Chapter 271: The Color of Snow
Night fell.
The lively school festival that had been bustling all day finally came to a brief conclusion.
However, today was only the first day, and such excitement would continue for an entire week.
After the festivities ended, having seen Euphy off and tidied up the aftermath of the first day, Mahiro returned to the Student Council Club's villa.
As usual, he climbed to the second floor, entered the password, and opened the door.
What greeted his eyes was still the green-haired girl leisurely lying on his bed, with several empty plates placed on the bedside table.
They were plates that had held the world's best pizza.
Unfortunately, not a single slice was left for him.
The woman's breathing was even, and she seemed to be sleeping soundly. Outside the blanket, her fair shoulders and arms were completely exposed to the air, glowing with a jade-like radiance under the light.
This beautiful scene of a sleeping beauty was so picturesque that any painter present would likely want to capture it on paper and preserve it forever.
Just like the smile of the Mona Lisa.
Unfortunately, Mahiro didn't think he possessed that kind of artistic talent.
Looking at this princess who resembled a sleeping beauty from a fairy tale... no, compared to a beautiful and kind princess, this woman was more like a Witch who could drive a king to wage war. Even in her sleep, she exuded a charm that could bewitch the heart.
This only made Mahiro's fingers itch.
It made him want to make this woman get up and go back to sleep.
His body moved faster than his thoughts. While he was still thinking, he had already subconsciously reached the edge of the bed and reached out to push her awake.
"Hey, get up! You took so much pizza but didn't leave a single slice for me, even though I feed you every day... Hey!"
No response.
No matter how much he pushed her, there was no reaction at all, as if she were dead.
"If you don't get up, I'll throw you and the bed out the window. Get up now!"
Still no response.
Looking at this scene, he felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced this same situation several times before...
Well, not just "as if."
It was exactly like the repetitions from before when C.C. had willfully caused all sorts of trouble, and after he finished cleaning up her mess, he returned to confront her.
Somehow, he felt as if he was being manipulated by this Witch.
This made Mahiro extremely irritated.
"What a willful Witch... Get up!"
He directly pulled off the blanket, completely exposing C.C.'s delicate pink body to the air.
The first thing that caught his eye were her full, rounded curves rising and falling with her breath, the cold plum blossoms on the snowy peaks gently swaying, her flat stomach without a trace of excess fat, and her smooth, fair thighs slightly pressed together, concealing the deep, mysterious valley rumored to hold the fountain of youth—a place full of exploratory desire.
Everything about her seemed to exist to tease his gaze and nerves, making him eager to load the cannon into the chamber.
Even though he had seen it countless times and tasted it many times, every time he laid eyes on this body that embodied all the beauty and temptation in the world, it still felt lethally captivating.
Especially the branded scar over the heart of this delicate form—far from detracting from its beauty—instead carried a unique, mysterious allure.
Fortunately, she was a Witch, and he himself was far from normal, which was why no lives had been lost...
Wait, perhaps it would have been better if lives had been lost?
However, just as he was conducting a systematic exploration and preparing to proceed further, the Witch suddenly awoke.
Forcing him to halt his actions.
Those amber eyes abruptly opened, reflecting his figure within them. As they regained their sparkle, a faint smile surfaced.
Unlike her usual mocking grin, this was simply a genuine smile.
"What's this? I wondered who could be so bold. So it's you, sneaking up on a lady while she's asleep."
Seeing that he seemed to have no intention of continuing—or perhaps because she had ruined his plans—C.C. suddenly sat up, stretching unabashedly and revealing all her beauty before him.
"But why not continue? Are you embarrassed because you were caught? Or perhaps... only by toying with a sleeping lady can you satisfy your twisted desires?"
Her slender, curled legs were hugged by a single arm, her green hair cascading like a waterfall down her jade-like back. Her exquisitely beautiful, flawless face—every part of her body was delicate, magnificent, and seemingly fragile.
Simply sitting there in silence, she resembled a beautiful princess kidnapped by a dragon in a fairy tale. But the moment she spoke, her true nature as a Witch was instantly exposed.
However, this level of provocation was trivial to Mahiro. He even shrugged and spread his hands in response.
"Exactly. Toying with someone while they're asleep is far more entertaining than when they're awake. The way the body reacts unconsciously in dreams, the look of terror in their eyes upon waking, and the tightness from instinctively tensing up—that's the most exquisite experience."
