MELTING ICE

Part One

Lelouch had always seemed to stick out at Ashford Academy.

He never really understood what the big deal was himself, but since his first day at the prestigious private school he had been the subject of excessive gossip. Not that teenagers didn't gossip often enough as it was, but the amount of staring and whispering that went on around him on a regular basis was just absurd. After all, from where Lelouch stood (which was primarily the sidelines if he could help it) he wasn't anyone worthy of being watched. He was just another high school student minding his own business.

Sure, he was the eleventh prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, which happened to be the greatest and most powerful nation in the world, but that didn't make him inhuman. He still had flaws. He was still just a teenager. Not to mention, Ashford was a learning center for the children of the elite, the nobleman, the rich. If anything these were the sort of people who should be used to the sight of royalty.

And sure, maybe Lelouch had perfect marks in every subject without even having to attend class most days. However, as far he was concerned school was a breeze if you simply knew how to approach it properly. Besides, it wasn't as if he was some sort of genius! Maybe he was practically undefeated at chess and maybe he sometimes used words and phrases that his peers didn't always understand, but that didn't make him special! That was just...

Okay, well maybe Lelouch was technically a genius, but still human.

And another thing!

The entirety of the school seemed to be on a constant mission to get into his pants! Boys, girls, it didn't even matter!

Everyone agreed upon it really, at this point it was just fact; Lelouch Vi Britannia was the most sought after boy on campus. He was cool, good looking, refined, and had a reputation for coldly turning down everyone and anyone who had ever attempted to ask him out for a date.

And the worst part was that instead of being deterred by this knowledge many students had begun to take it as a challenge!

They were all playing a foolish and fruitless game entitled "Be the First to Thaw the Prince's Icy Heart."

More often than not women were attracted to the idea of being a princess of course, on the off chance they ended up married in the future. Men, on the other hand, were usually drawn to his abnormally feminine face, which was nothing if not a mortifying thing to admit. However, because of all this Lelouch had a strict policy; he refused to ever be seen alone with just one person unless they were family or one of the few exceptions like C.C. and the rest of the student council. After all, he knew for certain that they weren't out to get him.

The reason for the policy? That was simple. This way no one could ever misunderstand the situation and think of it as a date.

It stopped problems from occurring before they were even created.

Lelouch bristled at the thought of the days before he had implemented such a rule.

He was strolling through the grounds of Ashford leisurely that day. As per usual, he was forsaking history in favor of locating a nice, secluded tree to nap beneath, but all of his typical spots were occupied. Unfortunately, as the year was coming to an end, many of the seniors no longer had class in the afternoon, thus denying Lelouch the isolation he craved.

The sun was high in the sky and even though the trees had shed all of their petals the air still smelled of spring flowers. Most people would've called it the perfect day, but for someone as fair skinned and delicate as Lelouch the heat of the new summer sun beating down on his black head of hair was just too much.

Lelouch sighed loudly and wiped the sweat from his hairline with the back of his hand. He'd had enough searching for the day, he decided silently, and began heading back towards the boys' dorm to sleep in his own bed for a change.

As soon as he opened the door to the red brick building he was hit by a wave of air conditioning, wrapping around him in its sweet, cold embrace.

"Skipping again, Your Highness?"

Lelouch turned to face his teacher with an innocent smile.

"Of course not, Mr. Witte," he assured convincingly. "I simply forgot my textbook in my room."

The short, round man before him was the dorm supervisor (and consequently a literature teacher who he'd never actually had any classes with). Unfortunately, he knew of Lelouch's ways of deception, so he was not easily swayed.

He pursed his lips and looked over his glasses.

"Oh, I see," Mr. Witte said, blatantly feigning ignorance. "If that's the case then you won't mind running an errand for me on your way back."

Lelouch's perfect demeanor twitched in irritation.

"Of course," he forced out in a grossly sweet tone.

"You're in 306, correct?" the teacher asked. "There is a new student currently unpacking in 314. He should be done anytime now; escort him to his first class when he is. He's in Mrs. Bungard's Science II this period, Room 1105."

Lelouch accidentally tsked in response, obviously unhappy with the indirect punishment he was under-going.

"That's not a problem, is it?" Mr. Witte pressed.

"No," Lelouch said, though his voice was flat and clearly revealed his lie. "It's no problem at all."

"Good."

