Just Two Normal Guys

Warnings: Explicit M/M

Disclaimer: Don't own Code Geass

"That girl over there was checking out your nonexistent ass."

Lelouch sighed as he slammed his locker shut. It seemed today—like most days—C.C. had nothing better to do than pester him. As he walked down the hall, he gave obligatory smiles to the multitude of girls who greeted him and gave nods of the head to the boys who waved in hello. C.C. followed a few steps behind.

"People actually think we're seeing each other, you know," she continued, keeping pace with Lelouch. "I considerately informed them that I would never date a boy with a butt as flat as yours."

Lelouch wasn't entirely sure how C.C. and he had formed a sort of quasi-friendship. It might have something to do with the fact they both fancied themselves social lepers (although Lelouch was far from a leper if the gaggles of girls who followed him around was any testament). It might have to do with the fact that C.C. was one of the few students at Ashford who didn't worship the ground he walked on. Or it might have to do with the fact that C.C. was the only one who had the gall to sit with him at his empty lunch table—even after receiving a death glare.

Either way, C.C. was there to stay. No doubt about it.

"You need to join my pizza club."

Lelouch snapped out of his reverie and slowed down so C.C. could walk beside him. "What reason would there possibly be for me to join?" he asked.

C.C. was quiet for a moment. "You could be vice president," she offered.

"I'm not joining a club where the only activity is you eating pizza."

"You can eat pizza as well."

Lelouch sighed and shook his head. "You'll have to count me out. I already have enough duties with the student council to begin with."

C.C. shrugged, and the pair entered the cafeteria.

It was as if a celebrity had entered the room.

Girls squealed and clutched their hands to their chests. Students moved to the side, allowing Lelouch to make his way through. The bustling lunch line dissipated, allowing Lelouch to order his food without the usual necessity of waiting. C.C. took all of this for granted, following Lelouch's lead. This was just another one of the perks of being the solitary member of an entourage.

The cafeteria lady blushed as she handed Lelouch his food and nearly fainted when he shot her a winsome smile. Unlike the rest of the students who received the same daily meal according to the lunch bulletin, Lelouch always had a gourmet dish specially prepared for him. While the Ashford student body received foods such as cardboard flavored pasta, week-old mystery meat, and inedible veggies, Lelouch would be given things like caviar, wine (although he was underage), and truffles.

Today, he was given an entire lobster.

Being the singular person in Lelouch's entourage meant that C.C. probably could have received delicious entrees as well, but she always stuck with a slice of pizza.

The table Lelouch sat at was practically reserved for him. No one dared sit at it. If there wasn't enough room, people would stand. That's just how it was.

People (male and female) would always offer to carry Lelouch's tray for him. He would always refuse with a polite smile and a wave of his hand, saying he could manage on his own.

When he took a seat at his table, he was finally at peace.

"One day you're going to turn into a giant pizza," Lelouch remarked upon noticing C.C.'s usual food choice.

"I wouldn't mind that," she said, beginning to nibble the cheese off the tip.

For a while, they ate in comfortable silence.

Then…

SPLAT!

The cafeteria went deathly silent.

String beans landed in Lelouch's glossy, black hair. Marinara sauce was splotched on his pants. A plate of soggy pasta along with a wooden tray had landed in his lap.

"Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

Before Lelouch had time to react, napkins were being pressed to his person, and the tray was lifted from his lap. Upon looking down, he noticed that a Japanese boy was in between his knees, attempting to wipe up the mess.

Everyone else in the cafeteria was stock-still. The Japanese boy only continued to murmur apologies and remove disgusting cafeteria food off of Lelouch.

Lelouch broke out of his trance when the boy began to move the napkin toward his inner thigh.

Flushing and twisting his hips out of the way, Lelouch narrowed his eyes. Had this boy no shame?

"I'm really sorry," the boy said again, gazing up at Lelouch with apologetic eyes. "You can borrow some of my clothes—"

"That won't be necessary," Lelouch snapped, cutting him off and crossing his arms to his chest. "I can take care of myself."

For a while, they just stared at each other.

The entire student body held its breath.

"You should sit with us." C.C. had said it with a mouth full of pizza. The boy stood up, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, an embarrassed smile on his lips.

"Um, is that okay?" the boy asked.

No. It was not okay. Lelouch had half a mind to rip C.C.'s pizza out of her hands and throw it on the ground. She had just made this whole fiasco a million times worse. Lelouch would not tolerate such impudence.

However…

The Japanese boy's green eyes were very wide and very remorseful, so Lelouch decided to take pity on him.

"Yes," Lelouch said tersely, gesturing toward the table. "Take a seat."

As soon as the boy took a seat across from Lelouch and C.C., the speechlessness of the cafeteria was broken. Students began to whisper amongst themselves, gesticulating and pointing fingers at Lelouch's new lunch guest. The boy looked rather uncomfortable.

"Do you want some?" Lelouch asked, indicating his untouched lobster.

The boy shook his head. "No thank you. I'm good."

Lelouch picked up his fork and began to dig in, chewing slowly. The boy stared at his hands.

Well.

This was rather awkward.

Although C.C. had been the one to actually invite the boy to sit with them, she made no effort to initiate a conversation. If anything, she seemed to be enjoying the boys' discomfort. It looked like it was up to Lelouch to start something.

"You look familiar," Lelouch lied.

The boy looked up. "I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've met," he said.

"Do you do anything around the school?"

"Um, I run track."

Lelouch began playing with his fork. "What did you say your name was?" he asked the lobster in front of him.

"I didn't. It's Suzaku. Suzaku Kururugi."

Lelouch lifted his gaze from his seafood, meeting Suzaku's stare. "I'm Lelouch," he said. "Lelouch Lamperouge."

Suzaku grinned, and it strangely made his green eyes look even greener. "Well, I already knew that."

Then, it was quiet.

Again.

Lelouch stifled a sigh. It appeared it fell to him to keep this dialogue going.

"What do you run?" he asked.

"Mostly mid-distance—800 and mile."

"What are your times?"

"My fastest 800 is 1:47, and my fastest mile is 4:03. I'm hoping to get sub-four this season, though."

Lelouch dropped his fork. C.C. smirked.

"You want to run a mile under four minutes?"

Suzaku nodded as if this was a completely normal aspiration for a person to have. "Yeah. What's being on the student council like?"

Lelouch was about to ask how Suzaku knew he was on the student council, but then he stopped himself. Of course Suzaku knew he was on the student council. Everyone knew he was on the student council.

"It's fine," he said, picking his fork back up. "Quite a bit of work, though."

"I would imagine."

C.C. suddenly stood up and disposed of her trash. Without looking back, she exited the cafeteria. Both boys watched her leave.

Suzaku raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to side. "What's her name?" he asked.

"C.C."

"Is that some kind of nickname?"

"I don't know."

Silence.

Lelouch was running out of nonspecific, vague topics to ask Suzaku about that didn't delve into his personal life. He was sincerely considering making a comment about the weather when the other boy spoke:

"You should come to the next track meet."

Lelouch blinked. "What?"

"Not for my sake," Suzaku said, glancing down at his hands. "It's just a lot of people are on the team, and I know it would mean a lot to them if you came." Suzaku looked up and smiled a disarming little smile. "Plus, it's always nice to have people cheering us on."

