Description: Lelouch and C.C. are the smartest at Ashford Academy. They are are also the most stubborn and competitive. When they are forced to work together, they begin to build a new friendship. A friendship that brought them together. Lelouch's perspective, AU, possible OOC
A/N: This has been stewing in the back of my head for a while now, and now that I realize I have the support of a couple readers through their positive review of my one shot collection, Lessons, I've gained the courage to post this story up as well. I have plans for a sequel if this story follows the outline I've laid out. Then without further ado I present: Once More, title subject to change.
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Day 0: Passing
I saw her daily in the halls on the way to class. It was strangely surreal in actuality. We knew each other quite well. But at the same time, we knew nothing about the other. I saw her daily in class, her name on the list of top scorers, her face in the pictures of the achievements she's earned. Yet, we're rivals, and have never spoken to each other once. She gives off the impression of being cold as ice, yet she's one of the most popular girls at school. Who wouldn't find that queer? I admit, she's a striking beauty, with piercing golden eyes and flowing green hair. I'm not surprised she gets confessions every other week. What is surprising is that she's turned each one of them down, not even giving them a second look.
I also see that she often eats alone, away from the others. When I wander around the school grounds, I would often find her lounging in one of the unused classrooms, and she would either be either sleeping, reading, or staring off into space. Who wouldn't find that strange? Of course, I suppose it was nice to have someone to compete with. It gave me my motivation. The top grades weren't worth much if you didn't have the pleasure of beating someone to the top. Of course, our grades were often neck and neck anyways, so it didn't really quite matter.
I often wondered how she thought. She never seemed to give the teacher a straight answer when asked one. Her name is also strange. Who calls themselves C2? She spells it C.C. but pronounces it C2. It's just one of those things that I shall probably never get in my lifetime. These days though, this passing has been bothering me. We never look each other in the eye, we've never spoken, we've never argued. It was such a queer relationship if we are supposedly rivals.
The bell rang. I sighed and proceeded to move on to my next class: Advanced Physics. It was a pain in the ass, but I studied and did the work. Grudgingly of course! But I still did it. As it so happened, I also sit next to C.C. in this class. Though whether being two meters away from her counts as next to, I'll leave that up to you. Maybe today, I would get a chance to talk to her. She was very interesting after all. Besides, aren't you suppose to know all that you can about your rival? Their weaknesses and their strengths, their history, their goals, whatever; knowledge after all, is power.
I sighed again. Today was another boring day. I snuck a glance in her direction and saw she had her head down and was doodling on a piece of paper. Apparently, she was just as bored as I was. She had a scowl of annoyance on her face and seemed restless. I looked around the room; everyone else was busy feverishly taking notes. I smirked. They were below me, didn't deserve my attention. Classmates? They didn't deserve that title. Being classmates implies equality. We sure as hell weren't equal. C.C. on the other hand… She was an opponent, one I should treat cautiously, but with respect. There were many that I thought of this way, but she was the only one I truly respected. I have my friends, those on the student council. They were exempt from my thoughts, I had known them for so long and were used to them. It was refreshing really, to have friends.
"C.C.! Lelouch!" the teacher called out, "You two will be partners for the next project, it will be due in a week's time."
I snapped out of my thinking daze. What? Did what I think happened, just happen? I glanced in her direction and saw her return a wary gaze in mine. Her eyes were like steel, as cold and sharp as a blade. She turned back to her doodle and crumpled it, dropping it into the waste basket next to her desk. We nodded our heads acknowledging that we understood and continued about our daily routine. Inside, however, I was excited. This might be my chance! To be to first to unravel the mystery behind her was a thought that I relished.
Class seemed to drag on forever. Finally the bell rang and I grabbed my things and threw them into my bag. I walked over to her and extended my hand in greeting.
"It's a pleasure to finally be working with you." I said with a smile. She coldly walked past me and left the room. I was instantly annoyed by her rudeness. I dropped by hand and followed her out silently. I continued following her through the hallway until she suddenly stopped and turned around.
"Don't follow me." She said in a flat voice, "I don't speak with arrogant bastards." And with that she continued on her way. I stood there, stunned. That girl had the nerve! The nerve to call me arrogant! I ground my teeth together and turned around heading back to my dorm. Nunnanlly wouldn't be coming be to Ashford for another year, so I temporarily vacated the Ashford's guest house. She was currently with my mother in France, learning etiquette for use in the royal courts. I couldn't be bothered with such things as I had school. Feh, thinking about it gave me a headache. My father would be sending for me within the next few years hoping for me to follow in his footsteps. The hell I would. I had enough brothers and sisters for that purpose. Besides, there was no hope for me to become the crown prince. After all, I was the seventeenth in line for the throne.
I'll digress at this point, before I blow a gasket. I sighed and unlocked the door to my dorm. At the very least, I didn't need to share the room, being the Head Prefect did have its advantages. Add to those privileges, the privileges of the Vice President of the student council made for quite comfortable living arrangements. That and that fact that my mother is a friend of the Ashfords also helped. I dropped my bag on the floor and began to type up my essay for Literature. After spending over an hour on the essay, I printed it out and began to work on my proof of the Chaos Theory. After I finished that, I decided to muse over the whole C.C. issue. After all, I am expected to work with her after all, though in retrospect, we could probably do it alone and separately, and still achieve the same result. However, while I know that fact, it doesn't change the fact that I am genuinely interested in that girl. She might prove to be the first challenging opponent that I will face. It excited me to just think about it.
Of course, I was also genuinely interested in becoming acquainted with her at the least. Another smart and powerful ally might prove to be useful in the future. Heh, I could feel my excitement rising. This game was on, and now, I might've found someone truly interesting to play with.
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Well, that's it for chapter one. I'll probably lengthen the chapters as I go on, but for now you'll have to enjoy the 1000 or so words of the actual chapter. Please R&R I appreciate the comments and they do motivate me to write.