And with that, the infuriating old man left.

Lelouch glowered and began heading towards the elevator once the exchange had reached its conclusion.

Really, it had always bothered him the way his teachers were required to use a title when speaking to him. The worst part was that most of them considered it an insult to have to place a student above themselves, even if he was an heir to the throne of their "great nation." So, when they addressed him in that way it was often bitter and sarcastic. Of course, it didn't help that his fellow students had no such requirement either. After all, it wasn't as if they could be fired from the Academy, and the only way they'd get expelled was if Lelouch decided to complain, which obviously wasn't going to happen.

It was all rather obnoxious.

It wasn't as if Lelouch had demanded it. Hell, he didn't even want the damn title in the first place! No one had any reason to take out their frustrations on him.

The elevator pinged and opened its doors to the third floor then, shaking him from his thoughts if only momentarily.

Heading the opposite direction of his own dorm, Lelouch went straight towards Room 314. He could tell from down the hall where it was simply because the door was slightly ajar.

Peaking around the door frame, Lelouch came upon the sight of the back of a head of wavy brown hair.

The other boy was down on his knees in front of a dresser as he put away his clothing, all the while humming some tune that Lelouch couldn't say he recognized from anywhere.

After waiting a moment he coughed to get the stranger's attention.

The boy responded instantaneously, turning around and jumping to his feet in one fluid motion.

Lelouch suddenly found himself looking into a pair of great, green eyes.

"Uh... can I help you?" the brunet asked with a somewhat potent accent.

Lelouch knew at once that he was Japanese.

"I'm showing you to your class," he replied plainly. Then with a huff he added, "Though I don't see why I should have to... there is such a thing as a school map."

The newcomer looked mildly taken aback.

"Um, thanks?" he said uncertainly. "I'm Kuru... I mean, Suzaku Kururugi."

Lelouch crossed his arms and rested his back against the wall, giving him a sideways glance.

"Lelouch," he supplied flatly.

"Just Lelouch?" Suzaku prompted, cracking a smile.

"Just Lelouch," he confirmed.

Truth be told, he was only withholding his name for the sake of his sanity. After all, most people bombarded him with questions and requests the moment they knew of his royal title. This, of course, had always proved to piss Lelouch off without fail.

Some of the things people asked of him were completely bizarre and rather impossible a lot of the time anyway, so it wasn't as if he were just waving them off without reason.

"Ah," Suzaku continued. "It's probably really inconvenient to have no surname, huh? Although, with a unique name like Lelouch I guess it wouldn't really matter."

For a second Lelouch thought he was completely thick, but when he tore his eyes away from the ugly cream and gold colored carpeting of the dorms he saw the way Suzaku was smiling and realized he had been making a joke.

"Hm," he replied, but otherwise said nothing.

Suzaku furrowed his brows.

"You're kinda cold," he stated. "I wouldn't doubt it if the girls at this school like to call you 'The Ice Prince' or something like that..."

Lelouch's eye twitched in irritation when the hammer hit the nail on the head.

"Bite your tongue!" he spat. "I'm here to play chaperone for you so stop making unnecessary comments and hurry up so we can get this over with already."

Suzaku, for his part, look dumbfounded.

"Uh, sorry," he sputtered. "I didn't mean to..."

Lelouch cut him off with a heated glare.

"Right... sorry..."

The bitter silence that followed wasn't unexpected. Lelouch was refusing to look in Suzaku's general direction as he waited for him to finish unpacking, but part of him did feel a tad bit guilty for snapping. It wasn't Suzaku's fault that he was the new kid who was completely unfamiliar with Lelouch's social status and reputation. Most students were well aware by this point that referring to him as "The Ice Prince" (at least to his face) was bound to warrant a negative response.

Of course, this didn't stop them from using the term amongst themselves evidently.

Suzaku finished soon enough, kicking the lowest dresser drawer closed with his foot.

Lelouch stepped out of the room to allow him to close and lock the door, but he noticed that Suzaku was suddenly unmoving and looking at him with narrowed, hesitant eyes.

"What is it?" he asked dully.

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before," Suzaku said.

Lelouch's eyes widened a fraction and he swiftly turned on his heel to hide the reaction.

He knew he had a recognizable face obviously, but it wasn't as if he was a big name in Japan. On the off chance that someone from that country was well acquainted with the prestige and appearance of his family they would have to be someone of notable standing.

