They are having their very first date in a library.
Their FIRST EVER DATE inside a LIBRARY.
A LIBRARY.
For their FIRST DATE.
Lelouch taps his forefinger on the table as he waits for C.C. to finish reading the book she had been engrossed with for the past two hours. It's not like he has anything against books. He likes them to be honest. Spending time inside his father's library had been a permanent part of his youth and training. Hell, he can also lock himself with a book for a whole day. But right now… Right now, they are supposed to be having their first date after getting C.C.'s 'yes' which he had been asking for a century. Okay, a century is a bit of an exaggeration, but he never got to spend months in pursuing a single girl so waiting for C.C.'s answer felt like waiting for the end of the world to Lelouch. He had planned of some romantic but not cheezy ways to impress her like making a reservation for the whole restaurant downtown. But unfortunately, they had been stuck in this small library for two hours and counting, and he can't get himself to ask her when they are going to leave.
A small gasp catches his attention and he finds the woman covering her mouth as she stares incredulously at the page she is reading. Are those tears in her eyes? Suddenly, a hand tightly grips his wrist and C.C. is looking at him brokenly. "How cruel, Lelouch. He… He doesn't deserve a tragic fate like that. H-How could she do that to him? He was her brother." Her trembling hand is starting to cause panic to the mafia prince.
"Who are you talking about, C.C.?" he asks dumbly.
"Jackson."
"Jackson?"
She holds the book infront of him and points at the sentence that states, 'And in that moment, he realized how the sun was so warm and the earth was made of the stardust as his body succumbed to the pain of the gunshot that came from his own family.'
"Did… Did you just give me a spoiler?"
C.C. returns the book on the table and murmurs, "You plan on reading this? It's a very sad story, I don't know if your evil heart could take it."
"Try me. I can finish a book in less than half a day." Wait, what is he saying? He just made them stay here longer. Clearing his throat, he immediately adds, "But not today. Let's allot a day when we will just read. So C.C…."
She raises an eyebrow. "Hmmm?"
"Aren't you hungry? Why don't we eat somewhere?"
"I need to finish this novel first. I'm already at the climax and I don't want to lose the momentum and build-up of the story."
"But you still have more than a hundred a pages to read!" he hisses. Is she being serious? At this rate, they are really going to spend the whole day in the library.
Someone from the other table shushes him and Lelouch can't help but glare at the teenage boy.
"Your point?" C.C. asks nonchalantly as she turns a page.
"My point is this is our first date and we haven't done anything aside from you reading. I already have reserved a restaurant downtown and it is vacantly waiting for us as of the moment."
The woman's eyes widen in surprise at the same time she utters an, "Oh."
Lelouch cannot help but scowl. "Yes. 'Oh'." He sighs. "So please C.C., will you continue reading some other time?"
"For someone who had his wish granted, you are particularly bossy. Fine. I'll just finish this chapter and then we're out of here. For the meantime, why don't you find something else to do so that I can read this quicker." She waves him off like he is a naughty child and Lelouch cannot help but feel relieved.
"Yes, ma'am."
He proceeds to check out the shelves where C.C. had fixated herself earlier. She had stared at a certain book for a long while before deciding to get the one she is currently reading. Ah there it is, Love and Rebellion. He searches the other shelves that they have gone before and gets the books the he thinks C.C. loves or would love to read.
On the third shelf, a group of three men are snickering in a volume that is not appropriate for a library and the mafia prince would have silenced them if not for the possibility of them making a scene and completely ruining his date with C.C.
So he just scans the shelf quicker to get out of that place and pay at the counter when one of the men suddenly says, "Did you see that hot chick over there? Damn, she's gorgeous."
"The one with the green hair? Yeah, she looks really hot. I'm planning on approaching her later."
From his peripheral vision, Lelouch watches as the three pretend to read their books while talking about the 'hot green-haired chick'.
"She looks familiar," the third one says.
"How?"
"I think I saw her twice at Avalon's as a bar tender. And before that, as a waitress."
"Avalon's? You mean that club that has its staff cosplay everyday? Wait, I heard that they offer extra services if you know what I mean."
