This chapter is set in r2. There are no major spoilers, and the only thing you need to know if you haven't watched r2 yet is that Kallen eventually gains the knowledge of Zero's identity.

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. If I DID own Code Geass, unlike what most people say, I wouldn't change a thing. Pahaha.

I actually put a little bit more work into this chapter-- I wrote it in Algebra just this morning. I didn't learn anything, but I got a lot accomplished!-- but I'd still love it if you could point out if either are out of character-- as an author writing for characters who are not my own, my priority is to keep them as like themselves as I can. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

Please see the IMPORTANT Authors Note Below when you're done reading.

Lelouch removed his mask, setting it gingerly on the desk like it was a slab of pure gold, and then undid his cloak, flinging it to the side. His eyes looked strangely passive, but he soon removed the black fabric that obscured guarded his lower face and mouth, revealing a content smile. Smirk was more like it. It was the same smirk he bore nearly every day. It said, "Yes, I am aware of the fact that I'm better than you in several different ways."

He made no effort to acknowledge Kallen as he unfastened the top two buttons on his collared shirt.

Kallen hadn't quite gotten used to this yet. It certainly was strange to watch him remove his mask; it was as if just by taking off this black shield, he was becoming another person. There goes Zero. Now he's normal, innocent schoolboy, Lelouch Lamperouge.

She'd already gone through all of the possibilities: Maybe it was a clever ruse. Maybe Zero—the real Zero, that is—was using Lelouch to cover his true identity. Or maybe Lelouch was the "new" Zero. Maybe the first one, the true one, really had died all those months ago.

But every time he did that—every time he switched personas, it came back and bit her hard.

The first night she spent after discovering that Lelouch was Zero, Kallen hadn't gotten any sleep, painfully racking her brains for all of the times that she had insulted him. She'd called him many things: pompous, hateful, lazy, rude, a snob, a slacker; she'd told him countless times that his life was heading nowhere, that all of the gambling he did and the classes he missed would hurt him in the future if he didn't change. It was needless to say that the two hadn't shared a particularly strong relationship.

And all those times, all those things she'd said, was he, Lelouch Lamperouge, Zero, was he keeping track of them? Remembering them for the next time he assigned posts, so he could make sure Kallen ranked lower this time? She'd shown him her true colors, and there was no way she could erase that from his mind.

But even with all of these anxieties, he never acted on it. Not even now that he knew she knew his true identity. It was as if he believed it as well: Zero and Lelouch were two different people. And after all, she hadn't told Zero all those things, had she?

Lelouch ran a hand through his dark hair, sighing gingerly, the smile evaporating slowly from his face. He pulled out a chair at one of the monitors in the dark control room that Kallen had been napping in just moments before, and sat, seeming completely drained.

"I could be anyone," she informed him.

"But you're not."

Kallen scowled away from him, agitated all over again. She didn't know why she was so concerned about his secret, but she was. They'd shared many exchanges just like the one just then, as it wasn't rare that he did that: walked into the room she was in, closed the door behind him, and ignored her completely as he pulled of his mask.

Each time, she reminded him that there could've been anyone in the room besides her or C.C., and each time he replied, almost smugly, that yes, there could've been anyone besides her, but there wasn't.

This time, she felt like being thorough.

"You know, one of these days, you're going to do that, and it's going to be Ougi or Lakshata or someone else. And then you're secret'll be out."

"Yes," Lelouch said, his fingers moving rapidly as he entered something into the keyboard. "I suppose so." He sounded bored and uninterested. Kallen doubted he was actually listening.

"What are you going to do when that happens?" she demanded.

"Simple," Lelouch said, turning to her with a smile that looked so innocent that it sent a shiver down her spine. "I'll kill them."

"Ha, ha," Kallen mocked humorlessly at his sick joke. She didn't find it very amusing.

"But I'm serious, Lelouch. If you keep going around being so careless, it won't be long before the whole world knows you're Zero! And what then?" She hadn't even realized she'd stood up, and had lunged towards him.

"It'll be even faster that the world finds out my secret if you keep going around shouting it out like that," Lelouch replied, the smile gone, his eyes narrowing.

"Hmph," Kallen grunted, flopping down into the chair she'd been snoozing in. Lelouch turned back to the monitor, his fingers again picking up the pace, another tapping sound filling Kallen's ears with each keystroke.

She watched him for a moment. He still got under her skin. Without even trying to.

"You're being obnoxious," she told him. "And one of these days, your sick personality is going to come back to bite you."

"I don't think that I'm the one being obnoxious," Lelouch replied calmly.

"Yeah? Well you can just—"

"Kallen," Lelouch interrupted Kallen's, no doubt vulgar retort calmly, standing up and lifting the dark mask from the desk and studying it as if he hadn't seen before in his life. "I'm honestly just wondering—would you speak to Zero in that manner?"

Kallen crossed her arms and huffed once more. "That's completely unfair. You know I was talking to Lelouch just then."

"Lelouch?" the Britannian repeated. "And not Zero?" with the last word, he raised the mask to his face just so that it covered it up.

Zero… Kallen repeated in her mind. She wondered what Lelouch was trying to trick her into saying.

"Lelouch," she finally said, firmly.

"I see," Lelouch said quietly, his eyes still raking over the glistening mask. He took a deep breath and continued on.

"Well, in that case, I'm also wondering…" He finally tore his eyes away from the mask, staring up at her, his eyes piercing into hers. "How long it will take you to come to terms with the fact that Zero and Lelouch are the same person."

He cocked his head questioningly at her.

It took her a few moments for her brain to register that he was expecting a response.

"I—I…" she stammered unintelligibly.

"That's what I thought," Lelouch sighed.

His motions were swift; she could've blinked, and he'd be done, but instead she watched as he flung the heavily collared cloak over his shoulders and fastened it, raised the black fabric over his jaw, and then adjusted his mask onto his face.

That mask. The one thing that shielded his identity from the world.

Suddenly, Zero stood before her.

"In that case, Kozuki," he said, sounding proud, yet not arrogant as Zero always did to her, "I should allow you some time for you to get your thoughts I order."

With three long strides, Zero exited the room.

Or had that been Lelouch?

A/N: I was hoping for some feedback about this story. I'm considering changing it into a series of oneshots concerning Code Geass, not all of them nessecarily related, not all of them involving Lelouch and Kallen. In that case I'd change the title and summary, and probably update this story once or twice a week. How does that appeal to you? Please give me your replies and/or ideas, whether in a PM or a review. I won't put this story in the "Complete" category until you guys give me your response. Thanks again for reading.