Wait, Lelouch thought. He said his name is Suzaku Kururugi... as in Genbu Kururugi... as in the Prime Minister of Japan!

No wonder he recognized his face! If this guy really was related to the Japanese Prime Minister it was way more than likely that they'd met before.

Many of the world's leaders frequently gathered at an extravagant gala (held by his father of course) every two years or so to help promote peace between nations, and it wasn't uncommon for family and close friends to attend these gatherings as well. In fact, it was expected.

They had a title for the whole thing; something like "A Gathering of Nations" or "The National Gathering," he wasn't sure.

"Well, I can say for certain that I've never met you," Lelouch lied expertly as he began to walk briskly back towards the elevator.

Suzaku hurriedly locked his door and jogged over to him, so as to match their pace.

"Are you sure?" he pressed while examining Lelouch's profile curiously.

With a swift turn of his head Lelouch looked towards Suzaku.

"Yes!" he bit out furiously.

Most people would've given up on prying with such a violent reaction, but apparently in Japan it was considered socially acceptable to do the exact opposite, even when someone has yelled directly in your face. Well, that or this guy was just utterly oblivious to how obnoxious and potentially problematic he was being.

"I don't know," Suzaku murmured skeptically as they boarded the elevator. "I've always had a good memory when it comes to these things. Maybe we have met and you've just forgotten me, because I have such an unremarkable face."

He looked so genuine. Lelouch thought it was odd to see someone smile so sincerely while insulting themselves. At the same time, however, he wondered if he truly was so cheerful and care free or if it was actually just an extremely convincing act. Though, part of Lelouch was leaning towards the former, as Suzaku seemed incapable of understanding the concept of silence. Or rather, he didn't appear to notice and/or care that Lelouch really wanted him to just shut up already.

He was like a beam of sunlight that snuck through the shade of the tree, landing right over his eyes and consequently making it impossible to sleep.

Someone like that simply wasn't devious enough to need a mask.

Lelouch huffed childishly before giving in and replying.

"Well, if you find my face so familiar then what about my name?" he countered smoothly. "You yourself said it was unique."

The other boy laughed openly with this, but Lelouch wasn't entirely sure why.

"I'm not so good with names," Suzaku admitted easily.

Lelouch nearly groaned in exasperation, adjusting the bag on his shoulder as he increased his pace.

He never thought the day would come when he'd be actively rushing to Mrs. Bungard's class of his own free will, but here he was.

For the first time he was faced with a person he could not read for the life of him, and therefore Lelouch was at a loss as to how to make him realize that he really wanted to be left alone.

Not to mention, if someone were to see them together there was no doubt in his mind that word would spread like the plague. Lelouch could all but hear the sorts of stories people would fabricate out of nowhere, attempting to explain just why "the Prince" was alone with someone who was definitely not from the student council. And to make matters worse Suzaku was clearly very new and very much a foreigner. If anything, that would make the entire situation all the bigger.

Lelouch suddenly felt ill.

They'd walked through the courtyard in silence as he mulled over this realization luckily, but as soon as the pair entered the building that held the science wing Suzaku decided to speak up again, much to his chagrin.

"Ya know," he began. "I'm going to keep thinking about this. I'm almost positive I've met you somewhere before."

Lelouch shot him another glare.

"I'm unconvinced," he stated blandly.

"Either way," Suzaku chuckled light-heatedly in return. "It's gonna be hard for me not to think about it if I see you around campus. Who knows, maybe I'll just remember sooner or later... but until then it'll probably be annoying in the same way forgetting what you were going to say is."

Lelouch rolled his eyes.

"Do or think whatever you want. I don't really care as long as you aren't bothering me," he drawled rudely.

"Ouch!" Suzaku pretended to recoil. "You're cruel!"

Lelouch stopped in his tracks then, though not without purpose.

He pointed towards a door to their immediate right.

"This is your class, my obligation here is over," he stated firmly before turning around and walking back the way they came.

Suzaku raised a brow.

"Oh, that reminds me," he said. "Why aren't you in class right now?"

Immediately, Lelouch felt his face flush in irritation.

"Learn to mind your own damn business!"

x x x

Suzaku wasn't normally the sort of person who investigated others behind their backs, but then again it wasn't every day that he was faced with someone like Lelouch either.

