Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

'

Darn that Suzaku! Lelouch mentally cursed as he ran down the sidewalk to where he usually caught the morning bus. Bringing up his right hand, he quickly stole a glance at the watch and was even more upset than ever at the thought that he might not make it in time. Really…. I shouldn't rely on him to wake me up when I knew he was out drinking all night with the crew! How stupid of me! Lelouch couldn't help giving himself a mental kick. He really couldn't afford to be late for first period anymore, or else he would be expelled, for good this time.

Come on, just a little bit further, Lelouch thought, trying to reassure his exhausting body, and his hatred for Suzaku kept increasing with every second he had to run.

Normally, he'd wake up pretty early in the morning – Lelouch Lamperouge wasn't the type to rush – and had everything ready before leaving, such as outfits, books for the typical college day, and breakfast. Then, he would leave the house and take a morning walk down the sidewalk to the bus stop at a slow pace, enjoying the fresh, cool air. That was his schedule for basically every morning and he was happy with it.

Everything went the way he wanted until one day the Devil smiled upon him. His precious alarm clock broke. And he didn't get the chance to buy a new one. He wanted to ask Suzaku to get one for him at the store, but his best friend seemed pretty busy himself with his own schedule. That's why Lelouch had no choice but to use Suzaku as his new, temporary 'alarm clock'.

One good and most common thing about these two best friends was that they were early risers, though the brown-haired teen was much better at it than the raven-haired one. But neither of them had been late for school before, and that said something. Thus, Lelouch absolutely trusted this new, convenient 'alarm clock'. Everything was fine, until Suzaku had a night-out with the crew last night, and even though Lelouch reminded him of his morning task, and told him not to be too late. "Don't worry," was what he said while grinning. "Just a little drink with the staff." Right, a little drink, now look at the damned result: Lelouch was running like his life depended on it.

Luckily, he almost reached his destination. Just over that little corner was where his usual bus stop located. Gritting his teeth, he stretched his long legs as far as they could go and ran blindly, ignoring the raging pain forming in his heart.

God had smiled upon him today, for Lelouch had finally managed to arrive at his destination on time. The line to get on the bus sure was long, but the bus itself was nowhere in sight. He was still early. And he silently made a promise that he would definitely make some offerings to the God once he got home today.

Panting as though his lungs were about to explode with his hands on his knees, he couldn't care less that there were many confused looks cast upon him by the bystanders and bus riders. What he cared about was that he wouldn't get expelled. For now, at least.

"Lelouch?" A female voice sounded somewhere from his right.

He looked up and met with his childhood friend. "Morning, Shirley," he said during gaps of breaths.

"You look horrible today. What happened?" She asked worriedly, bending down to level with his face.

"It's just what you see," he answered bitterly. "I'm going to make that Suzaku pay."

"Speaking of Suzaku, where is he?"

"Sleeping very comfortably in his futon."

"Sleeping? Lelouch, he's going to be late!" Shirley shrieked in surprise.

"Like I care. He's almost made me late as well," retorted Lelouch grudgingly, "told him not to drink too much last night. But no, he never listened."

The orange-haired girl let out a small sigh. "I can't believe you two are best friends for years, and even share the same flat." She then stood up. "But it can't be helped. Quarrels make things more interesting in relationships."

Lelouch grunted something incoherently.

"Ah, the bus is here," said Shirley as she pulled on Lelouch's arm, "Come on. I don't want to stand all the way to school."

The corner of the raven-haired teen's lips jerked up slightly. "Despite your appearances, you're quite lazy." and earned a fit of laughter from the girl.

That's when he noticed something, or rather someone. A girl in a pink kimono with light-yellow flowers printed in it was sitting on the bench near the bus stop. Her hair had a strange and unique color that he had never seen anyone possess it before. Natural or dye, he had no idea as of yet, but it was so pretty: A light green color. The girl had her hair wound into a bun, clipped with two pink sakura flowers. Either side of her face was framed by two very long strands of hair. They were indeed long that they touched her laps and curled up at their ends as she sat. What really captured his attention was her beautiful, deep yet sad golden eyes. They were staring ahead at a pole, but they looked as though they were piercing through nothingness.

