Things were as they normally were in Ashford Academy--students, neatly pressed and dressed in their uniforms, roamed the hallways and filling it with their idle chatter before it was time to get back to class. As the bell rang, the students slowly dispersed, heading to their respective classrooms. One, however, was in the office, attentively listening to the secretary's words. Beside her stood a young man with long, brown locks of hair that reached his shoulders, and beautiful green eyes, who seemed to be just a few years older than her.

In truth, she looked quite plain beside him. After all, all she had was her beautiful smile and none of his colours. Her hair was long, and beautiful, but artificially dyed a lighter shade of brown. Her eyes were black, and her build was quite small.

"So we're good to go?" he asked, his voice rich and smooth, his speech containing a hint of his accent, neutralized so far only with practice.

"Yes, Mr. Campbell. Everything's ready," she replied with a smile. She pulled out a piece of paper wit a map of the school drawn on it. "Here's a map of the school, just so you won't get lost on your first day. Your teacher will be expecting you there already, Ms. Campbell. I hope you'll feel right at home here in Ashford Academy."

"Thank you, Ma'am," she replied.

"I'll take you to your class, little sis," he offered, which she accepted with a nod.

When they were out of earshot of the office, Ailee asked, "Little sis? Since when was I your little sister, Lockon Stratos?"

"Since this mission began, kiddo," he replied.

They arrived at the specified classroom. Lockon said, "Setsuna will be joining you here shortly. Tieria will pick you up later. Don't go anywhere."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"On a business trip. Be careful of people," he reminded. "Have fun!"

Lockon walked off, leaving Ailee in front of the classroom. She hesitated for a bit--this was her first mission, and she was already supposed to be on the watch-out for someone! She sighed and took a deep breath to calm her nerves before knocking on the door.

"That must be her!" she heard the teacher say from the other side of the door. She was asked to come in and introduce herself.

After a brief introduction (which was pretty much just "Hi, my name is Ailee Campbell. It's a pleasure to meet you."), she was asked by the teacher to take the vacant seat. She was greeted by a young man with a big smile on his face who introduced himself as Jang Dongwoo. He introduced his best friend to her, Kim Sunggyu.

Jang Dongwoo, 2nd Prince. Kim Sunggyu, the eldest son of the weapons developer team head.

"I'm Ailee," she said, smiling cheerfully.

"Dongwoo, Sunggyu, would you both mind being Ailee's  guides around the school for a bit?" the teacher asked.

"O.K.!" Dongwoo replied with a smile, knowing that his friend would be busier than him. The student council president could worry about more important things.

~°~

"So what club would you like to join?" Dongwoo asked. As he had predicted, despite Sunggyu's friendliness towards Ailee, the poor guy was just too busy to take her around. He was the student council president,  another club to attend, and he had things to do out of school for their family business as the eldest son of the family.

"I don't know," she replied. "I read that it was required here to have a club, right?" she asked, and he nodded. "But I really don't know yet. What club are you in, Dongwoo?"

"I'm a secretary of the student council," he replied. "Sunggyu kept asking me to be the vice president, but that would be unfair for the younger kids, wouldn't it? The seniors would be hogging the top positions."

"I don't think it would be that bad," she replied.

Dongwoo hummed, as if he had just been struck by a brilliant idea. "Would you like to join the student council, Ailee? The other members are very nice, and it wouldn't be problematic to find a position for you. And, if you wished, the members can also help you find another club, one that piques your interest. All the members are active outside the student council. I'm sure one of them would have something you like."

"Really? That would be nice, but would it be all right? I'm a transferee, after all."

"Well, the governing body of the student council is elected by the school population, but the people that are members mostly help around even if they don't hold a position. Organizing activities to keep school life interesting can get quite hectic sometimes as well. Another brain and a pair of hands would be great help," he said.

"That would be great, then," she replied, sounding grateful.

"Come on, then!" he said. "I'll take you to meet them now. They should all be there right now."

