Warning : Lots and lots of typos. I tried, but some things missed my eyes and I only noticed them after it got published so...

Chapter Two : Bro Code

Bro Code.

That is one thing you have to respect whole-heartedly if you do not want to condemn your friendship to doom. Any boys found to be disrespecting the said code are bound to be banished to the kingdom come, and I am not joking.

For example, you must always watch your boy friend (not boyfriend)'s back, you don't be completely honest to their girlfriend whenever the whereabouts topic is mentioned, you take your friend side no matter how wrong he is (that sucks, I know. Just explaining some Bro Code that you girls should be aware of) and most of all, bro's sisters are off-limits. This rule is partly stemmed to the root of egotistical males who knew that they did shit to other girls before, but they love their sister too much that they won't allow their friend to date them so karma won't happen. (Un)fair enough.

Let's say, Athrun Zala is you, your bestfriend is called Kira Hibiki and his off-limit twin sister, Cagalli.

Athrun Zala and Kira Hibiki were the best of friends when they first met in Lunar Prep School. Their hit it off instantly. Both of their fathers were the former students there, so it was natural for the sons to do the same. They shared a room and all the classes. And before long, hormones kicked in. Athrun started to have a crush on their fellow classmate Lacus Clyne and Kira on a girl called Flay.

No matter how close they are, Athrun was born in Plant and Kira lived in Heliopolis which is literally the other side of the world. Summer happens. So one summer, he begged his parents to allow him spending a month in Heliopolis upon Kira's invitation and he succeed, as long as no funny business happen.

It was then he saw pictures of a girl looking exactly like Kira in the Hibiki Residence. He thought it was a boy at first had he not look down from the balcony and saw a flash of blonde hair stomping into the house, yelling about some forgotten stuff and later, Mr and Mrs Hibiki sent her out kissing her cheeks, with Kira ruffling her hair.

Athrun frowned. He had not saw the girl when he arrived the night before. Kira simply said that his twin sister had a sleepover at her girl friends house before they would take off to a month-long summer camp. Cagalli (Athrun thought the Hibikis named her well, it's a nice name) had forgot some stuff and return to retrieve it, as Kira sniggered and add that she only miss their parents, it will be the first time she spend a long time without them after all.

Athrun never saw her again, not even by the end his vacation as Cagalli's only returning a day after he left. They didn't talk much too about her as they were too busy with school and ogling their respective crushes. Lacus Clyne had many suitors as well, but she rejected them all. Kira was lucky that Flay reciprocated his feelings. The two dated. Athrun attempted to get close to Lacus before he planned to confess.

Sadly, it was Kira that Lacus has been eyeing wistfully. If Athrun were a puppy, his ears would be going down instead of normally shooting up. That's how cutely pathetic he looked like.

'But hey! Kira doesn't have a feeling for Lacus,' he thought. So if he work hard enough….

When he heard that Lacus would be changing school to some public school to Heliopolis, he decided to do the same. Kira, of course fully supported him on his quest for love. Athrun smiled bitterly. If only Kira knew…

It was a God-given that he was naturally a brilliant student. He didn't worry much about that as he worked part time at a nearby car workshop. He managed to find a small apartment with a cheap rent too. A week after he moved to Heliopolis, he went to visit the Hibikis.

Still, he never really caught sight of Kira's twin sister. But the pictures on the walls had been added, a tomboyish teenage girl smiling brightly at the camera. He unconsciously chuckled.

The very same girl extended her hand to his crush, smiling brightly as she welcomed her to their group of friend. Athrun and Lacus on the other hand, became fairly close, he was chosen as the class president and she as the vice. Sometimes, as he passed her group of friends, intentionally or not, she would hear them giggling, with the blonde look at him from head to toe, judging him hard.

He finally told her, letting all the feelings he bottled up for years out. Lacus said she would think about it, as gentle as ever but uncertainty across her eyes. He sighed, he thought distance was enough for her to get over Kira…

It was then when he overheard a familiar blonde talking to the girl of his dream, on why she should date Athrun Zala while listing all his good qualities. He chuckled.

'Because he works part time and do not rely on his parents money and that's manly of him, huh,'

For that one favour she unconsciously gave him, he helped her a lot when it's about soccer. He made effort to befriends all of Lacus's friends too, but if he were being honest, he was very comfortable with Cagalli. Perhaps she reminds him of Kira, of how the twins never hesitate to talk their feelings out, of how she cares for her friends like how Kira cared for him. But she was also the opposite of Kira, Kira was like a gentle wind, Cagalli was like a ball of sunshine.

Needless to say, his relationship with Lacus were perfect. Too perfect that he unconsciously felt that something's missing. He tried to dismiss it.

The last day of school, Lacus come to him, saying that they, or more specifically she, could not continue the relationship any longer. When he asked why, she broke down in tears.

That's when he realised that distance can't erase her feelings for his bestfriend. Sadly, he let her go. Maybe because he knew from the beginning that they are not meant to be at all, that it was only him who refused to accept it. The two talk for hours, and he finally know the reason why Lacus was so smitten with Kira.

His gentleness gained her heart. Athrun sighed. Kira was always this very kind boy, no matter how much perfect Athrun Zala is. Athrun is kind because he had been raised like that etiquettes and all, while Kira, it came out naturally.