Lelouch grimaced. This Suzaku character obviously did not comprehend the repercussions of what he was asking from him. If Lelouch attended a track meet, then he would be expected to frequent all other sporting events as well. His schedule would be packed with tennis matches, soccer games, football, and all that nonsense.

There was no way in hell he would go.

Nevertheless, Lelouch had his manners.

"I'll have to think about it," he said. Perfect answer—noncommittal yet reasonably civil.

Just then, the bell rang.

As if he was attached to an impalpable spring, Suzaku shot out of his seat and grabbed his book bag. "It was nice having lunch with you," he said. Then, he winced. "And I really am sorry about before. Next time I'll watch where I'm going."

"It's fine," Lelouch said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "No use crying over spilled milk." Or, in this case, spilled pasta and string beans.

"Well, I'll see you around."

Suzaku raised his hand in goodbye, and, before Lelouch knew it, he was gone.

Naturally, Lelouch's dormitory had the largest bathroom and shower.

Of course, he didn't particularly appreciate this privilege considering he'd never been in anyone else's dorm and thus hadn't seen the standard claustrophobia-inducing showers.

At the moment, the only purpose he saw from his shower was removing those nasty string beans from his hair.

When he finished up, he wrapped a towel around his waist and entered his bedroom. C.C. was (predictably) lying across his bed and reading a book. In most cases, he would have chastised her, but he didn't have the energy today.

"I heard that Suzaku boy asked you to go to the next track meet," she said, not bothering to look up from the book.

"How did you know about that?"

"Milly told me."

Lelouch cocked an eyebrow. "Since when do you talk to Milly?"

"Since you began skimping on your student council duties." Still not bothering to take her eyes off her reading material, she pointed toward his desk. It's previously tidy surface was now stacked with papers.

"Damnit. I thought she told me it was canceled today." He made his way over to the desk and began rifling through the papers. Most of it was fan mail.

"So, are you going?"

"Of course not." One of the letters read "LULU B MINE PLZ" in blocky rainbow letters. He shuddered at its gaudiness.

"For the school idol, you certainly don't get out much."

"I'm busy." He grabbed some clothes and went back into the restroom to change. C.C. just kept on talking anyway.

"To think all these people adore you, and you don't even give them the time of day." She paused for effect. "It must tear them apart that you never go to watch them run around in circles."

Lelouch knew full well what C.C. was trying to do. She was attempting to guilt trip him into going to that dreadful track meet. Well, he wouldn't have it.

"Something just occurred to me," she continued. "Suzaku might have already told the track team you were going."

Lelouch arose from the bathroom fully clothed. He ripped the book out of C.C.'s hand and glowered at her. She blinked.

"What?" he demanded.

C.C. shrugged. "It's entirely possible."

Unfortunately, when Lelouch thought about it, she did have a point. He hadn't exactly said no to Suzaku's proposition. He could have very well blabbed to everyone that Lelouch Lamperouge, Ashford Academy's idol, would be attending the next track meet.

Lelouch sighed. He realized that he would have to go to this thing.

He also realized that he kind of hated Suzaku Kururugi.

When Suzaku entered the recreation room, a strong arm was thrown across his chest and the weight of 200+ lbs. was pressed against him. Suzaku sighed.

"Someone was a little klutzy today!" Most people would have recoiled from such an exuberant greeting, but Suzaku had gotten used to it.

"Hi, Gino."

Gino Weinberg, Ashford's best thrower and star football player, proceeded to laugh and poke Suzaku's cheek. "You shoulda seen the look on his face when you started cleaning him." He laughed again. "You shoulda seen everyone's face."

"I don't understand why everyone's so obsessed with him, anyway."

This was spoken by Kallen Kozuki, Ashford's number one female hurdler and pole-vaulter, who was currently attempting to unknot a set of twisted earbuds with her teeth.

She was sitting with Rolo on the single stained and squeaky coach. Rolo was currently disconnected from the conversation, scrutinizing his textbook. He didn't do any sports, and he was a couple of years younger than the rest of them, but Gino had taken a liking to him, so he had been integrated into their group a little while ago.

"He's hot," Gino stated.

Kallen shot him a look of complete and utter disgust. "There's more to a person than just their looks."

"But it is a nice bonus~" Gino said, plopping down on the couch beside her and waggling his eyebrows. "Right, Kallen?"

Kallen blushed, scowled, and scooted to the other side.

"So," Gino said, focusing his attention back on Suzaku, "what's he like?"

"He's…" Suzaku trailed off. Frankly, his brief exchange with Lelouch hadn't been all that enlightening. He still knew very little about him. "He seems okay. A little aloof, I guess."

"And he invited you to sit with him?"

"Not really," Suzaku said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was the girl who asked."

"What did you guys talk about?"

Suzaku frowned. He realized Lelouch was the school idol to the point that people practically deified the guy, but he didn't exactly want to spend his entire evening getting cross-examined by one of his most ardent fanboys.

"Not much. He asked if I did anything around the school, and I said I was on the track team. I invited him to our next meet."

"You what?"

Kallen's earbuds had fallen out of her mouth. Her expression was one of incredulity.

Suzaku raised an eyebrow. "I told him he could come to our next track meet if he wanted to."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

Suzaku shrugged. "We haven't been doing so well. I thought it would boost morale if he came."

At this, Kallen's eyes narrowed and her mouth twisted into a sneer. "Boost morale? What is he? Our school mascot?" She formed a fist and hit it against the palm of her hand. "We don't need morale. What we need is more training!"

Suzaku had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. If Kallen had her way, the track team would train eight hours a day. That was the main reason he had been chosen as captain over her.

"It's not a sure thing, anyway," he said, taking a seat on the couch between Kallen and Rolo. "He only said he might come."

"Well, I for one hope he doesn't come," Kallen snapped, twisting her already twisted earbuds in her hands. "He'll only serve as a distraction."

For awhile, all four sat on the couch without talking, Rolo flipping through his textbook at a fanatic pace, Kallen fuming, and Gino humming to himself. Suzaku could feel himself nodding off when Kallen suddenly jumped off the couch, jostling him awake.

"Crap!" she exclaimed. "Rolo, what time is it?"

Rolo glanced at his wristwatch. "A quarter till seven. Why?"

"Shoot. I forgot I told Shirley I'd go dress shopping with her."

"Ooh~" Gino said. "Is it for a special occasion?"

"No," Kallen said as she rushed around the room to grab her coat and purse. "There's a dance coming up, but it's not for awhile." She pulled on her coat and smoothed her hand through her hair. "See ya guys, later."

And she was out the door.

For a moment, no one said anything.

Then, Gino scooted closer to Suzaku

"So, you think Lelouch is gonna show?" he asked, giving him a conspiratorial jab in the ribs.

Suzaku only shrugged. He didn't really care that much either way.

Lelouch had never been to his school's track.

There had never been a need to. He always tried to steer clear of all things athletic and that included gym class. In spite of never attending a single gym class since his arrival at Ashford, he still managed to have an 'A' in P.E. All the coaches were fond of him to the point that his playing hooky had become a sort of running gag.

"Sick again, Mr. Lamperouge?" they would ask with a smirk.