He spoke like a true pervert, uttering words of extreme depravity.
If it were anyone else, they might have slapped Mahiro and called him disgusting and vile.
But C.C. showed no such reaction. Instead, she met his gaze with keen interest.
"Truly standard pervert talk."
"Thanks for the compliment," Mahiro retorted calmly. "But how much better are you, comfortably living in a man's room and sleeping in his bed, you perverted Witch?"
"Heh, fair enough."
C.C. chuckled without a trace of shame or anger, even teasing him further: "Well then, would you like this perverted Witch to satisfy your filthy, depraved desires?"
"No need. Deliberate catering is no fun at all. The reactions aren't genuine."
Mahiro outright rejected the Witch's proposal.
"Suit yourself, you lecherous perverted demon king."
Seeing that he truly had no intention of making a move, C.C. gave up on further verbal teasing. She slowly stood up, disregarding her nakedness, walked to the wardrobe, took out clothes, and put them on.
Today she chose not to wear that white straitjacket that had been mended countless times.
She didn't even put on a corset or undershirt—merely bending over to slip into a thin cyan underwear before pulling out a grayish-white backless knit dress from the wardrobe and slipping it on.
Then she swaggered over to the sofa, picked up the remote control, and turned on the television.
The screen was broadcasting various news reports.
This could be considered one of C.C.'s few interests besides eating pizza. She never watched those melodramatic midnight TV dramas, preferring instead to browse through news programs.
Or perhaps, she was searching for something in them.
"Hey, Mahiro."
While watching the boring news reports on TV, C.C. suddenly called his name.
"Starting to formally call me by my name now? No more of those strange nicknames? Honorable Witch?"
However, C.C. ignored his teasing and asked quietly:
"You will fulfill my wish, right?"
Hearing this, Mahiro felt somewhat strange but still replied: "Of course, that's what I promised you. Why are you suddenly asking about this?"
"I met Marianne."
"Did she come to see you again? Through Geass?"
Perhaps due to the uniqueness of Geass, combined with the fact that she had abandoned her physical body, Marianne's spirit could travel through C's World to reach C.C.
Mahiro was clear about this, and also knew that Marianne had come to chat with C.C. more than once or twice.
But if that were all, there wouldn't be any need for C.C. to be so solemn about it.
"No, this time it was face to face."
C.C.Deny his guess.
"Face to face? Let me guess... probably through that Knight of Rounds, Anya."
"As expected, I can't hide it from you."
"Of course."
Mahiro spread his hands: "I knew it the first time I saw that girl—Marianne's spirit had attached itself to her."
"But what I'm curious about is what exactly that dead woman said to you that made you so serious about it."
He seemed to have connected all the clues together.
From the initial teasing that didn't quite match C.C.'s usual character, to later solemnly calling his name, until now...
All signs were subtly pointing to the conversation between C.C. and Marianne.
"Marianne hopes that I would leave you."
"Eh?"
Mahiro was taken aback and asked: "What do you mean?"
"Literally. She and Charles believe that if you and I continue to interact, it will ruin their plans."
Mahiro fell silent.
He didn't know what expression to make.
Charles and Marianne's plans were as unreliable as Amakusa Shirō Tokisada's wish in a certain series—does something like that even need destruction?
It's destined to be impossible to succeed anyway.
Throughout this, C.C. had been staring at him, as if trying to discern something from his face, from his eyes.
Unfortunately, she found nothing.
Not a single ripple of emotion stirred within him, his demeanor as tranquil and profound as a deep mountain spring, utterly inscrutable.
"Do you have any thoughts on this matter?"
C.C. asked again, but Mahiro merely grinned, "What opinions could I possibly have? If anything, your perspective holds far greater importance, C.C."
"I don't care."
C.C. replied bluntly, "The only thing I care about is the fulfillment of my wish..."
"However, regarding you, there is indeed one thing I'm curious about—"
"Mahiro, what is your wish? Or rather, what do you intend to do?"
Throughout her long life, she had encountered all manner of people and events, and believed herself capable of seeing through anyone.
Yet when facing Mahiro, her experience proved completely useless.
She couldn't discern what he was thinking, and he seemed indifferent to everything—almost like confronting a mirror image of herself.
