Chapter One
Lelouch sat on the cold bench with a sullen expression, angry with himself for letting a free Saturday slip through his fingers. He could have packed, he could have finished up the last of the paperwork, hell, he could have slept in and caught some much-needed sleep. But no, the witch just had to go to the amusement park today, and the selfish woman she was, she had refused to go by herself. She had climbed into his bedroom through the window, and, with the help of Suzaku - the traitor that he was - had dragged him out of bed and into the car so that they could go to some crowded amusement park.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Why couldn't she just have gone with Suzaku? The two got along well, and Suzaku was more the type to go to places like this. Why had she insisted on forcing him along? All he had done was stand by and hold her purse, along with any prizes Suzaku won her at the arcade, which were plenty. His arms had been full of stuffed teddy bears, rabbits, kittens, and Cheese-kuns. His ears were still ringing from the children who had screamed, terrified at the sight of monster made of cheap stuffed animals.
She knew how he hated places like this. They were hell to him, with their crying babies, spoiled brats, tired and temperamental parents, the heat, the highway robbery, the rides, he hated it all, and yet, she had stuffed him into the car. At least Suzaku had apologized. But her? As if such words were in her vocabulary. He doubted the woman even knew what the word meant. No, it was for certain. She knew no such word. There was no way she did. After all, he had met her when they had met on the playground after-school when they had been in kindergarten and he had yet to know just how much of a stubborn, selfish, lazy person she wa-
"What'd you think of that one, C.C.?"
"It was terrible. It was such a weak ride - supposed to feel as if my heart's in my stomach? As if that would ever happen. Not with how weak that one was."
"Really? I thought it was pretty okay. Although I don't think I would take Euphie on that one…"
"She's not made of glass, Suzaku."
"I know, but I don't want her to get hurt or anything…"
"Euphie's a person too. She wants to have fun with her boyfriend, just like any other girl."
"Well, yeah, but-"
"Why the hell do you two look like that?" Lelouch crossed his arms and stared hard at the soaked pair who were standing in a pool of water. He pulled a face and shifted his feet - who knew who and what had gone in that water?
"We just came from the Leap of Faith," explained the brunette. Tapping his chin, he said, "I think it has a 6-story drop? Was it 6-stories, C.C.? Maybe it was 8? I can't quite remember."
"Doesn't matter, either way, it still doesn't deserve its reputation."
"But yeah, it was a waterslide, and that's why we're wet."
"Well, we don't have any towels," coldly said Lelouch, "so I hope you two reflect over your decision to go on a waterslide when the sun is setting."
"Are you sure? I remember packing towels…" Suzaku stepped closer and reached for the large duffel bag sitting on the bench, and his friend squirmed away to avoid the water dripping off his tanned arm.
"We don't have any towels," he said flatly.
"Oh, well, it's not like it matters."
"And why's that?"
"I can just strain the water from my shirt," cheerfully answered Suzaku while pulling his drenched shirt off, "and C.C. can-"
"I can just do this."
The hairs on the back of Lelouch's neck rose and goosebumps appeared on his arms as he felt two slender, two very cold arms slip around his waist. He let out an inaudible gasp as she leaned in close and essentially wrapped him around her.
"I can just use you as a towel. A skinny, lanky, perverted towel, but a towel all the same."
"Let go of me, woman!"
"Be quiet, Lelouch. You're making a scene."
Sure enough, he saw the suspicious glances of middle-aged women and young men directed towards him. Gritting his teeth, he stopped struggling but immediately pushed her away the moment her grip on his shirt slackened.
"Stay the hell away from me, witch! Here's your god damn towel!"
"Oh, so we did have towels. Suzaku, do you want one?"
"Yeah, thanks, C.C."
"You're welcome," she said sweetly. She handed him a neatly folded towel before throwing one in Lelouch's general direction.
"You better dry yourself off. It looks like you had a little accident."
"And whose fault is that?" he snarled.
"Certainly not mine. If you had actually given us the towels when we had asked, that would have never happened."
"You witch, you- Don't just take your shirt off all of a sudden!"
"I'm wet and the sun's setting. If I don't change soon, I'm going to get sick. And you know who takes care of me when I'm sick?"
She looked at him pointedly as she buttoned up a strangely familiar dress shirt.
"That's right. You. So stop scolding me, or else you're going to have to see me more often than you want, and we both know that's the last thing you want. Right?"