Dongwoo led her into a separate building that had lavish, double-doors at its entrance. As they stepped inside, Ailee was shocked that the whole building was pretty much hollow, like a large ballroom, with twin stairs gently curving upwards, leading to a sort of balcony where one could present the stars of the ball to all the audience. Above them hung an intricate, beautiful-beyond-words chandelier that glistened even in the soft light.

She heard herself unconsciously say, "Wow," and heard Dongwoo chuckle.

"This place isn't just for the student council, mind you. This is the building where we hold all the special events--balls, graduations, special performances of events and all that stuff. It's just that since it doesn't get used every day, it makes a great hideout for the kids that would rather not be disturbed by the hulla balloo of noisier clubs, like sports clubs, dance clubs and music clubs," he explained. "We do share, but since this year's student body got elected, no one wants to bother us too much."

"Why not?"

He laughed. "All the members have other affairs that need their attention, unlike the past student council members. So, we try to finish everything as quickly and as effectively as we can. Though we always make time for bonding, our work needs to get done first. Ms. Milly Ashford, the owner of this school, has always pushed for a lively student life for all the students. She requires that the student council plan at least one event per month, one big event per month for everyone, to end with the biggest event every year--the open house Ashford Academy festival."

"So basically, you're party planners?" she asked.

"Yeah, but we also help make sure that the school runs smoothly. The teachers already do so much," he said. "So, with all that said and done, would you still like to join the student council?"

She thought it over for a bit, and when she decided that it's likely not going to hinder other activities, she agreed. "Although, do you think it could be temporary? I'm still not sure if I'm cut out for it. Besides, my brother and I are quite busy sometimes."

"Well, we usually work within the time period of our meetings, and the things that we're assigned to do, we do at home. So the things under your care will follow your timeline, as long as you finish the things you need to do."

"In that case, then I'd really like to join," she replied.

"Great. Here they come now!" he exclaimed as a couple of people entered the quiet building.

As Ailee was observing the flowers of the school's vast garden, a car pulled over on the nearest road, flashing its headlights at her. She knew it was Tieria already.

"Were you able to meet them?" Tieria asked. He had long, purple hair that reached his shoulders, like a woman's, and wine coloured eyes. He was obviously male, but he could have easily crossdressed and be mistaken for a woman.

"Actually, I got to meet all of them," she said as he drove out. "I'll write out the report when we get back, but I'm sure you'd be lucky to note that I'm in the same class as Kim Sunggyu and Jang Dongwoo."

"Perfect," he replied. "Just the people we need."

"Will Setsuna really be joining me?" she asked.

"A week from now."

She nodded. "All seven targets are involved with the school's student council. It's the first time the school ever had all-male leaders in the student council, by the votes of the students."

"Popularity," he concluded with an amount of disdain. "Who are the members?"

"Kim Sunggyu is the president, Jang Dongwoo and Lee Sungjong are secretaries. Lee Hoya is the vice president. Kim Myungsoo is the treasurer while Lee Sungyeol and Nam Woohyun are batch representatives. The only non-target is the seniors' batch representative Henry Lau. There are other club members, but they're volunteer correspondents."

"Including you?"

"Yes, including me," she replied. "I volunteered."

"Good. Don't forget to file a full report to Veda."

"Understood."

A/N: Ta-da! I present to you the first chapter! :) If you recognize the names and know where they came from, then good for you! For those that don't: Milly Ashford is the president of the student council in Code Geass (at least in the first season). Tieria Erde, Lockon Stratos, Setsuna F. Seiei and Allelujah Haptism (not yet mentioned in this chapter) are all from Gundam 00 as pilots of Gundams. Veda is the program that helps Celestial Being carry out their armed interventions, by collecting data and processing it to form mission plans. I know the name Ailee Campbell has an odd ring to it, but it's the first reasonable name I could think of *coughMeerCampbellcough*