I too will do everything in my power. I'll order former Japanese military soldiers to provide extraction support. When you come out of the Intelligence facility, they will carve you a path—without fail."
"Thank you, Uncle."
Kaguya bowed deeply.
(Kirihara is hiding Zero's true identity. Who is that masked man? And how does he connect to my memories from childhood?)
Kaguya lifted her face and looked into Kirihara's eyes.
(That's not what matters now. Expose the Kusakabe family's betrayal and protect my position as head of the house. That's all.)
"Then Kaguya will take her leave. I must make preparations."
Kaguya rose to her feet.
"Kaguya."
Kirihara spoke to her back.
"Don't push yourself too hard. If you die, it's all for nothing."
Without turning around, Kaguya gave a small nod.
"Yes. Kaguya will not die. Not until Kyoto is safe."
She opened the sliding door and stepped into the corridor.
The cool night air brushed against her skin.
(A solo infiltration. Little short of suicide. But there is no other way.)
Kaguya began to walk.
When she reached the garden, moonlight illuminated the white gravel.
(Security arrangements. The floor plan of the Intelligence facility. Time constraints. I've analyzed it all to exhaustion, and even so, the success rate is low.)
As she walked the gravel path, Kaguya replayed the plan in her mind alongside Haman.
(That's right. Your self-defense skills are still unrefined. But in close-quarters indoor combat, your small frame becomes a weapon. And with my guidance, Haman, you can seize a moment's opening.)
Haman's voice rang out, calm.
(Yes. You will be my eyes and ears. I will move your body.)
Kaguya stopped.
Deep in the garden. By the pond.
There stood a figure.
Long, moss-green wavy hair. Bathed in moonlight, that hair looked the color of a deep forest.
C.C.
The immortal girl who was always at Zero's side.
In an instant, Kaguya composed her smile.
"Oh my! At this hour—whereever did you come from?"
Kaguya trotted closer.
C.C. fixed her golden eyes on Kaguya.
"Taking a walk. And I felt like eating pizza."
C.C.'s voice was blunt, somehow detached from the world.
"Pizza, is it? Pizza is quite rare here in Kyoto."
Kaguya tilted her head slightly.
(This woman. Her presence is... alien. Not that of a human. Something unfathomable—of one who has lived three hundred years.)
Inside Kaguya, Haman's voice rang out sharply.
(Kaguya, be careful. This woman may be more dangerous than that masked man. He is still young. But she is old in spirit. Those eyes are trying to see through your mask.)
Kaguya did not let her smile falter.
"Kaguya has never eaten pizza. Is it delicious?"
She asked in an innocent tone.
C.C. did not take her eyes off Kaguya.
"You're interesting."
C.C. murmured.
In that instant, Kaguya's heart gave a violent throb.
(She saw through me? No—she isn't certain yet. But this woman senses something off about my mask.)
Keeping her smile, Kaguya met C.C.'s gaze.
"My! Kaguya is interesting? Fufu, how delightful."
Kaguya clasped her hands in front of her chest.
"So, you. There's something you want to tell Zero, isn't there."
C.C. said it flatly.
Kaguya was, for a moment, at a loss for words.
(How much does this woman see?)
"...Yes. That's right. Please tell Lord Zero this: Kaguya has not betrayed him."
Kaguya said it clearly, with a smile.
C.C. glanced at Kaguya, and her lips curled with interest.
"I see. I'll pass it along."
C.C. turned on her heel.
Her moss-green hair swayed in the moonlight.
"I'll let you try pizza sometime."
With only that, C.C. vanished into the darkness.
Kaguya stood rooted to the spot.
(The greatest variable. How much of my mask does that woman see through? She's more dangerous than Zero.)
Haman's voice rang out low.
(Yes. That woman possesses something of the same nature as Geass—or perhaps greater. Your act may fool that man, but it may not fool her. The next time you meet, wear your mask even deeper.)
Kaguya let out a slow breath.
"I know. But right now, it's the Kusakabe family."
Kaguya began to walk.
She left the Kirihara residence and got into a car.
The Sumeragi Group headquarters building. Thirty-two stories above ground.
In her private room, Kaguya spread out a map of the Tokyo Settlement and the floor plan of the Intelligence facility on her desk.
Fragments of intelligence her spy had risked his life to obtain.
She verified them one by one, together with Haman.
"Two guards at the front entrance. One at the back. Three surveillance cameras along the corridor to the underground conference room."
Kaguya ran her finger across the floor plan.
(The cameras' blind spot is here. And I can enter the basement through the ventilation duct. The problem is the safe's location and the alarm system.)
Haman pointed out calmly.
(The safe is on the conference room wall. The alarm is linked to the safe's door. To disarm it, you either cut the power in the security room or you need the safe's combination.)
"The combination is known to the head of the Kusakabe family. That man will appear in the underground conference room of the Intelligence facility tonight, to finalize the secret pact."