He looked away as he tried to get the image of her pink bra out of his head. He was slightly surprised by the color and design. He would have thought that she would have preferred black and promiscuous, not feminine and pink… N-not that he had spent any time thinking about things like that. As if! He didn't see her as a woman. She was a witch, a being sent from the darkest depths of hell to disrupt his peaceful life. And it wasn't as if he had seen it because he had wanted to. She had just… She had… It was her fault for taking her shirt off without warning like that. And it wasn't as if he was the only one who had seen it either!
At the realization that he wasn't the only witness, his thoughts immediately darkened and his expression soured. That was right. He wasn't the only one who had seen it. There had been others. And not just others, other men, some of which who had been prowling around the water-slides to prey on women in see-through clothes. In fact, he could see a small gang a few feet away. They kept glancing towards C.C., who was busy tying her damp hair and chatting to Suzaku. Lelouch watched as some of them smirked and howled before clapping one of them - probably the challenger - on the back, as if encouraging him.
If there was a representative for a class-A jerk, it was this idiot. From the way he stunk to high heaven of cheap cologne to his clothes to his walk, "jerk" was written all over him. And this class-A jerk was making a beeline for C.C.
That is, he had been, until they happened to meet eyes.
Lelouch stared hard at him, the corners of his lips turned down into an unnerving scowl. When the threat still didn't back away, he narrowed his eyes, as if daring him to step closer. He stood frozen across the busy walkway, hypnotized by the anger in what he hoped looked like C.C.'s boyfriend. Fortunately, she took a seat besides him and leaned back before resting her chin on his shoulder and asking if he was hungry. He normally acted as if he hated it when she invaded his personal space like that, but for once, he let himself enjoy it. Turning to her, he studied her for a moment before exploiting the looks God had and his mother had graced him with.
C.C. blinked at the sudden wide smile, startled to be the target of such a gentle expression. She couldn't remember the last time he had looked at her that way - the last time had probably been sometime during second grade, before he began to turn into the anal-retentive prig he was today - and it was slightly disorienting. His brows drew together as he looked at her with worry.
"Are you alright, C.C.? You look a little out of it."
"Hmm?"
"You must be hungry. I'm fine with anything, as long as it makes you happy."
For all her aloof exterior, C.C. was still a woman at heart, and right now, she was enlightened as to why so many of her colleagues were constantly pestering her to set them up on a date with her best friend.
"Lelouch…"
"Yes, C.C.?"
"Have you… Fallen on your head?" She pinched his cheek. "Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that?"
"You should thank me! Do you know how many girls would kill for me to talk to them that way?"
"Oh, so you do know your reputation. Well, Mr. Casanova, don't bother asking me or Suzaku to help you with your popularity issues, now that you know how much of a womanizer you are."
"It's not like you help anyway. If anything, all you do is make the problem more complex!"
"Suzaku! We're leaving!"
"Um, yeah. Are we going to Pizza Hut for dinner then?"
"Absolutely not," thundered Lelouch. "We went to that abominable restaurant for lunch, we are not going there for dinner!"
"Then you can go eat dinner by yourself, I'm going to Pizza Hut. Let's go, Suzaku."
"Uh…"
He nervously glanced between his two friends, torn between them, until he heard Lelouch sigh and say, "Go with her and make sure she doesn't get in any trouble. There's been a lot of trouble with… Unsavory men trying to get close to her, and she needs to be protected, no matter how ornery she can get."
"Right. You should come too, Lelouch. I'm sure C.C. didn't mean what she said. She wants you to eat dinner with us. I'm sure of it."
"I'll join you in a few minutes. I just want to sit here for a few more seconds. You go
with C.C."
He nodded before jogging away. When he was alone, Lelouch heaved a sigh and leaned back. He had been stressed as of late, because of the witch. Not because she was his complete opposite. Not because of her antics. But because of their arguments. They had been getting more and more frequent, and what more, over the most petty things. He was afraid that if they weren't careful, that if they continued on the path they were currently hurtling down, they'd say the most unforgivable things to one another and then be forced to split apart. And the last thing he wanted was the split any more than they had to in the near future.
He hadn't told her yet, the news of his transfer, and he was dreading the moment he was finally going to tell her, because he just knew that they were going to argue. He didn't want that. Truth be told, he loathed bickering with her. It always, without fail, left a bad taste in his mouth, probably from all of the lies he had told her about how he was always so frustrated because of her, of how sometimes he wished they had never met, of the way he'd never see her as anything but a witch. Because the truth of the matter was that he, Lelouch vi Britannia, was hopelessly in love a witch. Had been in love with a witch for quite some years now. Completely and utterly smitten. He had slowly entangled himself with his feelings for her, and now it seemed, as his time with her quickly drained away, the web would slowly tighten around his neck until the noose took the last of his breath and what little chance he had with her.