He learned pretty quickly why the other boy had not given out his full name when they initially met, and in the process he also realized that Lelouch had been lying when he said he was positive that they didn't know each other.

It explained a lot actually.

Suzaku had thought that he was acting strangely of course, but when one of his new classmates (a bright and bubbly blond by the name of Gino) had told him that Lelouch wasn't just Lelouch, but actually Lelouch Vi Britannia, the eleventh prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, all sorts of things just fell into place.

No, they'd definitely met before.

Actually, Suzaku wasn't sure if they'd ever actually spoken, but he had traveled to their country many times to attend large, fancy balls full of noblemen, royals, and all sorts leaders of nations from around the world.

And the Emperor of Britannia himself, that large and fearsome man, well he had always been the sort to enjoy showing off his favorite heirs.

Suzaku remembered why Lelouch's face stuck out in his mind now too; he could suddenly recall a scene with the prince standing beside his father while attending one of the aforementioned gatherings. The Emperor had been boasting about him and some of his older siblings, but he didn't look very proud to be where he was. Actually, he looked down right miserable and uncomfortable, as if any moment he would just throw his hands up in the air and begin to scream.

"Yo, Suzaku!" a voice called from behind.

Suzaku had been walking across the grass of the courtyard since the last period of the day had let out, but he stopped upon hearing his name. When he turned around he saw Gino waving and approaching him happily.

"Hey, what's up?" he greeted in return as he waited for the other to catch up.

The Gino wrapped an arm around his shoulders then and he wondered to himself why he was being treated so familiarly. They had literally just met for the first time a few hours ago, but Gino was already acting as if they were old pals.

"I heard a rumor about you already," he teased. "Look at you, causing a stir in the social circles on your first day of school. The girls are all pretty scandalized."

Suzaku's eyes widened dramatically in surprise.

"What do you mean?" he questioned. "I haven't even been here half a day. How could people possibly have come up with a rumor about me already?"

Gino shrugged and said, "I don't know, maybe it isn't true, you tell me, but I heard from one of the guys in my last period that a senior girl saw you with Ashford's very own celebrity. And not just that, but they said you two were alone together."

"Ashford's very own celebrity?" Suzaku echoed curiously. "Ah! You're talking about Lelouch? Why does that matter?"

Gino let out a single loud laugh.

"So it's true then!" he bellowed. "That's amazing! You two don't know each other by any chance, do you?"

"Uh... not particularly..." Suzaku said. "I've seen him around before when I used to come here with my father, but I'm pretty sure we've never talked until now. Why? What's so newsworthy about two people walking together?"

"Hm, how should I put this?" Gino began thoughtfully. "It's just kind of amazing to see that guy alone with someone he isn't particularly close to, ya know? He has this tendency to come off as a cold hearted jerk on purpose so people will leave him alone... though that's probably just because everyone's always pining after his pretty boy face, so I can't really say I blame him. But, after seeing you two together, people are starting to wonder if 'the new kid' is chipping away at our prince's protective shell."

Suzaku scoffed at this.

"I don't think so," he laughed humorlessly. "Actually, I probably did the opposite. He seemed pretty annoyed with me and even yelled in my face a couple times."

"Weird," Gino said. "Then why were you two walking together in the first place?"

"My best guess? Well, I'm assuming a teacher asked him to show me to my class, judging by the way he was complaining about it."

Suzaku laughed dryly.

"That's kinda disappointing," Gino replied with a grin. "If it really had been true you would've made things way more interesting around here, for sure."

With that being said, Suzaku silently wondered if it was really a good idea to befriend this guy or not.

Gino looked as though he were going to say something else then, but instead he paused and his gaze passed over Suzaku's shoulder. Immediately, Suzaku turned around to see what the other boy was so distracted by, only to be greeted with the sight of a busty girl with yellow hair running towards them.

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Gino laughed with a hint of mischief in his tone.

As the girl grew closer Suzaku almost felt frightened.

"You!" she shouted as she pointed towards him comically.

"You're Suzaku Kururugi, right?" the girl continued without pause. "I'm Milly Ashford, Student Council President, and I came to officially welcome you to Ashford Academy!"

Suzaku wasn't sure how to respond honestly.

"Thanks," he said plainly yet politely.

Then suddenly, something clicked in his brain.