Not even when facing V.V. had she ever felt this way.
"You know I have no wishes. Even if I did, you couldn't fulfill them.
As for what I want to do... why should that matter to you? Aren't you only concerned with having your own wish granted?"
"True enough," C.C. said, turning away petulantly, hugging her knees and shifting on the sofa to face the other direction. "I was merely curious. If you don't wish to answer, so be it."
Seeing this, Mahiro couldn't suppress a soft chuckle.
"Very well, since the esteemed Witch has asked, what harm is there in giving you a glimpse?"
At his words, C.C.'s ears perked up attentively.
"My goal is actually quite simple—I just want to visit C's World in person."
"?"
C.C. slowly formed a question mark with her expression, "Do you also seek immortality?"
In her view, that was the primary function of C's World.
But when she turned to pose the question, she found Mahiro already standing by the window, gazing at the sky outside.
"It's snowing."
A few pure white snowflakes drifted silently from the heavens.
This year's snow seemed to arrive earlier than usual, with several heavy snowfalls already occurring by mid-December.
The mountains and fields were blanketed in silver, wrapped in crystalline white.
Meanwhile, inside a small log cabin, Lelouch and Mahiro sat facing each other over a chessboard, a steaming cup of coffee and hot tea placed beside the game.
Their activity would have been unremarkable, were it not for their location.
The fact that this was Narita Mountain—the forward outpost of the Japan Liberation Front's headquarters—made the scene decidedly peculiar.
Two members of the Japan Liberation Front played Go in the corner, acting as if the interlopers were completely invisible.
"Such a convenient ability, Lelouch..."
Using his Geass, Lelouch had effortlessly brought his companion through the Liberation Front's checkpoints. Now they shared quarters with enemy soldiers, completely undetected.
"I wouldn't call it particularly useful, teacher. Compared to your merely convenient ability, it's not very effective in direct combat. However, having such a convenient ability and not making good use of it would be foolish."
Lelouch tapped a chess piece against his furrowed brow as he contemplated. In this world, only two people made him proceed with caution and deliberate over every move during chess—one was his teacher Mahiro sitting across from him, and the other was his elder brother Schneizel.
"That's such a typical response from you."
Mahiro chuckled lightly, picking up the steaming teacup to take a leisurely sip. His relaxed demeanor resembled that of an old man playing chess by the roadside.
But in truth, chess was merely a tool to pass the time—they were actually waiting.
The reason they were here was because Cornelia was preparing to move against the Japan Liberation Front.
The intelligence had been leaked to the Black Knights through Diethard Ried at the television station.
Coincidentally, the Black Knights had just received support from the Kyoto Six Families—a batch of new Knightmares, including Kallen's exclusive Guren Type-02.
Thus, Lelouch had brought him here under the pretext of an outing, preparing to use this opportunity to engage Cornelia in battle.
However, Mahiro had followed along mainly for other purposes—accompanying Lelouch in playing games with Cornelia was merely incidental.
Moreover, he wanted to see how much Cornelia had grown after all these years.
He was somewhat looking forward to it...
"Hmm?"
Lelouch rubbed his chin, seriously studying the chessboard situation. The clock on the wall ticked slowly forward until, after several minutes, he finally reached a decision.
But just as he picked up a piece to move, he caught sight of a figure outside the window from the corner of his eye.
"When did that woman... arrive?"
Turning his head, Lelouch saw C.C. in her white restraint suit, though his expression showed no pleasure.
Rather, he found this willful woman who remained oblivious to the danger she brought upon herself quite irritating.
"I brought C.C. along. Since we're on an outing, it's good to let her get some fresh air."
Shrugging, Mahiro directly tossed his chess piece onto the table.
He knew Lelouch had lost interest in the game.
"Then you handle her yourself. Don't let her disrupt our plans."
"Yes, yes, leave it to me."
Mahiro responded casually as he stood up and walked out of the cabin.
Their plans?
That was complete nonsense—he and Lelouch each had different objectives.
Lelouch's goal was to flip the board, eliminate Cornelia, and thereby win over the Japan Liberation Front to gain more support and useful pawns.
As for him—he was after what lay hidden beneath Mount Narita—
A secret research facility.
About Geass.
Though he claimed not to care, as time passed, he had inevitably become curious about this thing.