He didn't return to Plant as usual, his parents came to visit instead. Learning of his acceptance to ORB university, they bought him a jeep. He had been planning to bring his jeep to ORB with him. The family of three spent a few weeks together as he showed his parents around, also visiting the Hibikis.

For the third time of his visit, there was still no Cagalli around. Kira was there though, they chatted a lot. He learned that Flay had been cheating behind Kira's back. As their parents catch up, Athrun mentioned that there's a girl who had love him for who he is, and gave him a wink. Kira won't stop bugging him. They had a good laugh.

Before the Zalas going home, Kira hugged him. He told Athrun about how Cagalli was being worried as she was the only one from their group of friends got accepted to ORB, of how she never really got separated from her parents except for a few times, on how she was worried that she might not be able to adapt. Kira asked him to watch out for his twin sister.

He understood. So a few nights before going, he gave Cagalli a call and casually said that he "can give her a lift as she too, going to ORB like him,"

She agreed. He showed up at her house with his jeep, and she surrounded by Miriallia, Shiho, Lacus and her parents, all misty eyed. He nodded at Lacus, the pinkette smiled back.

While he knew that he was always the most comfortable with Cagalli, he never knew that he would really enjoy to be with her. They only talked about soccer before this, and it amaze him on how many topics that they had talked about in a single day. They laugh about many things, exchanging Kira's secret and humiliating moments, as well as cursing the girl who broke Kira's heart. That was when she admitted that she initially thought he dumped Lacus and apologize. He unexpectedly laughed it off.

Cagalli was really that honest, that naïve, that… innocent.

The night came and he come to her, guiltily saying that there was only one room left. She just nodded as she unload her stuff from his jeep.

"Wait, don't you get scared? I mean I'm a man,"

"You are Athrun first before you are a man," she said lazily. He watched her back. He smiled.

They shared a room together, but not before arguing on who should be taking the bed. He insisted for her, while she said he had been driving the whole day and needed it more. She would not let him win.

He was frustrated and had wanted to wipe the victorious grin from her face as she retreated to the coach. The moment she closed her eyes, she drifted off to dreamland. Another hour ticked by and Athrun could not sleep. He glanced to the coach and ruffled his hair.

Cagalli was surprisingly light, he mused as he carried her to the bed. She snuggled to his chest, muttering incoherent words. He put her down to the right side of the bed while he took the left one, with a pillow as their divider.

He couldn't help but to find that she was cute. Not the type that get people mesmerize at the first time like Lacus, but the ones that people won't be able to look away from, as her presence itself was very comforting. Closing his eyes, that night was the first night he could really sleep without an ounce dreaming of Lacus.

He woke up earlier than her. He bought her pastry and they ate in silence. It was awkward at first but he managed to dissipate the awkward air. Another night passed and the next day, they reached the city at the evening. He grinned later that night as he found out they were neighbours.

They, without noticing it, had become very close. Cagalli, like Kira, had a tendency to procrastinate and he had a tendency to nag like a mom. He took it upon himself to monitor her studies and have their revision together. Studying all day, he had fall asleep on his paper, only to wake up an hour later to delicious smell of his favourite meat stuffed cabbage and chicken curry.

He never knew the tomboyish Cagalli could cook very well. For the lunches afterwards, it was rare for her to cook for him again being busy and all, but when she does, he would eat more than usual.

Studying, watching movies, hanging out. It became a habit that he sometimes slept at her living room on the coach.

One day, they watched The Notebook. She cried and he teased her. She glared and he raised his hands admitting defeat.

"Girls really like it with the idea of falling in love at the first sight, eh?"

"Not me. It's cute, but I'd love it if my future boyfriend fall for me because of who am I instead of being pretty and all. I wanted a lasting relationship,"

"Then why are you getting all teary watching this movie?"

"You boys don't understand. He might love her first because she's pretty, but he came to accept her as the person she is that he was still with her even when she's old, senile and wrinkled. That's rare," Cagalli sighed.

He didn't say anything. That night, as he was reading from his desk, he caught sight of a familiar blonde struggling against someone they never knew. He panicked. Athrun rushed down and before he knew it, he had punched the bastard.

That bastard would almost dead if not for Cagalli begging Athrun to stop. She hugged him from behind while sobbing, his rage had surprising subsided though not hundred percent.

Looking down, his fist was bleeding. He sighed, phoned the nearest police station and grabbed her by arm to his apartment. He was about to reprimand her on how she was careless and that she was lucky he saw her from his window, but Cagalli was trembling.

So he pulled her into his arms instead, hugging her, comforting Cagalli with sweet assurance. She fell asleep in his arms. Athrun looked down, noticing how right it was to have her in his arms.

He suddenly hope that he can freeze the time and watch her sleeping in his arm like that.

Unfortunately, he suddenly remembered that it was Kira's sister sleeping in his arm.

And that he had been looking at her like a man looking at a woman. And he hated it when that bastard tried to touch Cagalli. His eyes darkened as he remembered that.

Cagalli stirred in her sleep and snuggled to his neck. Athrun sighed. He never knew that he would move on that fast. No, he didn't even realise when he had moved on.

But he realised it that night, that he had been breaking the Bro Code all along without him noticing it.

Falling in love with his bestfriend's sister, Cagalli Hibiki, hard.

Author's note : I did Bro Code longer than Girl Code, it took five pages and a few hundred words more. Hope you like it, and thanks for leaving the reviews!