"Wait, Milly Ashford?" he asked. "As in..."

"You got it!" Milly cheered, cutting him off. "This is my school! So, what I say goes, and I say that you are joining the student council."

"What? Why?" Suzaku asked.

Gino busted out laughing with this, but Milly ignored him.

Meanwhile, Suzaku thought it was rather strange to just up and induct someone so new into the student council. Not to mention that he was foreign, to boot. Actually, it was really pretty damn suspicious when he considered Gino's reaction to Milly now and before as well. And besides that, he knew that he definitely wouldn't be of any use to the council; he wasn't very good at the sort of brain power that entailed after all.

Truthfully, he was better equipped for sports.

"Well you transferred in the middle of the year," Milly stated matter-of-factly. "Every student is required to join at least one club, but they're all full by now. So, I've decided there's no other choice but to have you join the student council of course."

"Of course," Suzaku deadpanned, knowing that meant he didn't really have a choice in the matter. "Okay, I guess... what would I even do though?"

Milly grinned wickedly and winked at him. Following immediately after, he mentally put the sight on a list of "The Most Terrifying Things He'd Ever Seen." After all, it was all too clear now what sort of girl he was dealing with, and Suzaku was almost certain he was about to get in way over his head.

And for the record, he was definitely being forced into all of this.

Milly grabbed his arm then and gave it a sharp tug as she began to head back towards the school's main building. Suzaku stumbled as he was practically dragged across the grass and turned his head back to Gino with a pleading look in his eyes, but the other boy simply shrugged and shook his head with the same silly grin plastered to his face.

Of course, that sealed the deal; Suzaku was now 100% certain that whatever was about to happen to him was going to set the tone for the duration of his stay at Ashford. And, from the looks of it, he had stumbled directly into a trap. These people were just itching for someone to pick apart and apparently the new kid was the perfect prey.

"Good luck buddy!" Gino called out with a wave just as the door closed in his face.

x x x

As cantankerous and distant as Lelouch had been feeling earlier that morning, by the end of the day things had only gotten worse and worse it seemed.

It was hard to say if Lelouch was ever in a particularly easy-going frame of mind of course, especially when you weren't someone he was especially comfortable around, but at the same time he was skilled at fending off his frustrations for the most part. Truthfully (and this may come as a shock), he didn't hate everyone who wasn't his little sister or brother, and he wasn't really the sort to generalize people based solely off of first impressions. However, that also didn't mean that it wasn't remarkably easy to piss him off.

Maybe he had high expectations of others, but it didn't really matter.

He knew that Nunnally and Rolo were the only ones truly deserving of his smiling face.

As it would happen, Lelouch had been mentally berating his dorm supervisor all day after he realized how truly hazardous it was to be seen walking with Suzaku. He had already been harassed numerous times by his classmates, all of whom sought to question him about this most recent scandal. Of course, Lelouch didn't give a damn about the rumors. It was best to let people believe whatever they wanted after all, or at least that was what he thought. Sooner or later they would come to realize that nothing was going on between the two of them and that they didn't have anything to do with each other. After that the problem would just slowly fade away.

In the end it was exactly the same as any other troublesome occurrence in his life.

People would always follow him, watch him, swarm around him; it wasn't anything new, was it?

Yes, that's it, Lelouch thought to himself as he sat in the student council room, reviewing the budgets for each of the school's different clubs and events. Everything will work itself out if I leave it alone, so I shouldn't agonize this much over something so trivial. It's not as if the situation will repeat itself; I'll probably never even talk to him again.

Suddenly, the door, which consequently was placed directly behind him, burst open and Lelouch remembered that irony had a sick sense of humor.

"Prez!" Rivalz, who had been seated to his immediate left, exclaimed as he popped up and out of his chair. "Where did you..."

He trailed off and Lelouch refused to turn to see why.

"Madam President, welcome back!" Shirley said as she entered from a second door on the far side of the room. "Oh, you brought someone along?"

Lelouch's shoulders stiffened.

He glanced around the table to see the entirety of the student council eying whoever it was standing behind him. Rivalz, Shirley, Kallen, Nina; they had curiosity written all over their faces. And as for C.C.? Well, the smile that played at her lips was downright malicious.

Lelouch could already feel the headache setting in.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet the newest member of the Ashford Academy Student Council; Suzaku Kururugi!" Milly cheered loudly.