Lelouch would smile and put a hand to his forehead. "Afraid I'm burning up, sir," he would say.

"Better head over to the library, then."

After exchanging winks, Lelouch would make his way to the library and read Chaucer while the rest of the students ran laps in the blinding heat. Lelouch considered this a fair trade off. His peers aced the class doing actual physical exercise while he aced the class reading literature in the comfort of a shaded room.

At any rate, he was alarmed by how packed the track was when he arrived.

Suzaku hadn't been exaggerating. There were a lot of people on the track team. Clusters of students were stretching and doing warm-up drills on the turf in the center of the track. Several others jogged laps. Surprisingly, the bleachers were nearly empty.

"Is there a snack bar here?" C.C. asked, interrupting his train of thought.

"How should I know?" Lelouch snapped. He swore all that girl cared about was food.

"By the way, your fangirls just spotted you."

Lelouch looked up. C.C., being the flake she was, had wandered off. Several girls in matching warm-up suits were pointing at him from the turf, chattering excitedly.

He instantly regretted not coming here incognito.

"Omigod! Is that who I think it is?"

"It can't be! He never comes to these kinds of things!"

"But it totally looks like him!"

"Omigod! Omigod! What if he watches my race, and I, like, totally suck?"

"He's so gorgeous! Omigod! I think he just saw us!"

Lelouch shot the group of girls a charming smile, and they began to squeal. Loudly. He made his way over to them, and they immediately began talking over one another.

"We really appreciate you—"

"—watch my race, please—"

"—outfit looks great on—"

"—staying for the entire meet?"

Lelouch nodded, amicable smile still plastered on his face. The girls continued to chatter inanely; it seemed to not matter that he wasn't responding as long as he was there.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Lelouch whirled around. In front of him stood an incensed girl with spiky red hair who had her hands on her hips and a scowl in place. Her nostrils were flared and her eyebrows were knit together.

"Your race is in twenty minutes," she continued. "Quit fooling around!"

One of the girls rolled her eyes. "Suzaku's the captain, Kallen," she said. "Not you."

The redheaded girl now known as Kallen didn't say anything.

However, when a vein popped on her forehead, the other girls went wide-eyed and scurried away.

Kallen turned on Lelouch. "Will you please refrain from pestering the athletes while they're warming up?" Although this was phrased as a question, it was definitely meant as a command.

Lelouch converted his charming smile into a self-deprecating one. "I apologize about that," he said, extending his arm. "It's nice to meet you, Kallen…"

"Kozuki," she snapped. And, with that, she strode off in the opposite direction in a huff. Lelouch let his arm drop.

He hated to admit it, but he was kind of in shock. He was unaccustomed to anyone treating him this way. Knowing C.C., she would probably chalk this up to the fact that he was getting his ass kissed 24/7.

Speaking of which, where had that girl run off to anyway?

"Um…hey, L-lelouch?"

The former pack of fangirls had been replenished with a bunch of fanboys. They wore the same warm-up suits, and quite a few of them were blushing. The de facto leader had his eyes fixed on the ground as he stuttered out his words.

"W-we were just wondering if you would, you know, m-mind watching our races?" He looked up with an earnest look in his eyes. "Y-you don't have to, of course, but—"

"Hey, guys!"

An Asian boy was trotting toward the fanboys. Wait. He looked familiar. Tan skin. Curly hair. Green eyes. Damnit. It was Suzaku. That was the last person Lelouch wanted to see.

Not noticing Lelouch, he came to a halt in front of the group of boys.

"C'mon, guys," he said, smiling good-naturedly. "You need to finish up your drills." Then, he saw Lelouch, and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Oh. Hi, Lelouch," he said, smile still in place. "Glad to see you could make it."

"There was an opening in my schedule," Lelouch deadpanned.

Suzaku nodded, and the fanboys gaped at their team captain as if he had gone completely bonkers. He was talking with the school idol who he had spilt his entire lunch on—and in a blasé manner no less!

"You guys don't want Clarus to beat us, do you?" Suzaku asked the boys, either unaware of or purposefully ignoring their shocked reactions. This question produced a few mumbled 'no's, and the boys shot Lelouch longing glances before jogging away.

Then, it was just Suzaku and himself.

Yet again.

Lelouch stifled a sigh. He wasn't really in the mood to make awkward small talk.

Luckily, he was saved from having to partake in such torture because Clarus Academy had just arrived.

Even if you lived under a rock, it was a well-known fact that Ashford and Clarus were bitter rivals. Clarus' mascot was a cat, and the Ashford student body liked to "endearingly" refer to them as the "pussies." The joke was that Clarus was a pussy that needed to be fucked and the only thing that could do it was Ashford's ginormous cock.

However, if you prescribed to that metaphor, then Ashford rarely got laid considering their losing streak, so the joke was really on them.

At any rate, Lelouch got the impression that this was a very important meet.

As the students marched through the gates in a single file line, he expected to see an expression of worry or apprehension pass over Suzaku's face.

Instead, the boy just kept smiling.

"I'm sorry, but it looks like I have to go," Suzaku said, fixing his vivacious green eyes on Lelouch. "I have a race to run."

It was only when Lelouch made his way to the bleachers that C.C. popped up out of nowhere.

"They don't sell pizza at the snack bar," she informed him.

When he didn't respond, she plopped down beside him. "Which race is first?" she asked.

"Either the 800 or the mile."

"How do you know that?"

"Because Suzaku's running first."

Lelouch had watched Suzaku finish up his drills and change out of his warm-up outfit. He was a little surprised by how revealing the uniforms were, but he was even more surprised at how strong Suzaku looked. Although he appeared to be about his own height and weight, he actually had muscles—not the ones you had to flex to see but the bona fide kind that were there no matter which way you moved.

It was only while Suzaku was lacing his spikes that Lelouch realized he was being creepy and averted his gaze. Just because Suzaku had invited him to this track meet didn't necessarily mean he had to watch his races. In fact, he was going to get up and head over to the pole-vaulting area right this sec—

"It's about to start," C.C. said.

"What? Where?"

She indicated the place where white blocky letters were painted on the track. Suzaku, wearing a bib with the number 7, was jammed between a bunch of other boys from both Ashford and Clarus. His eyebrows were furrowed in a look of intense concentration.

"Runners, set…go!"

A gunshot was heard, and they were off.

It began as a mass of jabbing elbows, without leader or direction.

Then—almost imperceptibly—Suzaku broke away from the group, and he was in front. As the seconds ticked by, Suzaku widened the gap. There were no serious contenders—there was only Suzaku and his feet hitting the track, and, in truth, it was kind of mesmerizing.

It looked almost effortless. His stride was crisp and confident, never breaking, never faltering. His arms pumped at his sides in a steady rhythm. His expression was tranquil…

…yet there was still that burning willpower in his gaze.

Lelouch distantly heard someone call out a time when Suzaku rounded the track, but he didn't process it. If Suzaku was tired, he gave no indication that he was. His pace stayed the same, and he began his second lap.

There was something innately beautiful about the way he ran. It was so uninhibited and visceral, animal-like yet still intrinsically human. There was no hesitation in his steps, only perseverance.

On the fourth lap, he sped up.

Lelouch could feel his heart rate speed up. He clenched the bleachers with both hands. C.C. could have been laughing at him at that very moment, and he wouldn't have noticed.