"Seriously? Fuck, now I can imagine those legs wrapped around me now. Fucking perfect. I'm gonna talk to her and ask to go somewhere else. I bet those lips are better doing other things. O-Ouch! Goddamn, what was that for?"
Lelouch tightens his grip on the man's wrist which he just twisted to his back. In a low voice, he warns, "You are not getting anywhere near her, do you understand?"
"The fuck is wrong with you? Who are you?"
"I'm telling you, you wouldn't want to know who I am. But if you dare lay a finger on her hair strand, I would gladly introduce myself."
"What can you do?" the man asks with malice and confidence. "You are against three people."
But Lelouch just smirks. He may not have the strength to win a physical fight between them but he knows the right parts to hit where it hurts the most and will render his opponents defenseless. When the man is kneeling and choking infront of him, the mafia prince addresses his friends with his amethyst eyes glaring at them from head to toe.
"You should be thankful that that's all I did to your friend. But consider this as a warning. I have my eyes everywhere in this city and if news comes to me that you get near my girl, you would wish that you never approached her. Do you understand?"
Coughing, the man scrambles to his friends, a trail of blood coming out of his lips. "I don't know who you are but I can get you arrested for this, you bastard."
Lelouch raises an eyebrow at the same time he casually lifts his jacket giving them a glimpse of his gun. Realizing that they are indeed dealing with a dangerous person, the group immediately flees from the aisle and out of Lelouch's sight.
"Lelouch?"
Turning around, he finds C.C. curiously peeking from the other end of the aisle. "Is something wrong?"
He shakes his head and plasters a fake smile. "Everything's fine."
The woman stares beyond his shoulder then to the books at his hands. "Are you going to buy them?"
Walking towards her, he holds them casually at his side, trying hard to act like he isn't caught red-handed. "Yeah. Are you done with the book?"
"Ah, yes. The chapter ended with a cliff-hanger though. I might return here some other day."
"Why not buy a copy?"
C.C. shrugs. "I love reading in libraries, surrounded by books and other readers like me. You know, the smell of the books and sound of page-turning. Anyway…" All of a sudden, she grabs his collar and pulls him towards her. Her soft lips lightly peck his and all he can do is stare in surprise.
"Wha-"
"That's your prize for being a patient man."
"O… Oh. Let's go here again tomorrow and I'll wait for you no matter how long."
He is rewarded with a delicate laugh. "And how about your group activities?"
"They can function a day without me."
Another laugh. His hand in hers. "Silly boy. Come on, I am actually hungry now."
Ah, this date is starting to look good.
This is their first date but this is also their first time to properly meet outside of the club without the isolation and privacy the room always gives them. Without the costumes and make-up that conceal C.C.'s true appeal. Without the hot and intense sex.
Walking some steps behind her, Lelouch studies how simple and comfortable her clothes are. She is wearing a yellow cold shoulder top which is tucked in a white shorts and completed with a pair of sky blue platform sandals that made the top of her head reach his lips. A white ribbon holds her hair up with a few strands framing her face, and her face, her ever lovely face is dusted with a light refreshing make-up that made her look younger.
So comfy, so cozy under the bright sunlight, walking with her hands behind her, head slightly tilted up as if she's enjoying the warmth. Lelouch realizes that he knew very little about her life, and it goes the same way for her. All that he learned about her during their months of contract are that she is a year younger than him, she loves eating pizza (even requested for him to bring two boxes whenever he goes to the club), a romantic who loves reading (though her romantic side rarely shows outside), and she wants to leave the club in the future when 'everything is at its right place'. That last bit is a bit unclear to him since with the amount of cash he had paid her, she can freely leave that place and even start her own business, or pursue whatever she wanted to. Hell, he even offered her to stay in the mansion. The club must have some deeper attachment to her aside from being a source of income.
Ah, he feels guilty for not trying to know her better. Even to him, it looks like he just wants her because of her body when it is actually more than that. So now, his mission is to make their relationship deeper than skinship and closer than before.
"Look, Lelouch!"
He follows C.C.'s forefinger and finds a bunch of white balloons floating up in the sky.
"I wonder what happened," she utters.
"Hmmm?"
She faces him and starts walking backwards. "When my grandfather died, we released a hundred white balloons for him."
"Are you close with him?" he asks, observing the longing in her eyes.