Kaguya recalled the information her spy had left behind.
(Then I either target the moment that man opens the safe—or I make him tell me the combination.)
Haman's voice rang out coldly.
(Both are dangerous. But with your self-defense skills, subduing one old man should be possible. The problem is the escape afterward.)
Kaguya did a final review of her self-defense techniques.
At Haman's prompting, she moved her body.
(Kick off the right wall. Sweep your opponent's legs. Vital points are the throat and the solar plexus. With your small frame, diving into your opponent's guard is the most effective approach.)
Kaguya carefully repeated each movement.
Late at night.
Kaguya disguised herself and headed for the Tokyo Settlement.
A black coat. A hat pulled low to hide her face.
The Intelligence facility stood on a quiet street a short distance from the Settlement's center.
Kaguya entered the basement through the ventilation duct at the facility's back entrance.
She crawled through the narrow duct.
Cold air clung to her skin.
(Haman, where?)
(Left. Ahead is the vent to the underground conference room.)
Following Haman's directions, Kaguya advanced through the duct.
At last, a vent came into view in the conference room ceiling.
From there, Kaguya peered down at the room.
Two men were inside.
One was the head of the Kusakabe family.
The other was a Britannian Intelligence officer.
The two sat facing each other across a table.
"...With this, Sumeragi Kaguya is finished."
The Kusakabe head laughed.
"That little girl, leading Kyoto? Absurd. She wears the princess's mask well enough, but she has no politician's face."
Inside the vent, Kaguya bit her lip.
(Absurd, is it? You old fool.)
Inside Kaguya, Haman's voice rang out coldly.
(Save your anger for later. Right now, it's the evidence. Confirm the safe's location.)
Kaguya spotted the safe on the conference room wall.
(That safe. The combination?)
(Make him tell you. Now, while that old fool is off guard, is your chance.)
Kaguya quietly opened the vent and dropped into the conference room.
Without a sound.
"...Wha—!?"
The Kusakabe head spun around.
"W-who are you!?"
Kaguya removed her hat, revealing the vermilion ribbon.
"Good evening. Uncle Kusakabe. And Officer of Britannia."
Kaguya smiled sweetly.
"Sumeragi Kaguya...!?"
The Kusakabe head's face twisted in shock.
"Why are you here...!?"
"Kaguya heard that Uncle would be finalizing the secret pact, so I came to pay my respects."
Kaguya gave an elegant bow.
"Don't be ridiculous! A little girl like you, leading Kyoto—preposterous! You wear the princess's mask well enough, but you have no politician's face!"
The Kusakabe head spat as he shouted.
"You will die here! To destroy the evidence!"
The Kusakabe head gave a signal.
The conference room door opened, and three men in black suits rushed in.
"Do it!"
The men in black lunged at Kaguya.
Kaguya heard Haman's voice.
(Kick off the right wall!)
Kaguya kicked off the wall and vaulted over the men's heads.
(Sweep his legs!)
The moment she landed, she swept one man's legs out from under him.
He lost his balance and fell.
(Now! To the safe!)
Kaguya stepped over the fallen man and ran to the safe.
"The combination!?"
Kaguya glared at the Kusakabe head.
"Like I'd tell you!"
The Kusakabe head shrank back.
(No time. Haman, what do I do?)
(The officer. That man is Britannian. He'll value his life.)
Kaguya turned a cold gaze on the Britannian officer.
"Officer. Kaguya has a question for you. Would you be so kind as to tell me the combination to that safe?"
Still smiling, Kaguya took a step toward the officer.
"A-as if I'd tell you! You Eleven!"
The officer shouted, trembling.
"Oh my. Then I suppose there's no help for it."
Kaguya picked up the gun of the fallen man in black.
Then she aimed at the officer's feet and pulled the trigger.
A gunshot.
The bullet grazed the top of the officer's foot.
"Hiiee!?"
The officer screamed.
"Next time, I won't miss. Kaguya may not look it, but she has a fair bit of confidence in handling firearms."
Still smiling, Kaguya aimed the muzzle at the officer's knee.
"S-stop! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"
The officer wailed.
"The combination is 7413!"
Kaguya ran to the safe and entered the combination.
Click.
The safe opened.
Inside were several files.
Kaguya quickly checked them.
(This is it. The secret pact between the Kusakabe family and Britannian Intelligence. And...)
Kaguya picked up another file.
(A copy of my spy's confession, left behind before he was executed.)
Kaguya hid the two files inside her coat.
"Y-you...! I won't let you take those documents!"
The Kusakabe head ordered the men in black once more.
"Kill her! Kill that little girl!"
The men in black charged at Kaguya all at once.
(Haman!)
(Left! Grab that man's arm and throw him!)
Kaguya grabbed one man's arm, spun her body, and threw him.
He crashed into another man.
(Now! The door!)
Kaguya flung open the conference roo
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