200 meters left. 100 meters left. Suzaku was sprinting, giving everything he had left. People shouted his name and clapped. He had won. Easily. Did he raise his arm in victory? Did he so much as smile?

No. He crossed the line like any other.

"Impressive."

Lelouch turned in the direction of C.C.'s voice. She was no longer there, but he was too stunned to care. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. He knew there were people who could move that fast, but he had never seen it with his own two eyes before.

When he heard a rustling sound beside him, he jumped. Suzaku had appeared out of nowhere and was rummaging through a track bag. Although he had just accomplished an incredible feat, he looked the same as before. The only difference was the patches of sweat that glistened on his tan skin.

"Nice race," Lelouch called out. That was the understatement of the year. Nice didn't even begin to cover it.

Suzaku turned toward him and smiled fondly. His eyes were ridiculously green. "Thanks," he said.

Lelouch opened his mouth to say something else, but, before he knew it, three people had surrounded Suzaku. He recognized that Kallen girl from before, but there was also a tall blonde boy and a shorter boy with light brown hair. The blonde boy put Suzaku in a headlock and began jabbering excitedly.

"Sub-four, my man!" he exclaimed. "You were haulin' on that last one!"

Suzaku's eyes widened. "Sub-four? Really?"

"You just made it," the shorter boy said with a smile. "3:59. I timed."

Kallen grinned. "You really whipped those pussies!" she said.

Suzaku beamed, but then he noticed Lelouch sitting by himself and said, "I'd like you guys to meet someone. This is Lelouch Lamperouge. Lelouch, these are my friends Gino, Kallen, and Rolo."

The blonde boy extricated Suzaku's head from between his arm and bounded toward Lelouch with as much joy as a child on Christmas morning. "Gino Weinberg," he announced, taking Lelouch's hand and shaking it vigorously. "Thrower extraordinaire. Don't be afraid to ask if you need anything—anything at all!"

Lelouch had to stand up and pull with all his might in order to free his hand from Gino's vice-like grip. "Nice to meet you," he said warily.

"I'm Rolo," the shorter boy said, smiling sweetly. "I don't run, but I keep track of everyone's times."

"Nice to meet you, too," Lelouch said, shaking hands.

Kallen merely gave him a curt nod. "We've already met," she grumbled.

"So," Gino said, clapping his hands together, "whose running next?"

"I've got the 300 meter hurdles," Kallen said.

Ten minutes later they all watched Kallen hurdle with Gino giving enthusiastic whoops all the while. While she didn't have nearly the lead Suzaku had during his race, she did manage to smoke her competition.

When Kallen exited the track, an orange-haired girl wearing a letterman ran up and wrapped her in a very enthusiastic bear hug.

"Wow, Kallen! That was incredible!"

"Shirley, I'm all sweaty."

The girl giggled and removed herself from Kallen. "I'm glad I didn't miss your race," she said. "Wasn't that a personal record?"

Before Kallen could respond, the girl let out a gasp. She had just noticed that the almighty Lelouch Lamperouge was standing right in front of her.

For a few moments, the girl just stood there in disbelief before extending her hand. "Hi, I'm Shirley Fenette," she said.

Lelouch smiled at the girl. She had big green eyes like Suzaku, but they were a few shades lighter in color. "Are you also on the track team?" he asked.

Shirley shook her head. "Oh, no," she said. "I swim. Kallen's been trying to convince me to join, though."

"If you're being chased by an axe murderer, you're not gonna be able to swim away," Kallen deadpanned.

"Yeah, you'll just jump over him!" Gino said.

Kallen shot Gino a dirty look, but everyone else couldn't help but laugh.

The rest of the day was pleasant. Lelouch had been successfully integrated into their group for the time being, so the five watched each other's events. Kallen managed to vault outlandishly high, and Gino threw the discus an inhuman distance. Suzaku ran the 800, and everyone cheered him on as he creamed his competition once again.

By the time the meet finished, it was nighttime, and the Ashford track team was in high spirits. They managed to beat Clarus by a mere two points, and several students ran around screaming, "Yeah! We fucked those pussies!"

Shirley was the first to leave but not before giving a shivering Rolo her letterman to wear. He blushed and thanked her profusely. She told him it was no problem with a pleasant smile, and his blush grew darker as she skipped away.

Gino and Kallen both had a test to study for. (Well, it was more like Gino had a test to study for, and he somehow managed to rope Kallen into tutoring him). In any case, they left together.

Many of the students bade Lelouch farewell, telling him how much they appreciated his coming to watch and how they hoped he would go to the next meet. A couple lingered around for a while to indirectly boast about their times to the school idol, but they eventually had to go as well.

After awhile, Lelouch and Suzaku were the only two people still there. Suzaku was cleaning things up, and Lelouch felt obligated to wait for C.C. to pop up again so they could go back to the dorms together.

When Suzaku finished up and bade Lelouch goodbye, Lelouch felt something rise up in him.

"Wait!" Suzaku turned around, surprised. "Suzaku, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Lelouch swallowed. He hadn't actually thought about anything to talk about.

"Um," he said, "everyone ran really well."

Wow. Just wow. Lelouch wanted to hit himself upside the head. Suzaku was going to laugh in his face. He just knew it.

Instead, Suzaku just smiled one of those fond smiles of his. "Yeah," he agreed. Then, he chuckled. "To be honest, I think you played a pretty big role in that."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I think the fact you were here made everyone want to perform better." He chuckled again. "I guess you're kind of our team's lucky charm."

Lelouch could feel his face heating up, but he didn't know why. He was glad it was dark. "Suzaku," he said, "could I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Well…" he trailed off and looked down at his shoes. "Truthfully, my fitness level isn't what it could be, and I was wondering if you would mind helping me…improve it. My fitness, that is. I would completely understand if you didn't have the time—"

"You want me to be your personal trainer?"

Lelouch looked up. "It wouldn't be for free, of course. I'd pay you however much you wa—"

"Lelouch, it's fine," Suzaku said with a smile, cutting him off. "I'd be happy to help. What days are good for you?"

"Um, Saturdays are okay."

"Great! See you next Saturday, then!"

He flashed one last smile at Lelouch as he waved goodbye and made his way through the gates.

God, Lelouch thought, his eyes are so green.

The rest of the week passed by slowly. It wasn't like Lelouch was anxious about seeing Suzaku on Saturday or anything ridiculous like that. No. He was just excited about the opportunity to improve his fitness. Right. That was it.

C.C., on the other hand, seemed to have different ideas.

"When's your man date?" she asked as she read a celebrity magazine. While sitting on Lelouch's bed, of course. C.C. liked the tabloids because of their schadenfreude appeal—or something along those lines.

"We're working out together," Lelouch corrected her.

"Like I said, man date."

Lelouch rolled his eyes. She had no idea what she was talking about.

When Saturday rolled around, Lelouch faced a rather pressing issue: he owned no workout clothes. That was a problem.

This problem resulted in hunting down some random boy in his dormitory and asking him if he could borrow a shirt, shorts, and some tennis shoes. Naturally, the kid consented, but it became rather uncomfortable when the boy began touching him and cooing, "Anything for you, Lelouch~"

In any case, at least he had some workout clothes. Lelouch wasn't too fond of sharing clothing, but he considered these mitigating circumstances. After all, it wasn't like he could show up to his workout session wearing a turtleneck and designer jeans.

