Welcome, readers! Due to unforeseen circumstances in the canon storyline, my Bleach fanfiction project has been put under necessary hiatus, pending research into the annoying changes that Tite Kubo saw fit to make (honestly, I may just drop it altogether). In the mean time, I've begun a number of one-shots to expand my entourage, such as this one!

This'll be my first attempt at a Code Geass fanfiction, and, having just finished R1, I'm extremely excited about R2's upcoming debut! This is going to be a two way one-sided romance story between KarenxZero and KallenxLulu; basically, Karen loves Zero, who is Lulu, who is starting to love Kallen, who is Karen, who doesn't love Lulu, who is Zero. Complicated, no?

This is a brief respite between Stage 17 and Stage 18.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Two Sides of the Same Heart

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Within the sheltered confines of their Secret Mobile Command Center, the Order of the Black Knights go about their usual meeting ordeals, communication distributions, and other what-have-yous a Resistance Movement face when confronting a limitless, oppressive Empire. The Knights can't help but notice, however, that one crucial member seemed to be even more distant than normal.

Zero, the Black Prince, charismatic leader and tactician of the Order of the Black Knights had always been a mystery to the rebels, what with his regal attire, proper speech, and the fiercely intimidating mask he chose to wear; also, he seemed to be a brooder when not actively conversing with any of his subordinates. Today, though, he was so visibly brooding in his posture and silence that one could slice the tension in the very air with the Guren Niishiki's Nuclear Pulse Claw. It was a little disturbing to say the least.

For the masked leader in question, he faced a dilemma all too often common in a rebel leader's personal troubles. Throughout history one can find stories of rebel leaders involved romantically with nobility, civilians, subordinates or even enemies; rebel leaders trying to live double lives, hiding in broad daylight, as one would say; even rebel leaders that were only children, bringing to light the regrettable truth that adults were slowly losing their strength of responsibility.

Lelouch Vi Britannia, Eleventh Prince of Britannia, known as Lulu Lamperouge in public, was such a rebel leader: Zero. Unfortunately for our prince, he suffered from all but one of these issues, though he feared that could be changing. He was only 17, not yet a man by the standards of society, and attended Ashford Private Academy, a prestigious school for loyal Britannian students. As for a relationship, well…that was the situation what plagued him, and his eyes strayed to the object of his woes.

Cherry blossom hair framed her strikingly elegant face; a wiry, yet lithe build alluded to a cat-like mobility; piercing sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with ferocity and determination; lastly, a distractedly well-endowed bust marked her as a lustful sight for any hot-blooded male, even for one so cold as Lelouch.

Kouzuki Karen was, by far, the most interesting girl he had ever met. When around her fellow rebels, she was stubborn, practical, and just a little hot-headed—a stark contrast to her public identity, Kallen Stadtfeld, whose demure, soft-spoken nature garnered much attention from the many young men at Ashford Academy.

When she was in combat, she was an Angel of Death; the Guren's battle prowess has only served to validate this claim. A war cry lifts from her throat, and a Britannian Sutherland falls to her assaults; that blasted white-knight appears, and her scarlet red Knightmare burns with the glow of her Nuclear Pulse Emitter; her leader, Zero, is in mortal danger, and not even the Nine Rings of Hell are safe from her wrath.

Yet, beneath the battle-hardened exterior lay the softly beating heart of a young, lonely Japanese woman. The loss of her brother, Naoto, and the tragic state of her mother, left her scared and lost in the world. For her, the shadow that Zero cast upon the Britannian occupation was a place of solace and peace. She would do anything for Zero…and that was why there was a problem.

Lelouch knew that, sooner or later, his identity would be revealed, and, in all likelihood, it would occur at the worst possible time. More than anything, he would rather avoid a disaster once it did; not only might he lose his trust from the Knights…but from Karen as well…

"—ero! Zero!!"

With a start, the black-clad youth woke from his reverie, "Hmm? What is it?"

Ougi sat back with a sigh and a rueful smile, "We've been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes, but you've been absent, it seems…"

Tamaki's grating voice sounded from the lounge sofa, "Ya been spacin' out. Not gettin' any, or somethin', eh Zero? That green-haired whore not doin' her job?" He sniggered at his own crude remark.

Beside Zero, the manual to the Guren Niishiki clutched in her hands, Karen felt a swell of indignation in her chest at the indirect assault on the female populace, "Oi, Tamaki! Keep your perverted, sexist comments to yourself!" Seriously, the nerve of that bonehead!

Lelouch, too, felt insulted, but for a reason he'd rather not attempt to discern at the moment, "Tamaki, you would do well to hold your tongue. I can't order Karen to not maim you…" He hoped the threat would carry; the hot-headed Tamaki was about as Osakan as could be seen in these desolate times, so his stubborn pride was a nuisance to counter-act. As luck would have it, Tamaki persisted.