Halting, C.C. looks away. "He's the only ally that I had in our house. My parents hated me," she shrugs.
"Why?"
"They were so young when mom got pregnant – unplanned. They saw me as the failure of their dreams." When she turns around and starts walking again, Lelouch notes how stiff her shoulders have become. "Well, I left home when I was sixteen, so there's that."
With three large steps, Lelouch is beside her and holds her hand. "What did you do then?" he asks silently.
"Hmmm… I already graduated high school by then, but I couldn't afford to go to college so I took any possible job that could provide food. I lived in the streets for half a year before I was able to save up for rent and other necessities."
Lelouch is astounded. "Half a year? Tell me nothing bad happened to you during those months."
C.C. smiles bitterly. "When you live on the streets, bad things will always happen."
"Fuck."
They stop at the pedestrian lane perfectly blending with the norms of the society and Lelouch likes the idea of being normal for once.
"Enough about me. So, how long have you been the leader of the Black Knights?"
"Three years."
C.C. raises an eyebrow. "A rookie? And yet you've already made your mark in the world of mafia."
"The efficiency of your leadership does not solely base on the length of your rule. You've got to have the intelligence and charisma to lead a group as dangerous as the Black Knights. And undoubtedly, I am born with them. It's just that father retired early so I got to claim his position earlier than normal, too."
"Isn't it hard? To gain the trust of his men whose loyalty was pledged to your father?"
Lelouch shrugs as he watches the pedestrian light goes green. "Not really. I practically grew up in their company, trained with them. They've witnessed what I am capable of doing. And whether they are loyal or they fear me, as long as they will not do anything stupid that will affect the hold of the Black Knights in the city, then they are useful pawns in the game."
C.C. goes ahead of him and starts crossing the street. But as she steps away, she asks, "I see. So how many have you killed?"
She asks it so simply, so off-handedly that Lelouch almost answer it automatically - the number of bodies hangs at the tip of his tongue.
He falls in step with her, silent and contemplating. When they are on the other side of the road, he leads her to the restaurant that he rented and opens the door for her.
Solemnly, they sit at the lone table in the middle of the room. A clear minimalistic vase rests at the center, encaging a red blooming rose. A quartet of violinists and cellist starts playing at the corner of the room.
C.C. anxiously twirls a strand of her hair with her finger. "This is too much. I feel underdressed."
"It doesn't matter. We're the only ones here."
Their food begins arriving starting with a slice of a pepperoni pizza which the woman immediately devours.
"If I tell you, would it change how you see me?"
Looking up at him, C.C. puts down the slice and wipes her lips. The soft harmony of the violin in the background gives a feeling of both solitude and lost. "Is it that many?"
"I've killed even before I was the leader. Mostly were done through my orders. As much as possible, I want to avoid doing the killing with my own hands, but still I did."
"Then how many did you..."
"Five."
"Five..."
"And countless others whose life ended because of my words. I would understand it if you wanted to leave now. After all, our contract had ended so you are free to run away from me."
"Do you feel something when you do that? Remorse? Pleasure?"
Lelouch leans back without breaking their eye contact. "When violence had been a constant part of your life, the feeling of pleasure and remorse dims. It just becomes another household chore that you need to do every now and then. But I can't completely say that I enjoy doing chores."
"I see."
Lelouch waits for more of C.C.'s reaction but the woman just picks her pizza and resumes devouring each topping until she is licking her fingers clean of cheese. Lelouch would have found the sight sort of nasty but he is too nervous for her answer that he even barely touched his food.
C.C. nods at his direction, eyeing his pizza. "Are you going to eat that?"
He gulps, "No."
Reaching out, she gets and eats it, too.
"Eat slowly. There are still more to come and you might get full easily."
C.C. just stares at him.
"Right. Your stomach doesn't have a limit when it comes to food," takes back Lelouch.
The appetizer arrives and the mafia prince continues to watch his companion. What if she backs out? Perhaps he shouldn't have revealed those things during their first date but that would mean lying to her. He can only imagine what she thinks of him now. Yet, it's not as if he can change his past and the way he lives in a snap just to impress her. Damn, Lelouch vi Britannia trying to impress a girl? What a ridiculous thought, but here he is right now.