Suzaku had caught up with him during passing period on Friday to fill him in on the details. Apparently, they would be working out at some park that he hadn't known existed.

"I didn't know there was a park by Ashford," Lelouch had said.

Suzaku had cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah, people go there all the time."

Yep, Lelouch was out of the loop. Big time.

He was supposed to meet Suzaku at the park at 4:00 P.M., but Lelouch, being the punctual and incredibly considerate person he was, arrived ten minutes early. Suzaku arrived fifteen minutes late.

"Sorry I'm late," the Japanese boy called out as he ran toward Lelouch, smiling a disarming smile. "Practice ended up running a little late. I hope you weren't waiting long."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "You had practice today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's a Saturday."

Suzaku looked confused. "Yeah. So?"

"You have practice on Saturdays?"

"Yeah, we have practice everyday."

It was official: Suzaku Kururugi was an exercise nut. He probably ran miles upon miles every day—not to mention he had agreed to be the personal trainer of some guy he didn't even know that well. Needless to say, this workout session would not be a walk in the park (pun intended).

Lelouch was understandably uneasy.

"So," Suzaku said, "is there anything you want to start out with?"

"What do you mean?"

"Um, are there any warm-up drills or anything you want to do?"

Lelouch didn't actually know any warm-up drills, but he didn't want to seem completely ignorant so he said, "I'll leave that up to you."

Suzaku smiled and nodded. "All right, then," he said. "Let's start out with an easy ten minute jog."

WHAT.

Lelouch blanched. He wasn't so sure if he was up for this, after all. "Is that ten consecutive minutes?" he asked.

Suzaku raised an eyebrow, looking rather perplexed. "Yeah, is that a problem?"

Okay. He could do this. He just had to muster all his willpower. He was Lelouch Lamperouge. He could do anything he set his mind to.

"No," Lelouch said, "that's not a problem."

And he started off.

It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. The day wasn't too hot or too cold, and the air felt refreshing on his face. The park's grass had just been mowed, so it was even and he didn't have to worry about twisting an ankle. Suzaku jogged alongside him, giving words of encouragement.

"There you go, Lelouch," he said, smiling. "You've got the hang of it."

Yes, this was not too bad at all. Maybe he should do this more often.

But, after awhile, it got harder.

His breathing became labored, and each step felt heavier. Both his throat and legs began to burn. Nonetheless, he willed himself forward. He could do this. He had to do this.

But then his breathing turned into pants, and his legs turned to lead. If he moved any farther, he would collapse. Suzaku had to understand!

Lelouch hunched over and planted his hands on his knees, gasping in air.

"Lelouch, what's wrong?"

Lelouch took in five more gulps of oxygen before looking up. Suzaku had a concerned expression on his face.

"I…can't…go…on…" Lelouch said in between wheezes. And it was true. He truly couldn't.

"What do you mean?"

How dense was this boy? Couldn't he tell he was in immense pain? Lelouch glared at Suzaku and managed to gasp out, "Too tired."

Suzaku's eyebrows furrowed. "Lelouch," he said, "you've been running for five minutes at a ten minute mile pace."

"What?" That couldn't be true! That felt like ages!

Suzaku tapped his wristwatch, and Lelouch glanced down. Sure enough, it read five minutes.

"I'm done," Lelouch said, raising a hand in surrender. "Let's just call it a day."

Suzaku gave him a look of incredulity. "You can't be done. We just started."

That did not spur Lelouch into action. He remained hunched over. Suzaku sighed.

"Tell you what," Suzaku said, "if you finish the workout, then I'll buy you an ice cream cone."

Now Lelouch was the one to be incredulous. "You can't be serious."

Without responding, Suzaku grabbed Lelouch's hand and yanked him into an upright position. Lelouch made a rather indignant and unmanly noise, but Suzaku paid no heed.

"Okay," Suzaku said, releasing his hand, "you've got five more minutes to go. Get a move on."

"What if I said 'no'?"

"I never said I was giving you a choice."

In a matter of moments, Suzaku's pleasant expression had hardened into an intense gaze. His eyes were narrowed, and his eyebrows were furrowed. The formerly happy-go-lucky Japanese boy now had a classic don't-shit-with-me look on his face. The sudden change was rather unnerving to say the least.

"Alright," Lelouch said. It didn't seem like he had much of a say in the matter. Somehow he managed to move his lead legs, and he was jogging again.

Unadulterated agony raked his body. At times he thought his vision blurred. His lungs felt like a ticking time bomb about to burst out of his chest at any second. Still, he persevered, willing his wobbly legs forward.

"C'mon, Lelouch. You've got this."

If Lelouch had the strength, he would have glowered at the other boy. Suzaku was a tyrant, a sadist. That charming smile was merely a cover for his true malevolent personality.

"Time."

Lelouch collapsed on the grass, panting. He didn't care if anyone saw him. His dignity was the least of his worries.

"Lelouch?"

For a few moments, Lelouch continued to pant and gasp and wheeze, his vision bombarded by park grass.

"Lelouch?"

Lelouch's head snapped up. Suzaku was looking down at him with both eyebrows raised.

"What?" Lelouch croaked. God, his throat was dry. He needed water. Pronto.

"You don't do any sports, do you?"

Lelouch's eyes narrowed. "Isn't that obvious?"

Suzaku bit his lip. "Do you even go to gym class?"

"No."

"Then how—"

"I'm in cahoots with the P.E. teachers," Lelouch snapped, cutting him off. "Why do you care?"

Suzaku scratched the back of his neck and looked off to the side. "It's nothing," he said. "It just explains a few…things."

Lelouch should have known this "personal trainer" thing was a bad idea. Now Suzaku thought he was a weakling with the stamina of a newborn kitten. Not that he cared what Suzaku thought. It was just the principle of the thing.

By some means, Lelouch managed to push himself off the ground. He had to get to a water fountain.

"Where are you going?" Suzaku asked.

"To get water."

"No."

Lelouch whirled around, eyes wide. Suzaku had that same scary expression on his face from before. It was an I-mean-business face.

"You're not going anywhere until you give me twenty push-ups," Suzaku said slowly, pointing toward the ground.

Lelouch crossed his arms to his chest. Suzaku crossed his arms to his chest. Lelouch glared. Suzaku glared.

"Fine," Lelouch said, stifling a sigh. He positioned himself on the ground, wincing as he realized his hands would be covered in dirt.

He collapsed after seven push-ups.

"You're not giving yourself enough leverage. You need to put your hands closer together."

Before he had time to respond, Suzaku's hands were wrapped around his arms, readjusting his position. Lelouch wrestled out of his grip and frowned. Suzaku merely sighed.

"Do you just want me to demonstrate?"

Lelouch nodded and stood up. Planting his hands on the ground, Suzaku did a perfect push-up. Then another. And another. But Lelouch wasn't paying attention to his form. Not at all.

Instead, his eyes were riveted on his back muscles, watching how they flexed and strained underneath that thin cotton t-shirt. Lelouch licked his lips. He had never realized how broad his shoulders were or how sculpted his torso. His eyes traveled downward. He had also never realized how firm his—

"Do you get it now?"