Even though he understood the essence of these things, Mahiro still wanted to clarify the connections between Geass, Code, and C's World—or rather, he sought to transform them into his own power.
At the very least, he could share this power with others. As he experienced more worlds, he came to understand that it wasn't just himself who needed to grow stronger, but his family as well.
Otherwise, they would inevitably be left far behind, reduced to useless decorations.
This was also the reason why C.C. had been brought here by him.
"Already done?"
"Yes, I've located the position. Your little kitten has infiltrated the research institute."
As she spoke, C.C. casually fiddled with weeds growing between the rocks, kicked small stones on the ground, and occasionally glanced up at the sky with an air of nonchalance.
Until a single snowflake drifted down from the gloomy, overcast sky.
"It's snowing," she murmured softly.
"Yeah, this damn weather, really…"
Mahiro came to her side, gazing with her at the distant mountains.
But she showed no intention of acknowledging his complaint. Instead, she reached out and caught the snowflake that had gently drifted toward them on the breeze.
Like a mayfly living only for a day, the snowflake vanished from her fingertip in the blink of an eye.
Staring at the droplet of water left on her finger, she suddenly said:
"Mahiro… why are you Mahiro?"
"Discussing philosophy? That's somewhat interesting."
Feeling the cool breeze against his face, Mahiro curled his lips into a faint smile. "Mahiro is Mahiro because he is merely Mahiro, and no one else. Or perhaps 'Mahiro' is just a code name—it could be me, it could be you, it could be anyone else."
"But for me, right now, the name Yotsuba Mahiro is the only annotation that can define who I am."
"Just like you, C.C."
"You who abandoned your original name and all your past experiences—isn't the only annotation that proves your existence now just the code name 'C.C.'?"
"You're right, that makes sense. Yotsuba Mahiro is Yotsuba Mahiro, but as for C.C.... she is just C.C."
She murmured these ambiguous words, then turned her head to gaze at him with her bright amber eyes.
The mountain wind swept through her hair, and in that moment, her beauty seemed like an eternal memory captured by a painter's hand. The girl standing here resembled not a Witch, but a beautiful goddess.
Yet, this goddess's eyes swirled with countless emotions.
So sorrowful.
So lonely.
As if recounting millennia of solitude and pain—no one understood her, no one loved her, forcing a smile as she walked forward alone.
But she needed no one's pity, no one's sympathy.
Because she was C.C., after all.
And merely C.C.
Unnoticed, the silent snowfall from the gray sky grew heavier.
Gradually whitening her long hair.
C.C. withdrew her gaze and lifted her head to watch the sky scattering white crystals. Staring at the scene above, she asked in her usual calm tone:
"...Mahiro, do you know why snow is white?"
Silence.
But before C.C. could continue speaking, Mahiro spoke up:
"The reason snow appears white is primarily due to the complex phenomena of light reflection, refraction, and interference within snowflakes..."
Mahiro answered with a smile.
C.C., however, turned her head to glance at him and murmured softly, "You really are a boring man..."
It was as if all the carefully built-up emotions and atmosphere were shattered by his single remark.
Yet Mahiro appeared genuinely innocent.
"This isn't boring—it's science, explaining the color of snow from a physics perspective."
"But you know that's not the answer I wanted."
"Yes, I know." Mahiro gazed into the distance, his tone filled with emotion. "You wanted to say, 'Snow appears white because it has forgotten its original color,' right?"
Silence dominated the cold mountain air.
Clouds drifted and rolled, forming meaningless patterns until they slowly enveloped the entire mountain.
Below, C.C.'s expression shifted from slight astonishment back to calm, her eyes now holding some indescribable emotion.
It was as if she had come to see Mahiro as someone like herself—
A kindred spirit who could understand her.
But just then, Mahiro spoke again:
"However... even if snow forgets its color and returns to pure white, I will inevitably dye it with my own hues."
"Heh, such a domineering declaration."
C.C. chuckled lightly.
There was no sarcasm, no sentimentality, nor any other superfluous expression—she simply laughed like an ordinary girl.
Simultaneously, she reached out and caught a snowflake that happened to drift onto her fingertip.
The snowflake was pure and flawless, much like her beautiful face, evoking feelings of admiration.
Down at the mountainside, the crowd bustled noisily, yet she remained exceptionally serene amidst the clamor, as if detached from the world.