Monday; 3:18 pm; Ashford Academy hallway
Suzaku's POV

"Suzaku! You won't believe what I found out!"

I was sent keeling forward when a pink blur crashed into my back, arms tightly wrapping around my neck. I wheezed, and fought to regain my balance. "Euphie?"

She giggled and released me. Thank god. Her hugs and glomps were worse than Milly"s. She waltzed in front of me and continued to walk backward, facing me as I followed. "My dear brother is coming home from China!" She giggled and twirled in the hallway, eliciting a few weird looks and amused glances from passersby. It ws rare to see the ever-proper Euphemia Lamperouge act so… giddy. She was ladylike and dainty, always drinking with her pinky up.

I adjusted the strap of my bag. "Your brother? The one you always talk about?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's the one."

I blinked. "Huh. How come?" This so-called brother of hers rarely came home, from what she tells me. Apparently, his job takes him around the world, and he usually disappears for months, before coming home for a few short visits. I've never seen him, only heard his name. She doesn't carry a picture of him in her wallet, oddly, and I've never been to her house.

"Well, Lelouch says his job in China is done for the time being, and that his friends are taking a European cruise, which he's skipping out on. So he decided to come home."

Lelouch Lamperouge. Euphie is so fond of her only brother. They've been close ever since time in memorial, and from what I've heard, he's overprotective of her. Which is weird, since he's always away. Maybe he just trusts Euphie?

"Oh. That's good, then. So you're not going to attend the Festival?" We've been working for already a month for all of Milly's requests, and we're not even done. And the festival was a week away. We were going to need all the help we could get, and it wasn't easy, especially most of the classes and clubs were also busy setting up their own booths and attractions. Why Milly wants a Giant Pizza was beyond all of us. (Where the hell were we going to get a pilot for the Ganymede? No one uses Knightmares anymore.)

She grinned at me. "Oh, no, no. I'll still be helping out. He wants to see the Festival, actually. He's an alumni here, so he wants to see how things are going." She hummed and opened the door to the Student Council room. It was empty, which was odd.

I snorted, tossing my bag to the couch. "Well he's going to be disappointed. We're not even done with the approval paperwork for the Ganymede. Or the budgeting for the clubs. And we're still missing a shipment of the tomatoes," I retorted, counting off my fingers the things Milly had assigned me to do. Just because I was her Vice President doesn't make me an omnipotent individual.

Euphie giggled, and sat down in front of the stack she was supposed to be filing. "I can make him help out."

I shook my head vehemently. "No. That'd be too rude!"

She grinned. "Then start working, Suzaku. It's almost five."

I gaped at her. She was becoming like Milly!

"Heyyyyyyy!"

…speak of the devil and Milly shall appear.

Euphie smiled and waved. "Hello, Milly."


Wednesday, a week later; 11:34 am; Ashford Academy grounds
Suzaku's POV

I was dashing around the campus, making everything was going according to schedule. It was already ten thirty in the morning, and the tomatoes were still not here. And yes, I was panicking a bit. Milly was a slave driver, but she was cruel when it came to punishments. Last year, just because I failed my Biology test due to my part time job, she made me wear something extra skimpy for our Crossdresser's Festival and it was not fun. There's a reason why I do athletics, not cheerdancing.

"Vice Pres!" someone called out to me, making me skid in my tracks and face him. "Oh, Simon. Did you need anything? Sorry, I'm just in a bit of a hurry." The brunet sophomore said his apology. "Pres said something about asking if you found a pilot for the Ganymede yet."

My stomach plummeted. "Uhh… No. Not yet." No one had volunteered, and it was obvious why. The only people who knew how to properly pilot a Knightmare were those who had been in the Damocles war fifty years ago, and I was pretty sure those people were in elderly homes now. "I'm actually thinking of piloting it myself."

Simon blinked in disbelief. "But, isn't that…?"

I grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. "It's okay. I can do it."

He nodded. "I'll tell the Pres, then."

I dashed off to the storehouse where the Ashford Academy kept the gigantic blue frame, and walked around in the dark. The light switch was somewhere near the middle (who's idea was it?) area, and it was horribly dusty, since they only did maintenance and cleaning once a year.

I froze when I heard footsteps, eyes going alert. A burglar taking advantage of Ashford's open-school festival? It wasn't impossible. The footsteps grew louder, and I could catch faint murmuring behind me. I fished out a pen form my pocket and whirled around and aimed it at the hidden person.

The lights flickered on, and I was left glaring at a male with deep amethyst eyes and straight black hair, wearing a casual button-up shirt and pants. He held a phone to his ear, and he was staring at me with dry amusement. "Yes, he's right here. In fact, he's brandishing a ballpoint-pen to my neck like some idiot."

I blinked in surprise. "Uh… Who?"

He snorted into the phone. "Talks like an idiot, too." He pointedly looked at the writing material with disdain. "Mind keeping that way?"