"Pft! 'Can't order Karen'? Karen's so frickin' loyal to you and your holiness, you could tell her to strip naked, coat herself in sweet red bean paste, march right up to the fuckin' Emperor himself and declare you to be the Hero of Japan, and she'd do it!"

Snickers littered the meeting room as Karen blushed as red as her own hair, clenching the leather fabric of her seat in an attempt to prevent the murder of one of their primary front-line units, burning with shame and embarrassment. Zero, too, blushed, but it was hidden by the mask, and it was only because he now realized he wouldn't be having any clean dreams tonight. Damn that Tamaki…

School was mundane. It was the only polite way to describe it. That, and it was a hassle that Lelouch Lamperouge really didn't enjoy addressing. He felt like one of those cartoon characters from the former America: living a normal life with a job and family or friends during the day, defending the people or idealisms of society at night. Seriously, it was rather cliché, the whole thing.

It had also become an extremely stressful and unnerving situation, ever since he crowned himself as Zero. Unnecessarily so, because one should not have to be ill-at-ease amongst his own comrades…no, only Millay Ashford could be counted as a friend; for the entire length of Britannia's occupation of Japan, she had been fully aware of his former status. She never once thought to use it against him; rather, she sympathized and respected him for his and his sister's hardship. He trusted her, and that was a rare thing indeed.

As for everyone else…Rival was a greedy, narrow-minded rat; Nina was a diminutive, zealous bigot; even Shirley, who now saw him as a stranger, was a stereotypical high-school girl, with very little to account for. They were his "friends", so to speak, so he would at least value their lives, but he didn't trust them as far as he could throw them. That left two people whom the ex-prince was constantly wary of, with completely opposite reasons for each.

Kururugi Suzaku, son to the late Prime Minister of Japan, and now Honorary Britannian, Suzaku had been Lelouch's childhood friend. Infallibly loyal to his own righteous morals, the psychological trauma of accidentally killing his own father had left him introverted and eccentrically gentle. His skill as a Knight, however, was not one to be scoffed, as Lulu all too well understood. As the pilot of the white-and-gold Knightmare, Lancelot (so ironically accurate, Lulu believed, but it would've been even more scathing if the damned thing had been dubbed either Brutus or Macbeth…), Suzaku had time and time again thwarted the efforts of the Black Knights, until his exposure in the Todou rescue. The revelation…had rocked Lelouch to his core, nearly shattering his resolve. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true! ...Nunnally…Suzaku was supposed to protect Nunnally, not Britannia…

Since then, Lulu had all but ignored Suzaku at school; it was so damn awkward that there couldn't be any humor found in the situation. When Rival jokingly questioned him about it, the room temperature dropped as the edged, violet eyes of the Student Council Vice President bore into the blue-haired boy, effectively silencing him. However, bad as that was, his other nuisance of association was just as infuriating.

Kallen Stadtfeld, daughter of a Britannian lord and Japanese lover, newly added member of the Student Council, and undercover pilot of the Order of the Black Knights, Captain of the Zero Guard to boot, was an even more challenging person to endure, not just because of the double-lives they lived together (with him in the know and her not), but because Lulu had a problem; a big problem.

Perhaps it was coincidental to the severe lack of sleep; it could simply be that his curiosity was far more intuitive than he imagined; or it might just be his sexual frustration about remaining single in a school full of girls practically wishing for him to demand one of them bend over and spread…

Lelouch blinked and shook his head, blush tingeing his pale cheeks. 'Note to self: Do not ask C.C. for advice on stress relief, again. EVER.' he thought darkly, realizing the source of such a perverted immorality. He recalled, horrifyingly enough, the precise exchange when he encountered his emerald-haired accomplice:

"Have you had sex yet?"

His sputtering lips and twitching eye told all.

"Why not? There're plenty of women at the school who'd be more than willing—"

He shook his head in annoyance, interrupting her. He does that a lot, with her.

"What about Kallen?"

Embarrassingly, he actually fell back on his own ass, red as a beet, spewing nonsense.

"Well, if you say my name again, this time like I want, I might be willing to help you."

He had demanded the conversation stop there.

With or without provocation, the fact remained that Lelouch could not once look at Kallen anymore without feeling his palms sweat, or his heartbeat quicken. His breath would hitch every time his eyes met with those crystalline orbs; he found himself watching her delicate lips any time she spoke; he would smile every time her cute nose scrunched with an amused grimace at Millay's egocentric humor. He had, for lack of a better word, fallen for his classmate and bodyguard.

Maybe, just maybe, he might be able to somehow survive the day without unintentionally blowing his identity in his resulting madness brought on by his oblivious and beautiful tormentor.

Kallen was a little confused, if not outright scared. Ever since the incident in the park, she'd been a little put out with Lelouch Lamperouge's impartial and macabre outlook on the fate of the Elevens—the Japanese. She still recalled his soft-spoken, almost condemning words;

"The only problem is pride…That Eleven understood…He could live better off if he bowed before the Britannians."