Suzaku was looking straight at him. Lelouch blushed. "Y-yes." He cleared his throat. "I think I can manage."

This time Lelouch collapsed after eight push-ups.

"Just five more, Lelouch. You can do this."

His arms felt like gelatin. He positioned himself once more.

"C'mon. I know you can do it." Suzaku's tone was emphatic.

And Lelouch did it. He cranked out five more. When he finished, he face-planted in the grass and felt someone patting his shoulder.

"Let's go get water. You've earned it."

Lelouch gingerly stood up and followed Suzaku. He led him over to an oak tree that had a large bottle of water resting against the trunk. Suzaku picked it up, and began to chug it down.

And Lelouch watched.

It wasn't like Suzaku's Adam's apple bobbing up and down turned him on or anything. He wasn't some kind perverted voyeur. No, it was just so disgusting that he couldn't help but look. That was the same reason why his eyes were fixated on the rivulets of water that trickled down Suzaku's chin. It was so distasteful that he couldn't take his eyes off it.

When Suzaku finished, he wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand and smiled. "Wanna sip?" he asked.

"Isn't there a water fountain here?" Lelouch asked.

"Well, yeah, but the water's kind of warm. You're more than welcome to have some of mine."

Suzaku handed the bottle to Lelouch. Lelouch just stared at it.

"I promise I don't have any diseases," Suzaku said with a chuckle. Lelouch took a swig.

H2O had never tasted so orgasmic. Before he knew it, he had gulped the entire thing down. Suzaku laughed.

"Jeez, you were thirsty," he said.

"I apologize," Lelouch said, "I didn't mean to—"

"Don't worry about it," Suzaku said, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. "You obviously needed it more than me."

The day had gotten hotter. The sun beat down on Lelouch, making him sweat harder than before. He felt languid and weary and suddenly Suzaku's offer of ice cream didn't sound so bad after all.

"So," Lelouch said, putting on his most charming smile, "how about that ice cream?"

Suzaku raised an eyebrow. "Ice cream?"

"Didn't you offer?"

"You're not nearly finished with your workout."

"I'm…not?"

"Yeah," Suzaku said, "you still have sit-ups, pull-ups, planks, squats, stretching, mobility drills—not to mention your thirty minute run."

Lelouch's eyes widened to the size of ping-pong balls. "Thirty minute run?"

"Yeah, and that's not counting the cool down."

"Cool down?"

"Just the basic things—strides and stretching."

Lelouch was rendered speechless.

"Well," Suzaku said with a grin, "let's get started."

And with that, he bound off across the grassy field as pure, unadulterated horror snaked its way inside Lelouch. He had gotten winded from just the warm-up jog and now this!

Needless to say, this was going to be a very long day.

After collapsing five times, dry heaving three times, and nearly fainting twice, Lelouch Lamperouge finally finished his workout.

Even while he was on the verge of death, that Suzaku bastard just kept smiling and giving (utterly meaningless) words of support. Also, that boy had the gall to rip his shirt off in front of him. When Lelouch had demanded why the other boy thought it necessary to bare his naked chest, the other merely shrugged and gave a vague answer about the day being hot. As if! Suzaku was just trying to get a reaction out of him, but Lelouch wouldn't have any of that. He did not admire Suzaku's abdominals or biceps or pectorals during the rest of the workout.

Now they were at an ice cream parlor that Lelouch also hadn't known existed near Ashford, and Suzaku (with his shirt now on, thankfully) was lapping up his mint chip ice cream in a disgusting fashion. It was dribbling down his chin, spilling onto his hands, and trickling onto the table. Lelouch, on other hand, ate his vanilla ice cream with small, dignified nibbles.

"You were great out there," Suzaku said, taking a large bite out of his ice cream. Lelouch winced.

"That's debatable," he replied.

"I'm being serious," Suzaku said, making no move to wipe the globules of ice cream from his face. "You really pushed yourself."

Lelouch cocked an eyebrow. It wasn't so much that he had tried than that Suzaku had forced him to continue. "What caused you to become such an exercise nut?" he asked, taking a dainty lick of his own ice cream, hoping Suzaku would learn how to eat properly by example.

Suzaku raised both eyebrows. "Exercise nut?"

"I get the impression that you thoroughly enjoy working out."

Suzaku smiled and shook his head. "It's not so much that," he said. "I just enjoy being outdoors."

As he said that, Suzaku stuck the remainder of his cone in his mouth and began munching on it. Loudly. His entire face was covered in his mint frozen desert, making him appear much younger than he actually was. In a way, it was kind of cute. His big green eyes and messy face exuded a sort of childish innocence.

"Lelouch?"

Lelouch broke out of his trance. "Hmm?"

"You have a bit of ice cream on your face."

And, before Lelouch could react, Suzaku licked his sticky index finger and smeared it across Lelouch's right cheek. Then, with a dopey smile on his face, he dabbed at his spit a few times before saying, "There. It's all gone."

Lelouch's eyebrows twitched. He looked right and left, but, luckily, no one in the parlor had seen what had just transpired. Nonetheless, he had to restrain himself from launching across the table and tackling Suzaku (although, in reality, such an action would have been futile).

"Suzaku?" It was a struggle to keep his voice even.

"Yeah?"

"Your face is covered with ice cream."

Blinking owlishly, Suzaku raised a hand to his face and patted it. He seemed completely taken by surprise by the stickiness on his skin. Lelouch raised a hand to his forehead in exasperation.

"It's been there the entire time," Lelouch stated.

"Huh."

Grabbing a couple of flimsy napkins from the table, Suzaku began wiping himself off. For a minute, nothing could be heard except the furious scrubbing of skin.

"Did I get it all?"

Lelouch looked up. Suzaku was grinning.

Not even close.

"Yes," Lelouch lied. "Look, Suzaku it's getting late…" He glanced down at his wrist even though he wasn't wearing a watch. "I should probably head back soon." He stood up and pushed in his chair. "Thank you for the ice cream…and your help."

"Wait."

Emphatic green eyes gazed up at Lelouch. A calloused hand had reached to grab his own.

"There's something I want to show you."

They ended up lying on a grassy hill located between the ice cream parlor and that dreadful, dreadful park. The night was warm and humid, and, for some reason, everything seemed more fragrant: the soil beneath them, the stillness of the air, and the dried perspiration on Suzaku's skin (which, surprisingly, wasn't an altogether unpleasant smell). Above them, the stars twinkled and winked, and Lelouch located constellations he had seen in astronomy textbooks.

Suzaku nudged him. "There's Orion," he whispered.

The hunter and his bow and arrow glimmered from above, forever etched into the sky because of the goddess Artemis.

Lelouch sighed in contentment. It was funny to think that he had probably spent more time outside in this single day than an entire month, and, even though he felt weary and exhausted, he could still enjoy the stars. It was incredible how many there were.

"It makes you feel insignificant," Lelouch murmured.

"What?"

Lelouch made a sweeping gesture of the sky.

"Really?" Suzaku's voice was thoughtful, contemplating. "It doesn't feel that way at all to me. It makes me feel like…I'm part of something great."

"What do you mean?"