Even with him staring at her intently like that, she never once turned her head.

Lelouch held his breath. There was some mysterious aura about this girl.

"Lelouch, come on," complained Shirley as she noticed he didn't move from his spot. "We're going to be the last ones!"

Her voice pulled him out of his reverie quickly. He looked at her and nodded. "Sorry."

Casting one last look at the girl, he sighed with relief that she seemed just like an ordinary person. The mysterious aura about her was probably all in his head. With that in mind, he stepped on the bus and it departed.

Staring out the windows, he saw that the green-haired girl didn't budge. She was sitting still just like a statue.

That night, it was raining so hard that the probability of a strong storm happening increased to eighty percent. That was no surprise though, the weather had gone crazy for the past few days: one day it would be extremely sunny and hot and humid, and the other day it would be terribly, awfully cold and the sky would be gray with heavy rain falling and soaking its victims' whole bodies.

There, sitting across from each other at the table located in the warm, well-lit kitchen were two college teens, who were doing their homework in silence. The only sounds audible in the whole flat were the tapping of rain against the windows, the cracklings of the small fireplace, and the even breathings of the two inhabitants.

"Lelouch?"

"Hm?"

"What did you get for number 25?"

"25? There're only 20 questions here."

"Huh? What subject are you on?"

"History."

"What? You've done the physics one already?"

"Yeah. It was a piece of cake."

"Can I see it real quick?" As he said it, Suzaku leaned forward quickly and reached out his long fingers to grab the blue notebook. But Lelouch beat him to it.

"Do it yourself, Suzaku." Chided the raven-haired teen as he held the assignment way too high for the other teen to reach.

"Come on. Your friend needs help here." He pouted, slowly sitting back in the chair.

A sigh. "How many times have I lent you my homework? It's time you solved it yourself."

"But this is so hard! I've looked in the textbook and even the long, boring notes that our professor gave us. But still no clues!"

Lelouch grunted.

Suzaku frowned. "Is this a payback or something?"

"Payback?"

"Yeah, for not waking you up on time this morning and making you run, despite your underwhelming physicality."

"Whose fault was that? If you'd come home early and not drunk too much, I might consider helping you with your homework."

"But how could I resist their hospitality?"

"That point aside. You spent the whole day at home sleeping and eating, while I stayed at school, learning and doing our project. So don't expect me to hel-"

"I didn't stay home because I wanted to, Lelouch." Interrupted Suzaku drily. "I was having the worst case of hangovers for crying out loud!"

"Not my fault," said Lelouch simply as he resumed doing his homework.

"You're not going to help me, are you?" Suzaku swallowed hard.

Lelouch grunted something, and his friend took it for a 'no'.

"You devil," groaned Suzaku as he let his head fall to the table.

"You should've known that long ago," smirked the raven-haired teen knowingly, ignoring the protests quickly following that.

Lelouch then looked towards the windows, and his mind once again wandered to the certain stranger. Without him realizing it, he was tapping his pen on the notebook, wondering if she might still be there.

Earlier this evening when he got off the bus, he was quite surprised that the girl was still sitting on the bench, and from the looks of things, it didn't seem like she'd moved at all. That aside, for her to remain in the same spot must mean she's waiting for someone to pick her up. Probably the same person who'd dropped her off in the morning, he thought. But why was she even there if she didn't take the bus to begin with?

What am I doing? Thought Lelouch, shaking his head. Thinking about a complete stranger whom I'd just seen today instead of studying for the exam that's coming up next week? Geez, I must have a lot of free time on my hand lately.

Giving himself another shake of the head and with that last thought in mind, Lelouch resumed his studies and soon enough, he was quickly occupied by them.

A/N: This idea wouldn't leave me alone unless I did something about it, so here you go. I hope you liked it, and reviews please? I'd love to hear your opinions.