She had given him a—what she felt—well-deserved slap and fierce earful, and had left it at that, believing she wouldn't ever give him a second thought; the incident with the Refrain later, though, sent a small spark of guilt over her actions. So now, when she noticed his dancing amethyst orbs following her every move, she was unnerved. What was his interest in her, anyway?

The ever aloof boy brought to her mind thoughts of another enigma, one far more trustworthy and wonderful: Zero, her commander and leader. She remembered, quite vividly, the rescue of Kururugi Suzaku—something she now felt a little regret over—very shortly after meeting the masked firebrand. The overwhelming fear of driving right up to the prisoner motorcade, that same adrenaline pumping horror skyrocketing as Zero revealed his deed, the descending Sutherlands…and the nerve-wracking escape as they succeeded in the rescue. Right then and there, she decided to follow him, no matter the consequences…though she still felt wary of his constant stubbornness with the mask. Even if he were to be scarred beyond recognition, Kallen felt that the face beneath the mask would be that of a handsome, truly amazing man.

Her feelings only increased after the Battle of Narita, the maiden skirmish of her newly-beloved Guren Niishiki. He was constantly aware of the surroundings, always staying one step ahead of his enemies. However, Lancelot, that damnable white Knightmare, had seemingly always thrown him off and challenged his confidence. Kallen had sworn, in her loyalty to Zero, to bring down that white-head, no matter the sacrifice; though it was now on a personal level because of the identity of the pilot.

She was still unsure about what to do; the Black Knights possessed the element of surprise and could either kill or capture Suzaku when he was unguarded. Britannia would be unable to act! Surprisingly, no order came from Zero on the matter. In fact, she recalled, in her own disbelief, the sound of defeat in Zero's voice when he ordered the Knights to fall back after the revelation. Perhaps there was some history between them that only Zero knew…she was uneasy; all this time Zero had been infallible, and this one man had him nearly afraid; all the more obvious when, once secure and away from the enemy, she heard the demented, hysterical, frightened cackle emitting from her leader's Burai. That laugh…

Kallen hugged herself as a chill wracked her spine, the memory returning fresh in her mind. She was scared…scared of what could possibly frighten a man of Zero's caliber. She could only imagine…in her nightmares…

A firm hand grasped her shoulder, "Kallen, are you ok?"

Surprise laced through her as she rounded on her assailant (more like inquisitive classmate), and found her face no less than an inch apart from the very boy whose presence confused her. Warmth flushed her face as she felt the hot breath of Lelouch's lips gently caress her own. Kami must have been a crappy comedian at one point because this was not funny. Kallen pushed the poor youth, a squeak uttered from her hitched voice as she reacted to the close-quarters-invader. Said boy grunted in mild pain; she didn't even push that hard, but his build was flimsy, optimistically speaking.

"Reh! Don't do that!" she hissed, cheeks still flushed.

Lelouch rubbed at his now sore chest, a slight smirk tugging the corner of his face, not entirely sure what to say; he only responded in a chiding voice "Maa maa, how did you know I liked it rough?" Though a nervous wreck and sweating bullets, Lelouch Lamperouge does not crack under manageable pressure…plus, a little deviousness went a long way in the world of high school drama.

If anything, Kallen's blush took on a new spectrum of red as his words sunk in, "N-nani?! What the hell, Lelouch?" She tried to refrain from cursing in public, as it would distort her "I'm-a-fragile-and-ill-school-girl" persona, but this was definitely one of those rare, excusable occasions. It wasn't every day a girl heard a lecherous comment from a less-than-likely source.

"Gomen nasai, Kallen. I meant no offense." He apologized, the corner of his lip still twitching a little.

The girl let out a small huff as the heat retreated from her face, irritation setting in her soft voice, "What do you want, Lelouch?"

Once more, the black-haired youth was faced with the dilemma of how to respond. He took on an inquisitive look, one that Kallen found too neutral to her liking, "Lelouch?" she prodded again. He blinked, "Hm, nande?" He found the twitch in her left eye undeniably cute.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Kallen growled, making her way to leave, till she felt the gentle press of the boy's hand on her stomach. Before she could yell at him, he spoke in a soft tone, "Sometimes, when a person is alone, taking comfort in a another's presence is all it takes to wash away the fear…" Surprised, she turned to look into his eyes, sparkling with honesty, "You were by yourself, and you seemed upset. I only hoped to assure you that you were safe…once more, I apologize, and meant no offence, Kallen…"

Maybe it was the sincerity of his statement; maybe it was the fact that she was too tired to maintain face; maybe it was because his voice, so rich and concerned, reminded her of her heart's desire…

She leaned up and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks."

And then she left, leaving a surprised Lelouch behind to gently rub his face. A true smile graced his pale lips, maybe he'd just have to spend a little "personal" time with Karen the next time the Knights met.

That's the end of the first chapter, and the last one should be done within a week. Again, this is my first Code Geass fanfiction; flames are permitted, but please be reasonable in your complaints.

Kami-elf