"When I look up at the stars, I'm reminded that there's not just Earth. It's weird, but I kind of take the universe for granted. I know it's there, I've read about it, but I don't really think about it all that much. But, at night, I'm reminded of its actual existence…and sometimes I start thinking how other people around the world might be thinking the same things I am. They might live in a different place and speak a different language, but they have the same stars and they ask the same questions…" He trailed off, a small smile forming on his lips. "I guess," he continued, "it makes me think that I'm part of something than can't even be put into words. Kind of silly, huh?"

He turned toward Lelouch, smile still on his lips, and his curly hair falling slightly in front of his face. A shadow had been cast across his face from the darkness, but his eyes still shone as bright and green as ever.

"No," Lelouch said, "I don't think it's silly at all."

Their noses were nearly touching to the point that Lelouch shaking his head would have given Suzaku an Eskimo kiss, and they could feel each other's breath, warm and moist like the humid night air surrounding them. A part of Lelouch wanted to move closer, to let his eyes slide shut and close the distance between their lips.

Another part of him wanted to run away because, in truth, it was kind of overwhelming.

It was completely silent save for the occasional lone cicada, and God it was hot—so hot that he could feel his shirt sticking to his skin, and Suzaku's eyes were locked on his, and they were very bright and honest and many things that were making his heart pound louder louder louder, and he hoped to God that Suzaku couldn't hear because this was just embarrassing because they were both boys and this wasn't romantic. This wasn't a date. They had just finished working out, and they were sweaty and gross and kissing Suzaku should have been the very last thing on his mind.

But, nonetheless, his throat was constricting, his cheeks were flushing, and he was moving closer, closer, closer—

Suddenly, a loud noise emitted in Suzaku's direction, and Lelouch pulled back, eyes wide.

"What," Lelouch said, "was that?"

Suzaku looked a little sheepish. "Um," he said, "my stomach just growled."

Lelouch cocked an eyebrow. "We just had ice cream. How could you possibly be hungry?"

"Well, I, uh…"

While seeing Suzaku get all flustered was rather amusing, Lelouch was impatient. Why couldn't he just spit it out already?

"Yes," Lelouch said, "what is it?"

"I usually eat about five thousand calories a day."

"What?"

Suzaku looked embarrassed. He scratched the back of his neck. "I exercise a lot, so I'm kind of hungry all the time."

Lelouch couldn't comprehend how Suzaku could have room for any more food. That ice cream wasn't exactly small, and Lelouch certainly felt sated.

Another loud rumble emanating from Suzaku's stomach interrupted his train of thought.

"I'm sorry," Suzaku said, eyes apologetic, placing his hands on his stomach. "This must really be ruining the mood."

"Mood?"

"Um." Suddenly, Suzaku's cheeks were ablaze. He stood up. "I should really head back," he said. "Get something to eat."

Lelouch stood up. "I'll make you dinner," he said before he could think better of it.

Suzaku blinked. "What?"

Now it was Lelouch's turn to be embarrassed. "In return for helping me train," he said, attempting to keep his voice even. "That's all."

Because that was all it really was. Nothing more.

Suzaku seemed a bit hesitant. He bit his lip, and, for a moment, Lelouch thought he would decline the invitation, and he wasn't exactly sure whether to feel immense relief or disappointment.

But then the boy broke into a grin.

"I'd love to," he said, his eyes glittering under the night sky. "Thank you."

Lelouch smiled back, those words making him feel warmer than they probably should.

And the two walked back together.

Suzaku seemed surprised when he entered Lelouch's dorm.

"What is it?" Lelouch asked, opening up a cupboard and pulling out two glasses.

"It's just…" Suzaku trailed off, surveying his surroundings once more. "Your dorm is a lot bigger than mine," he finished.

Lelouch filled the glasses with ice cubes (two each) and water. "It is?" he asked.

Suzaku bit his lips, his eyes continuing to wander. "Yeah, it's probably, like, three times bigger."

Was Suzaku insinuating that he was spoiled? Lelouch frowned. "Well, I do share it with someone," he said, a slight defensive edge to his voice as he handed Suzaku his glass.

"Oh. What's his name?"

"It's a she. C.C. That girl who sits with me during lunch."

Suzaku raised both eyebrows in incredulity. "You share a room with a girl?"

Lelouch continued to frown. What was up with this guy? "Yes."

"Are you even allowed to do that?"

Lelouch didn't understand what he was getting at. "I spoke with the principal, and he said it was alright. Is that unusual?"

Suzaku opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed it. For a moment, it was silent, and Lelouch drank from his glass in lieu of conversation.

"So," Suzaku finally said, "is she your girlfriend?"

Eyes bulging, Lelouch opened his mouth in retort, but he began choking on his water. For a good minute, he hacked and coughed, trying to force the liquid down the right pipe. Suzaku's eyes widened in alarm, and he seemed about ready to spring into action, but Lelouch put up his hand to stop him. He was not getting the Heimlich maneuver for suffocating on water. That was for sure. So, he continued to cough until finally he could manage to speak.

"No," Lelouch spat, his grip on his glass tightening. "She's not. We're friends…out of necessity."

"Friends with benefits?"

Lelouch shot Suzaku a glare. "Do you only think about sex?" he demanded.

Suzaku cocked an eyebrow. "I only just mentioned it," he said.

"Well, we're not," Lelouch said, his tone decisive. "It's not like that between us. At all."

Again, it was silent.

And awkward. Very awkward.

And, as awkward as it was, Lelouch thanked whatever omniscient being may or may not have existed that C.C. was not here to watch this unravel. She had decided to go out tonight because she hadn't wanted to interrupt Lelouch's "man date." Lelouch had explained to her that they would not be going back to his place and had received a cock of the eyebrow in return. And what do you know? They were back at his place. If C.C. was here, then she would have chuckled from behind her hands and smirked and winked and dropped sexual innuendo, which would have made the situation all the more uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Suzaku's stomach grumbled for what seemed like the umpteenth time that night. Suzaku blushed. Lelouch broke out of his trance.

"Right," Lelouch said. "What do you want to eat?"

"Um, whatever's fine."

Lelouch walked over to his refrigerator and began sifting through his food. Pizza? No way. The smell now sickened him thanks to C.C. Salad? Not all that filling, and Suzaku seemed to be very hungry. He opened his pantry, and that's when he found it: pasta. Perfect. He'd read somewhere that runners needed lots of carbohydrates.

He picked out the box and said, "How does pasta sound?"

"That sounds good. Thanks."

As Lelouch began to tear open the box, he looked down and had to stifle a gasp. He had forgotten he was wearing running clothes, and they looked absolutely revolting. Streaks of dry sweat were crusted to his chest, and his pits stains practically ran down his entire shirt. He could not eat dinner looking like this. He had class, after all.

"Suzaku?"

Suzaku looked up.

"Would you mind if I took a shower before I cooked you dinner? I'll be fast."

Suzaku nodded. "Um, yeah. That's fine."

Giving a sigh of relief, Lelouch rushed into the bathroom and began stripping off his nasty clothes. When he got inside the shower, the warm, cleansing water felt nice on his skin. He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled, images from earlier flashing through his head. Suzaku doing push-ups, his muscles flexing beneath his thin cotton t-shirt, the way the water dribbled down his chin as he drank, sans the t-shirt, his taut bronze skin shimmering from perspiration and sunshine…

All these and more wriggled their way into Lelouch's head, and it was only quite a bit later that he noticed the pleasurable heat pooling in his groin. When he did, he clapped his hands to his mouth to stifle his gasp.