Suddenly a fork full of mixed vegetable appears infront of him.
"Aaaaaaa," says C.C.
He opens his mouth and the fork goes in, the vibrant flavor of the food instantly awakens his senses.
"Relax and start eating. It's not like we are already in a very serious relationship. I can still back out anytime when I feel that something's not right."
Lelouch sighs while chewing. She has a point. For heaven's sake, they're not even officially dating yet. But godfuckingfammit, how much he wants their relationship to be a serious one.
"Aren't you afraid of me?" he asks.
"Are you going to hurt me?"
His answer comes fast. "No."
"Then there's your answer." She smirks at him. "For someone who had been asking me out for months, are you going to back out now?"
"No, I am not."
"Then I'll be expecting much from you, Lelouch."
After eating, they proceed to visit a zoo wherein C.C. gushes about the tigers and kangaroos with their joeys. The way she is so excited to see them is very child-like that Lelouch wonders if this is her first time.
"That's really admirable of the mother kangaroos - to carry their child in their pockets and the young ones knowing that they have a safe place to return to when the world becomes too much in their eyes. Look! They literally slip inside it!" The crowd 'oooohs' and 'aaaawwws' at the endearing scene before them.
"Have you seen them again? Your parents, I mean," Lelouch carefully asks.
Her fingers grasp the railing tightly, eyes focused on the animals before them. "I tried to visit them two years ago but as soon as they saw me walking down the sidewalk, they locked the door and never answered my knocks. That's the first time I knew that I have a new little brother. He looked like three years old when I saw him before the curtain closed."
"C.C…." Something tugs at his heart and he can feel his chest constricting.
She sighs. "It's fine. I'm used to living alone anyway, though it would be nice to get to know my brother and spend time with him." She laughs bitterly. "I don't even know his name."
"I can find it out for you. I can even make them let you see him."
In a rare moment, C.C. looks up at him with moist in her eyes and right then and there, Lelouch swears that he will do everything to make her happy. "Really?"
"I'm not the mafia prince for nothing."
"Oh. Just don't do it in a threatening manner."
They spend another half an hour walking around the zoo. The worry-free and delightful ambiance from the families, couples, groups of friends that are leisurely looking around is a breath of fresh air to Lelouch. They visit several stores and play some games, winning ridiculous and cute items that are so out of his personality. He joins C.C. blow bubbles in the central plaza, feed the birds, ride rented bicycles around town and eat ice cream as they walk among the busy crowd of the city. He even misses the library. Ah, he can't wait to see the surprise look in her face when he gives her the books later.
Lelouch then realizes how suffocating and dark his warehouses and headquarters are, how tension always builds up whenever the Black Knights are conducting a meeting, and how his status made him isolated from the brighter side of the outside world.
He realizes how much he is missing and it makes him feel sort of sad and late.
Because for the first time in his life, Lelouch feels a sense of normalcy and ordinariness that only civilians have. For the very first time, Lelouch is enjoying himself outside his work.
"You look like you're having fun," comments C.C. as they sit on a bench, slurping their shakes. Sunset is approaching and the pink and purple hues of the sky paint their own little world with serenity.
"I am actually having fun. I've never been out like this in the open."
"Me, too. The club could be sometimes unpleasant. We can do this again next time."
"Are you asking me out on a second date, C.C.?"
The laughter that she releases this time is more relaxed and lighter than earlier. "I'm just saving you from the trouble of asking again."
Grabbing her hand that is lying between them, he places them on his lap, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand. He murmurs, "I would like that. We can do this as a regular thing. Monthly? I think it is better to do this weekly."
"And your work?"
"I have a very reliable second-in-command. And…"
"And?" she prompts.
"I think I like spending time with you more than spending time with big, dangerous men."
C.C. puts down her drink beside her and pats his cheeks gently as a silent smile appears on her lips. "Thank you."
Gazing down at her, Lelouch hopes that she can see through his eyes how serious he is about his feelings for her. "I promise you, C.C., as long as I am breathing, you don't have to be alone. You will always have me and I will never make you feel that you're unwanted. I've said this before, but I'll repeat this always, I'm going to make you my queen."
Her smile gets bigger and Lelouch feels his heart about to burst. "Well then… hurry up and be the king, my mafia prince."