He seemed harmless (except with that mouth of his) so I lowered the pen. "What're you doing here? You're not a student." He looked a few years older than a high school student. Around twenty, twenty-one?

The male chuckled. "Milly asked me a favor, so I'm piloting the Ganymede for her." He offered his phone to me. "You can even ask her if you like." I nodded and took the phone, still staring dumbly at him. He seemed like a snob, with the way he walked and definitely the way he talked, but I couldn't deny that he was handsome.

Now, I've known that I was bent for quite some time now. Even before me and my mother came back to Japan from Britannia last year, I knew I liked boys. And this guy was undeniably easy on the eyes. Slightly a bit effeminate with his body structure, but still a bit boyish with the way he dressed.

"Hello?"

Milly's voice was loud in my ear. "Suzaku! You need not fret! I've got a pilot for the Ganymede, so be a dear and come to the Student Council room. We need an extra pair of hands." She then hung up with a loud 'toodles!' and I blinked dumbly before handing the phone back to the black-haired male. "So you're the Ganymede pilot? How come you know how to pilot it?"

He was already walking towards the hangar and tugging the sheet down with great difficulty. I ran over, and pulled it off in one tug, coughing at the dust cloud it brought up. He was scowling, covering his nose with a dainty hand. "I just do. Suzaku, right?" I nodded, gulping at the way my name rolled off his tongue. "You better go. Milly will have your arse if you're late." He began to log up the computers connected to the Knightmare, his back to me.

I realized that was a dismissal, so I exited and left him alone, typing on the computer with a speed I didn't know was possible.


Wednesday; 12:13 pm; Ashford Academy courtyard
Suzaku's POV

The crowd erupted in cheer when Rivalz announced the start of the making of the pizza. He was in a pink apron and a chef's hat, standing atop the platform that held up the oven made specifically for this event.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for! We're going to commence the baking of the World's Largest Pizzzzzzzzaaaaaaaaa!" The crowd cheered louder, and Euphie giggled beside me. We were sitting on the top steps leading to the Academy main building, and it offered a great view. "They're awfully enthusiastic."

I nodded, smiling. "Well, it's supposed to be the largest pizza. They even have Guinness here to shoot the event."

Rivalz threw his hand up into the air, in direction to where the Ganymede was speeding towards the oven, shaking the large metal container of tomatoes. "And here we have Ashford Academy's alumni, ex-Vice President Lelouch Lamperouge operating the Ganymede for us!" Majority of the seniors gasped at the announcement.

My jaw fell open. "Lelouch Lamperouge?! " I looked at Euphie.

She giggled, and nodded. "He arrived early today. That's him." She pointed a well-manicured fingernail to the blue machine.

I still gaped. "Yeah. I met him earlier today, when I was going to the warehouse." And not to mention actually called him handsome.

Euphie smiled.


Wednesday; 1:29 pm; Ashford Academy courtyard
Suzaku's POV

The Giant Pizza had gone off without a hitch, and everyone was happily munching on their piece. I was trailing after Euphie, who had dashed off the moment the Ganymede retreated.

The blue machine was right behind the Clubhouse, and Lelouch was climbing off the leg. "Lelouchhhhhhhh!" Euphie called out, jumping into his open arms. "I missed you!"

He laughed, his attitude doing an 180-turn from earlier. "I missed you too, Euphie. How are you?" he asked, setting her down gently. Euphie smiled brightly. "Oh, I'm fine! You were amazing earlier! It wouldn't be a surprise if your fanclub grows again!"

I felt so out of place when Lelouch laughed again and denied it. I just stood there, looking around awkwardly, when Euphie suddenly whirled around and tugged Lelouch towards to where I stood.

"Which reminds me, this is my best friend, Suzaku!" she beamed, gesturing towards me with a giggle.

I forced a strained smile on my face. "Hello, Lamperouge-san," I greeted shyly, my voice wavering.

Those amethyst orbs (deeper than Euphie's, deeper than anyone's eyes I've seen) landed on me, narrowed slightly in amusement. "Hello, Kururugi Suzaku. Euphie's been demanding I meet you." He stretched out a hand. "This will be our official meeting then."

I shook the outstretched hand, and found his grip gentle but firm. I may have held the hand a second longer than appropriate, but when he let go, he didn't say anything and just chuckled when Euphie chided him for being too stiff and sarcastic. He was being sarcastic?! Seriously?

There was something about the way he moved and talked that set me on edge, like those unreadable eyes were seeing through me. It was somewhat more unnerving than my father's own glare, and that was saying something. But whereas my father was frightening, Lelouch Lamperouge held a certain allure to them that it was hard to look away from those slanted aubergine eyes.

The siblings were in their own world, conversing with each other, and I was merely a bystander staring at my best friend's brother.

My best friend's brother…

Oh gods, I had a crush on my best friend's brother.