September 28th, another Sunday.
Just past eleven at night, Ren Sawamura turned on his TV and waited for episode thirteen of Code Geass season two.
He had been following the show since season one premiered. A lot of people kept saying the anime was equal parts hype and heartbreak, but in his opinion it was not that bad.
The part in season one where Lelouch used his Geass to make Shirley forget, or where he killed Euphemia with his own hands, and then in season two where Nunnally ended up on the opposite side from Lelouch, those moments were certainly painful, but for him they were still within the range of what he could handle.
If you did not count Euphemia, not a single important character around the protagonist had died. So it was fine.
Of course, season two was only at the halfway point right now, and there was no telling what would happen next.
And at the end of episode twelve, Shirley's memories had been restored due to the effects of Jeremiah's Geass-canceling ability.
He had no idea what would happen now that Shirley had her memories back, so if he was being honest, he felt a little uneasy.
But he was going to keep watching regardless. This anime had some kind of strange pull that made it impossible for him to stop.
At eleven-thirty, episode thirteen aired right on schedule.
The opening was not a recap. Instead, it was a nightmare that Shirley was having.
After jolting awake, she whispered to herself, "That's right. Lulu is Zero. The one responsible for Dad's death."
Then the OP rolled, and the title of episode thirteen appeared: "Assassin from the Past."
To sort out the questions in her heart, Shirley called Suzaku out to meet. But the moment the two of them got together, they ran into Lelouch.
After that, Jeremiah showed up at the school looking for Lelouch. Rolo and the others tried to stop him, but Jeremiah's body had been modified, making him abnormally powerful. On top of that, Geass did not work on him, and he could even cancel the effects of Geass that others used on him. Nobody stood a chance.
Seeing that things were going south, Villetta told Jeremiah where Lelouch was.
Once Jeremiah left, Villetta then sent Rolo to the Ikebukuro Station building where Lelouch was, so he could work with Lelouch to take Jeremiah down.
Meanwhile, Lelouch received Rolo's call but found himself in a tricky spot since Shirley and Suzaku were both right there with him. However, once Shirley realized something was off between Lelouch and Suzaku, she took the initiative and pulled Suzaku away, giving Lelouch room to act.
Lelouch did not think too much of it. He figured that with Suzaku around, Shirley's safety would be guaranteed.
After shaking off Shirley and Suzaku, Lelouch headed out to intercept Jeremiah. Within moments, the fight had already caused quite a commotion.
Hearing the disturbance, Suzaku assumed it was just an ordinary terrorist attack. Rather than staying with Shirley, he stepped in as a Knight of the Round to take over security and related operations in the area, while assigning two people to protect Shirley.
After Suzaku left, Shirley tried calling Lelouch, but the call did not go through.
So she said, "Wait for me, Lulu. I won't let you be alone," and ran straight into the station building.
...
"Hm?"
Ren suddenly felt a knot in his stomach.
Given Shirley's character, this was exactly the kind of thing she would do.
But she had absolutely zero combat ability. Was running in there not basically a death wish?
If this were any other anime, it would probably just be a scare that amounted to nothing. But this was an anime made by the infamous bastard Shido. Was a mere scare even possible?
With a sliver of unease in his chest, he kept watching.
And then something even more baffling happened.
Jeremiah had not come to kill Lelouch at all.
Back when Lelouch's mother, Imperial Consort Marianne, was assassinated, Jeremiah had been at the scene. In fact, he was Marianne's personal guard.
Because he had failed to protect her, Jeremiah carried deep guilt, which was what had driven him to later establish the Purist Faction.
Upon learning that Lelouch had become Zero to avenge his mother, Jeremiah pledged his loyalty to Lelouch. On the other side, Shirley, who had rushed into the station building, ran into Rolo.
Shirley told Rolo that she was in love with Lelouch.
She begged Rolo to let her join Lelouch's side so she could protect him, help him reclaim his happiness, and get his sister Nunnally back.
What she did not realize was that Nunnally's very existence was a thorn in Rolo's heart.
In a fit of rage, Rolo activated his Geass.
By the time Lelouch happened to pass by and noticed, Rolo was already gone, and Shirley was collapsed in a pool of blood with barely a breath left in her.
She slowly opened her eyes and spoke in a fading voice. "Lulu... I'm so glad. I get to talk to you one last time."
"This isn't the last time! I'm getting a doctor right now, so just..." Lelouch was panicking.
He was already dialing on his phone as he spoke, but Shirley stopped him.
"When my memories came back, I was so scared. The fake teacher, my friends with their memories erased, everyone was lying. It felt like the whole world was watching me. And Lulu, you've been fighting in that kind of world all alone. All by yourself. So I thought, I'm the only one who can give you something real..."
"Shirley."
"I love you, Lulu. Even though I found out that Dad got dragged into it because of you, I could never bring myself to hate you. Even though you made me forget everything, I fell in love with you all over again. Even though someone tampered with my memories, I fell in love with you again."
Shirley's voice grew weaker with every word.
Lelouch was desperate. He shouted, "Shirley, don't die!" and used his Geass to command her not to die.
But even the Power of the King, which could force obedience, could not save someone on the verge of death.
Shirley continued, barely above a whisper. "No matter how many times I'm reborn, I know I'll fall in love with you again, Lulu. I guess that's just fate."
"Don't die! Shirley, don't die! Don't die!" Lelouch cried, tears streaming without end.
"So... it's okay, right, Lulu? Even if I'm reborn, I'll get to fall in love with you... again and again... again... and again..."
With those final words, Shirley's eyes gently closed, and the hand gripping Lelouch's slipped away.
Lelouch froze. He called her name several times, and then let out a scream that sounded like his soul was being torn apart.
The ED rolled in, and episode thirteen came to an end.
In front of his TV, Ren stared blankly at the screen, thoroughly depressed.
Losing Euphemia in season one was one thing, but now Shirley was dead too. And she had not even been killed by an enemy. She was killed by one of their own.
It was beyond frustrating.
That bastard Shido truly had no humanity whatsoever.
And Ren was far from the only one. That night, countless viewers were left emotionally wrecked.
Online, an army of people were raging at Shido.
"Episode thirteen was way too depressing."
"Making Shirley lose her memories before was bad enough. Now you're actually killing her off? What kind of person does that?"
"If Shirley had died at the hands of an enemy, fine, I'd accept it. But she was killed by Rolo. I absolutely cannot deal with that!"
"Shido, you devil! I'd expect nothing less from you!"
"Razor blades! I'm sending razor blades! I am furious!"
"I'm definitely not sleeping tonight. Damn it!"
"Sign me up! Let's get a group together and go grab that bastard at Starfall. I won't feel better until we drag him out and beat some sense into him."
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