There it is.

Lelouch stood up and turned around in one exaggerated movement.

Honestly, Suzaku looked just about as surprised as Lelouch felt, but that didn't really make the situation any less alarming. He was royally (pardon the pun) screwed now. There was no doubt about it. Things would no longer just blow over with time, it was far too late for that, and all because Milly had to go and stick her bloodthirsty nose where it didn't belong.

Though, Lelouch was beginning to wonder how he hadn't seen this coming in the first place.

Regardless, this was undeniably an intentional setup on her part.

Suzaku blinked and opened his mouth as if to speak, but he said nothing.

Lelouch wanted to say something as well of course, but he didn't even have a chance to find his words.

Before he knew it, Shirley practically flew across the room and took hold of Suzaku's hand. Her smile was large and welcoming and it reflected just how kind-hearted she truly was.

One of the few, Lelouch thought bitterly.

"Hi there," she greeted enthusiastically. "My name's Shirley and it's really great to meet you!"

"Ah... yes, it's nice to meet you too," Suzaku said and it almost sounded a bit shy.

Lelouch and Nina were the only two who stayed back as the other's attacked the new comer with questions and conversation starters.

"My name's Kallen," the redhead introduced herself as the two shook hands. "You're the Japanese Prime Minister's son, right? I'm half Japanese myself and my mother moved back there a few years ago. She says your father is known for being kind of stiff and traditional."

"Is that so?" Suzaku answered with an amused smile. "She's right about that; back home he's always yelling at me for being such a push-over."

"Well, I can't exactly say you're what I was expecting," Kallen chuckled.

As the group continued to introduce themselves and get acquainted with Suzaku, Lelouch sat back down in his chair and observed.

He was well aware that they all knew of the rumors that had been circulating the school since early that afternoon, but most of the members of the council were also intelligent enough not to bring the topic up. Besides, these were the only people in the entire school that could even attempt to claim that they knew Lelouch as a friend. So, it was safe to say that they probably just assumed all of the gossip was completely unfounded, but unfortunately that wouldn't stop them from taking full advantage of the situation.

Lelouch was morbidly familiar with this sort of thing.

Milly, on the other hand, was still clearly the mastermind behind whatever diabolical schemes were being plotted (as per usual), so it was no surprise that she was the first person to bring up that one most dangerous subject when no one else would've dared.

As soon as everyone was situated around the table again, she intertwined her fingers and rested her chin atop them. Her eyes twinkled as she narrowed them, looking between Suzaku and Lelouch a few times during the curious silence. Only after the tension in the air had officially reached unbearable levels did Milly choose to speak.

"There's no need for me to introduce the two of you is there?" she began. "I hear you and Lelouch have already made each other's acquaintance, isn't that right Suzaku?"

Suzaku took on yet another face of bewilderment.

"I mean, kinda… yeah," he admitted sheepishly.

Lelouch crossed his arms and glared at Milly from across the table.

He could foresee the path this conversation was headed down all too well and it certainly did not look good for him.

"Milly," Lelouch said firmly. "I know where you're trying to take this and I'll say this one time only; it needs to stop right here and right now."

"Why Lulu," she chirped as she batted her eyes at him cutely. "I have absolutely no idea what you mean. I was just trying to clear up the rumor, that's all."

"You can cut the act. You forget that I know you and I know how you work," he shot back harshly. "As soon as I have peace and quiet for a change you always have to come along and ruin everything for your own sick pleasure."

"Hmm, or maybe you're just too uptight," Milly offered as if it were fact.

"Now you listen here, I..." Lelouch was about to start his rebuttal, but (once again) was cut off before he had the chance.

"Um, excuse me."

Both the President and the Vice President stopped and turned their heads.

Suzaku sat there with his hands folded neatly in his lap, looking rather miffed, and suddenly Lelouch realized that Shirley, Nina, Rivalz and Kallen were all staring with mild concern clouding their faces.

C.C., on the other hand, simply looked intrigued.

"I'm not 100% sure of what's going on here, but I think I get the gist of it," Suzaku continued in a much darker tone, the sort that Lelouch previously would've thought he'd be incapable of using.

"What I want to know is why it's such a big deal that he showed me to my class."

Suzaku gestured toward Lelouch with one hand.

"That's because it's against his rules," Milly replied slyly.

"What rules?"

