Kallen walked into the classroom and looked around. Most of her classmates were there, including Lelouch, who was already sleeping in class. She didn't greet him, she sat down at her seat and wholly ignored him. She remembered the comments he had made the other day, the comments that caused her insides to burn with disgust and hate.
"It's easy to live by lowering your head to the Britannians."
She glanced at him, still sleeping. He was someone who was simply lazy. He understood how the world worked, but he didn't care. He didn't do anything, he didn't even think of it. He was just a typical Buriki boy. All he knew was to obey.
The hate in her suddenly flared up again, people like him were the exact reason why corrupt powers like Britannia could exploit the Japanese people, her people.
"Hey Kallen, you were looking at Lelouch" said one of the girls in her class whose names she hadn't even bothered to remember.
"Oohh, so does Kallen like him too?" said another.
Kallen raised an eyebrow, "what do you mean 'too?'"
The girls gasped as if she had been living under a rock her whole life.
"Hello? Kallen, I know you don't come to school that much, but come on! Everyone knows that Lelouch is the most popular guy in the school!!" said the first nameless girl.
"Yeah, he's so smart, and cool, and hot!" said the other, and the two started fangirl-squealling.
Kallen looked back at him again. How could someone who slept for the duration of their classes be so popular? Granted, he was good looking, but that did not blind her to all his arrogance.
Kallen chuckled to herself, only Britannian women would fall for someone like him.
Class had begun and ended. How boring it was. The history taught in those classes were completely bias and sensationalised by the clueless and pompous Britannian historians. Kallen put away her useless and fictitious books and stood up to leave.
Her nose almost brushed his, as she found herself standing straight in front of Lelouch Lamperouge, their faces merely centimetres apart.
"Kallen, meet me at the place we met yesterday," he said with his monotonous voice.
Kallen was annoyed at his words, he had given her an order, not a request. But her annoyance was overwhelmed by perplexity; what would Lelouch need her company for? To apologise? To ask a favour? Or was he actually going to ask her out?
Kallen opened her mouth to reply, but one of her nameless female classmates screamed.
"YEEEK! LELOUCH IS ASKING KALLEN OUT!"
In contrast to Kallen's exasperation at this, Lelouch was completely unfased, oblivious to herd of screaming girls who were crowding around them.
"You don't have to come," Lelouch said, "but I'll be there at four if you're interested."
And without even waiting for some form of an answer, he left the classroom, leaving Kallen to deal with the curious and jealous classmates.
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After dseperately trying to lose the pestering and petulant girls in her class, Kallen was running to the place she had met Lelouch the other day. The place where they had seen the Japanese man abused by the Britannian men.
While she had zero interest in forming a friendship with Lelouch, or for that matter, any other type of relationship besides being classmates, she had to admit, he did interest her. He was shrouded in mystery, no one knew of his past, and barely anything about his present. He didn't care about the world or what happened in it, but he had to care about something. Kallen wondered if this meeting would reveal a layer that Lelouch had hided from the world.
Kallen looked at the time; she was 5 minutes late. Kallen hurried to their meeting place. She thought that Lelouch would be the type of person who completely despised tardiness, and would've left at 4:01. But to her utter amazement, Lelouch was silently waiting there, leaning against a wall, staring out into space.
He caught a glimpse of Kallen and she ran towards where he was waiting.
"Sorry I'm late," she said between puffs.
Lelouch shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I haven't got anything to do right now."
Kallen smirked a little. Of course he didn't have anything to do. Lelouch didn't study, do his homework, or even attend Student Council duties half the time.
A short, awkward silence (to Kallen, Lelouch probably didn't care) followed.
"So, um..."
Lelouch, who had previously been affixed with something in the far distance, returned his attention to his classmate when she said this.
"Why did you call me here today?"
Lelouch didn't reply. He got off the wall, and started walking.
"Follow me," he said.
Although Kallen was rather vexed at yet another order, she did not complain and walked beside him.
A few metres later, Kallen and Lelouch were in front of the hot dog stand they had been at the day before. Kallen looked at the man who ran it, a man who had just recently taken Refrain. Like her mother. Although not in the critical state her mother had been in, he seemed tired and bedraggled. His hair was a matted mess, and there were stubbles of hair on his unshaven face. He did not bother to greet them.
Lelouch stepped up.
"Two ice creams please."
The man's face lit up and he smiled.
"Welcome! You're back with your girlfriend I see! What flavours do you two want? We have strawberry, chocolate and vanilla."
Lelouch nodded to Kallen.
"Um, strawberry please."
"Two strawberry ice creams please," Lelouch said, handing the man a few coins of Britannian money.
The man was happily humming an unknown tune, and keenly handed Lelouch and Kallen their two ice creams. He gave Lelouch his change, but Lelouch put it back in the tip box.
"You keep it," he said.
The man's facer was brighter than before, as he bowed his thanks to Lelouch and Kallen as they left. Kallen glanced back at him, and saw him eagerly greeting passer byers, and a few of them lined up for some food.
Lelouch and Kallen found themselves sitting at the bench they had sat on the other day. Lelouch was licking his ice cream, a sight Kallen found quite amusing. Lelouch. Licking strawberry ice cream. And looking like he enjoyed it.
"Thank you," Kallen said.
"No gratitude or repayment is required for buying someone an ice cream," he replied.
Kallen didn't respond. She meant to thank him for making that Japanese man's day slightly brighter. For making his life just that tiny bit better, for just the day. She knew that hardships her people, her friends suffered: low wages, discrimination, poverty.
"That man..."
Kallen turned her head to his words.
"Is bowing his head to the Britannians..."
Kallen was about to slap him and leave again.
"...because he wants to live his life. He will take the abuse from the Britannian people with his head down, and he will work like that for as long as it takes."
"As long as it takes... for what?" asked Kallen. "For the Britannian people to realise their errors, pack up, abandon Area 11 and let Japan be how it was before?"
Lelouch looked Kallen in the eye, which made her freeze. He had such a sharp, intense look in his eyes. His gaze was infinitely strong, it seemed to pierce her mind and search and expose all her thoughts and secrets. The confidence and knowledge in them looked like they could control the people around them.
And they were purple. Kallen hadn't noticed that before, and she had never seen a purple with such depth. She thought that the purple of his eyes would only be found in the very depths of the ocean, or out in a distant nebulae. Never had she seen such a colour on Earth. It was unworldly.
"He will wait as long as it takes, for a day where he won't have to bow his heads in order to survive. He may throw away his pride and his dignity, but not his life. Not yet. He knows that day will come," and under his breath, he said "I will create that day, and so will you."
Kallen looked at Lelouch. She was surprised that such words could come from his mouth. But she returned his words with a warm smile.
Kallen stood up. "I will create that day," she said out loud, and this time, she gave the order, "and so will you."
Holding an ice cream in one hand, Kallen stretched out the other towards Lelouch. Lelouch looked at it, who at first was unsure if Kallen had heard his whisper and deduced his identity. He looked at her and saw the warmth and kindness of a friend, not a subordinate.
Lelouch took Kallen's hand, and half shaking it, half helping him up, Kallen felt that she had just made a life long friendship.
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My Comments:
I thought it was really odd to have Kallen slap Lelouch in episode 9, and the next time they met they were on completely good terms. So I imagined that something would've happened to bring them to talking terms again. This is supposed to take place directly after episode 9, so if you haven't watched it, then you won't get the majority of this fanfic .
Yeah. And my first fanfic ever. So be gentle! xD
I do not own Code Geass in any way. It belongs to Sunrise and Bandai.