A/N: I do not own Code Geass, nor any of the characters.

Living a double life was finally proving too much for the young Lelouch vi Brittania, 11th prince of the Holy Britannian Empire; the masked leader Zero of the Black Rebellion; and vice president of the Ashford Academy student council. This morning, despite feeling feverish and light-headed, he found within himself the strength to push himself out of bed and get ready for school. He'd already been in trouble with his teachers and principals for missing more days class than he had dared to count.

Throughout the school day, the malaise wore on, causing him to fall asleep in nearly every class. During his fifth period, Art History, he felt a sharp poke in his side. With a grunt, he looked up to see Shirley smiling at him. "Come on now, Lelou," she whispered. "Before Ms. Rainier goes off on you again." With a weary smile, Lelouch straightened his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kallen Statfeld, a member of the Black Rebellion, drifting off to sleep against the palm of her hand. As he smirked, a wave of nausea ran through him and, hunched over, he clutched at his abdomen.

"Lelou, are you alright?" Shirley's green eyes were wide with concern.

"Shirley," he choked out. "I've got to go. Cover for me, will you?"

Lelouch just made it to the restroom before getting violently ill. This is what I deserve, I suppose, he thought, silently berating himself as he bowed on the filthy ground. I can plan irrefutable strategies all I want, but there's no tricking my body. Rising to his feet, he swayed a little and stumbled to the sink. In the mirror, his face looked pale and his eyes sunken. He just hoped he could make it home in time to get a few hours of sleep before the Black Rebellion meeting later that night.

Dead on his feet, he walked through the halls with slow and clumsy feet. The afternoon bell rang, dismissing students from their classes. The hallways filled, and just as he had almost made it to the exit door, a firm hand gripped his shoulder.

"Excuse me, Earth to Lelouch. Where do you think you're going? You think you can walk right past me, your dutiful student council president, and not even say hello or even attempt to make up an excuse for why you've missed the last two meetings in a row?" When he turned his head, he saw standing before him, Ms. Millie Ashford, proud and dignified, blond hair flipped over her shoulder for effect.

"Millie, I-"

"No, sir. I'm not accepting any excuses this time. We have a festival to plan, our biggest yet, and you're the budget supervisor." With that, the girl grabbed his hand and began to pull him out the door to the student council building. Lelouch sighed. Sleep, it seemed, was to be a pipe dream at best.

At the student council meeting, he slumped into the chair beside Shirley. "Lelou!" she exclaimed. "Are you feeling better? I told Ms. Rainier you weren't feeling well. You looked paler than a sheet when you left class."'

Forcing a smile, Lelouch sat up. "I'm fine," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "Just tired, that's all. I took a nap in the library for a bit."

Shirley's eyes narrowed in disbelief, but she nodded, turning her attention to Millie who stood at the head of the table donning an expectant expression. The girl then proceeded to talk logistics for her grand event, the Ashford Festival, where they planned to make the world's biggest pizza. The costs, he recognized as the budget advisor, were absurd. But given Millie's family wealth, he knew this was of little consequence to her in exchange for a good show. Lelouch tried to listen as she rattled off rapid strings of sentences in her high-pitched voice, but he found his eyelids threatening to slip over his eyes. His entire body felt weak. Crossing his arms tightly, he tried to hide the slight trembling of his fingers and limbs.

After about ten minutes, when he was just about to drool into the palm he had pressed against his face, Millie called on him. "Lelouch," she said sternly. "Have you been writing all this down? Do you have a proposal for our budget breakdown, like I asked for last week?"

"Forgive me, Millie. I don't have it yet, but I promise I'll get it to you by-"

"Mr. Lamperouge," she interrupted, using her best condescending tone. "It's unlike you to slack off on your responsibilities, but your lack of reliability is grinding on my nerves. If you can't step it up, I might have to replace you as Vice President."

Ordinarily, Lelouch would have felt badly for letting his friends down. Breaking promises was not something he enjoyed doing, but his trembling had grown worse, and his vision was beginning to cloud as his lightheadedness worsened.

Millie paused her diatribe. "Lelou, are you alright? I wouldn't think it possible, but you look paler than usual." Now all of his friends had turned their scrutiny on him, their eyes wide with concern. Shirley, Kallen, Suzaku, Rivalz, even Nina seemed to be paying attention.

Beside him, Shirley placed the back of her hand to his forehead lightly. "Lelou, you're burning up," she said with a gasp. "You should go see the school nurse."

Lelouch withdrew from her touch. There were few things he detested more than pity. With bravado, he managed a laugh. "I appreciate the concern, friends, but I'm fine." On shaking legs, he stood from his chair, carefully gripping the table. "I haven't been sleeping well, but I'll be much better once I go home and get some rest."

With that, he made his way to the door. In his feverish haze, he had to focus intently just to put each foot in front of the other. "Millie, I'll have the report to you by Wed-" As he spoke, his head began to spin and his legs and arms went numb. He stumbled to the doorframe and clung to it to hold himself up. The last thing he saw before he collapsed was Suzaku jumping from his chair to run toward him.