"Ah, well, Lulu is pretty popular at our school," Shirley stepped back into the conversation. "I'm sure you've noticed. Sometimes it causes him a lot of problems though, so he has rules about befriending certain kinds of people and stuff like that. Oh! But not in a bad way of course, he's just very careful."

"Right!" Rivalz added. "He doesn't judge off looks or opinions, it's more like whether the person has good intentions or not… or something like that."

Suzaku glanced towards Lelouch to see if he had any qualms about letting his fellow club members speak for him, but if anything he just seemed pleased that he didn't have to do it himself. And he still looked so bored, sitting there with his gaze landing nowhere in particular.

Suzaku thought he was clearly lost in his thoughts already.

Honestly though, Lelouch was just quietly listening as his friends explained the situation. After all, he didn't have the energy it would take to talk about it himself. He knew how angry the subject tended to make him, and then when he opened his mouth awful things simply spilled out of their own accord.

In his eyes it was better to come off as cold and indifferent rather than irritable and downright heartless at times.

"So, I broke a rule?" Suzaku was asking then as Lelouch continued to listen in silence.

"No, you did something even worse!" Milly proclaimed with an underhanded smile.

"Huh?!" Suzaku exclaimed.

Rivalz made a pained face.

"It isn't that bad," he said. "I mean…"

Out of nowhere everyone's attentions were redirected to the far corner of the room as C.C. began to laugh loudly.

"You broke rule #1," she snickered. "Lelouch refuses to be seen alone with just one person at a time unless they're part of his family or close circle of friends, so when people saw him walking around with the new kid they instantly began coming up with ridiculous stories in their attempts to explain it. So yeah, it's pretty bad."

"I still don't really understand what you're trying to get at here," Suzaku grunted. "I mean, a rumor is just a rumor, right? It doesn't mean anything."

"You clearly underestimate this entire school's burning desire to drive me absolutely insane," Lelouch decided to rejoin the conversation angrily as he swiftly reached his breaking point. "All of this was going to be troublesome enough as it was, but since Milly had to go and drag you here in order to force you into the student council, things are about to get very 'interesting' for the both of us. Now, if you'll excuse me."

And with that he stood and headed directly for the door.

As Lelouch left Milly looked to Suzaku with a worrisome smirk and said, "You're wrong by the way; sometimes rumors do mean something."

Then, without another word, she followed quickly after Lelouch, yelling something about him having more paperwork to do.

"Interesting..." Suzaku tasted that particular word Lelouch had used just before he'd stormed out.

"What did he mean by that?" he wondered aloud.

Kallen let out one sharp laugh.

Suzaku turned to her.

"Let's just say Milly likes a good show," she said.

"Oh no, Kallen!" Shirley jumped in. "Madam President wouldn't do such a... would she?" The girl's face seemed to drop then. "Of course she would, this is the Prez we're talking about after all..."

Suzaku tried not to roll his eyes.

"Can someone just please tell me what's going on?" he pleaded in exasperation. "I'd really appreciate it if you were blunt with me."

"Basically," C.C. began again. "Milly is trying to take advantage of the rumor that you and Lelouch know each other; she wants the gossip to spread and grow until finally people think that even the strangest stories about you and Lelouch are true. This is most definitely why she had you join the student council as well, since Lelouch is Vice President. Milly's essentially going to attempt to milk this rumor for all its worth just to watch you two squirm."

"I knew I should've been more worried," Suzaku deadpanned.

AN: so unless you havent figured it out yet i think its pretty obvious that ive decided to separate this story into parts... i originally wanted it to be a 10-20k oneshot but somehow it grew into something much more so the new goal is 4 parts without a word limit. in the meantime i felt bad for leaving only the teaser for so long (which is outdated and will later be removed entirely)

for now i have about 10k written, but i think the first part is about 6k by itself...

kekekekekek i had too much fun writing this though, its kinda concerning actually, and i have a ton of ideas for this work too so be prepared for pain!

until next time!

- fae

EDIT (Feb 23rd, 2014) -

so recently while writing part two of this story i realized that i really liked the idea of nunnally and rolo being twins, so i edited him into lelouch's thoughts... i really do like rolo's character a lot, obviously he isn't perfect, but neither is lelouch or suzaku for that matter, so mainly he's just very interesting to me.

enjoy~!

- fae