He was completely erect, his cock dark and flushed and practically begging to be touched. He could feel his face flushing. He could feel himself panicking. This never happened, and when it did (very rarely) happen, there was no one just outside the room.

Okay. He had to calm down. How did one get rid of these things? Right. Thinking of unsexy things. That was it. Lelouch closed his eyes, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration, and thought about dead kittens and wrinkly, old people. He thought about these things with all his might.

Unfortunately, the image of Suzaku's tan toned body managed to pop up amongst these things, and, when Lelouch chanced a glance back down, he was still very much hard.

That called for (the less pleasant) Plan #2: cold water.

Lelouch turned the shower switch all the way to the blue section and was doused with ice water. He gave an extremely unmanly yelp.

"Lelouch, are you okay in there?"

Suzaku sounded very concerned from the other side of the door, and Lelouch felt ashamed. Had he really been that loud?

"I'm fine," Lelouch called out. "I just dropped something on my foot." If there was one thing Lelouch didn't want, it was Suzaku thinking he was hurt and breaking through the door while he was in this condition.

As Lelouch continued to have freezing water poured on him, his stomach knotted in dread. It still wasn't going away.

And that left only one option.

Turning the water back to warm, Lelouch braced himself. He took a deep breath, swallowed, and wrapped a hand around the base of his erection.

It was ridiculous how good it felt—just touching it. Lelouch could feel his cheeks burn. He couldn't believe he was about to do this while a boy—who, frankly, he didn't know all that well—was on the other side of the door. This was practically exhibitionism!

Nonetheless, he began to pump.

His movements were jerky and clumsy, but it still felt good. Really, really good. As long as he blocked out what he was doing, why he was doing it, and who was right outside the bathroom, he would be fine.

He spread his legs apart and placed his other hand on the shower wall to brace himself. When he closed his eyes, he allowed the images to flood in. Suzaku, naked, kissing him, touching him. It was his hand wrapped around Lelouch's cock, building up a rhythm, his big, green eyes filled with lust.

Lelouch could feel an orgasm building, and the Suzaku in his head smiled, stroking harder, his eyes growing brighter.

"It's okay, Lelouch," he whispered. "Just come."

"Su…zaaaaaaaaah…Suzaku!"

Gasping, Lelouch's eyes flickered open, watching blearily as the water washed his cum off the shower wall.

"What is it, Lelouch?"

Lelouch's eyes widened an inordinate amount.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

He needed a counterstrike. Fast.

"Suzaku," he called out, "would you mind putting a pot of water on the stove?" He hoped to God the breathiness in his voice wouldn't give him away.

"Sure. No problem."

For a while, Lelouch just slumped against the wall, thinking what a complete and utter idiot he was. Not only had he moaned out Suzaku's name, but Suzaku had also heard him. He would never live this down.

Finally—mustering all his courage—he turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He inspected himself in the mirror, and, luckily, it was not obvious that he was in some sort of post-orgasmic haze.

When he exited the bathroom, he kept his head down and was quick in picking out his clothes. Still, he couldn't help but sneak a peek at Suzaku.

The boy was staring straight at him.

Time seemed to stand still. Had he been wrong? Did Suzaku actually know what he had been doing? Lelouch's throat felt unbelievably dry. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He couldn't look away.

Luckily, Suzaku was the one to break the silence.

"This is a really nice chessboard," he said.

Lelouch glanced down. Suzaku was staring at his glass chess set that was sitting on the carpet.

Lelouch drew in a shaky breath and asked, "Do you play?"

Suzaku shook his head. "No, I don't know how."

"I could teach you." He took another deep breath. "After dinner."

Suzaku nodded. "Thanks. That sounds nice." He did not remove his eyes from Lelouch. It felt like they were boring holes in him.

And Lelouch, with only a small towel wrapped around himself, suddenly felt very exposed. It was never like this was C.C. He could parade around naked while she was around, and he wouldn't feel embarrassed. This was different.

"Is something wrong?" Lelouch asked.

Suzaku flushed and averted his eyes. "No," he said.

Not knowing what else to do, Lelouch went back to the bathroom and got changed. When he came back out to finish making the pasta, Suzaku began babbling about things: school, track, his friends, et cetera, and, for once, Lelouch was thankful for the distraction. He ended up setting out a bigger plate for Suzaku, and a smaller one for himself. Suzaku devoured his pasta in no time. Lelouch barely touched his.

"So," Suzaku said, after giving a complete lowdown on that Gino guy Lelouch had met at the track meet, "you said you were going to show me how to play chess?"

"Oh, yes."

Lelouch hefted the glass chess set onto the table and set up the game, explaining the different functions of the pieces to the other boy. It all seemed to go over Suzaku's head, and, indeed while they were playing, Lelouch had to continually remind him which moves were illegal and even what 'checkmate' meant.

"I guess I'm more of a physical person," Suzaku said sheepishly after he had been put into checkmate for the third time that night.

"I can tell," Lelouch replied.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lelouch felt rather guilty. Suzaku seemed to be trying his best, and, at very least, the boy had common sense not to pleasure himself to another person and moan out their name while that person was in the adjacent room.

"Lelouch, are you okay? Your face is all red."

"I-It's too hot in here," Lelouch stammered.

"But isn't the air conditioner—"

"Anyway," Lelouch said, cutting him off, "you're too impulsive. You need to anticipate your opponent's moves and think about the big picture—not just instant gratification."

"Instant gratification, huh?"

"Yes," Lelouch stated, willing his face not to heat up again.

In the end, Lelouch got Suzaku in checkmate once again, but the other boy did much better than before, apparently taking Lelouch's advice to heart. Suzaku seemed satisfied with his progress and decided to call it a night.

"Thanks for dinner," he said with a grin. "This was fun. We should do it again some time."

"Yes," Lelouch agreed, "we should."

Before exiting the dorm, Suzaku gave a final wave, and he was gone.

Lelouch slumped down on the couch, ready to invest in some much needed R&R, but C.C. barged inside as soon as he had made himself comfortable.

She was carrying a plethora of shopping bags, and Lelouch had to wonder how many things she had charged to his credit card. "How was your man date?" she asked, tossing the bags on the couch.

"Where were you?" Lelouch asked.

"That's none of your concern. How was your man date?"

Lelouch opened his mouth and then closed it, realizing that his time spent with Suzaku did kind of seem like a date. Going out to ice cream, stargazing—he'd even cooked him dinner for Pete's sake!

"We worked out, and then he came here, and we played chess," Lelouch said, attempting to eliminate all emotion from his voice.

C.C. cocked an eyebrow, amused. "Chess? Isn't that third base for you?"

Lelouch's eyebrows furrowed. "That doesn't make any sense," he said.

"How so?"

"Suzaku's male."

C.C. opened her mouth as if to say something, but then she shut it, shook her head, and went to her room.

AN: Yeah, smut will be forthcoming in the next (and hopefully final) chapter. Sorry if there's a ton of typos in this. I'm in desperate need of a beta. D:

Well, reviews are always loved! :)