I started watching Code Geass last week (I know, I'm way behind on the times), and was instantly hooked. With the death of my laptop, I managed to spit out this fic pretty quickly on my mom's Mac, so I'm pretty proud of that. I quickly devoured the stock of Gino/Kallen fics here on FFnet and I decided we need more. So, here we go. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Code Geass is rightful property of Bandai Entertainment

Morning After

Kallen Kozuki blinked the sleep out of her eyes and rolled to lie on her back, raising her arm to rest on her forehead. A slamming force like a hammer rammed through her skull, sending a headache like no other she'd ever experienced. She jumped to a sitting position and gripped her hands into her hair, cringing at the slightest noise.

She froze, forcing her eyes open and glancing around the bright room. This… This wasn't her room in her mother's apartment. Her room was dark, with a small window hidden by faded red curtains. It was messy, as only a teenage captain of a special squadron's could be. She kept her Black Knight uniform on a hanger on her closet door, and her school uniform and day clothes thrown on the floor.

But this room… This room had bright white walls and decorated with elaborate paintings. It had a European column-like structure built into the walls and a fireplace constructed directly below the widescreen communicator.

Where the hell was she?

This was definitely Britannian décor. But how did she get there? Was she taken captive? Did someone drug her? Was that why she had the headache?

The door opened and she rolled by instinct, clambering to her feet and raising her fists for a fight. The person walking in let out a squawk of surprise and turned away, clapping his hand over his eyes. She recognized Gino, then registered his reaction to seeing her and glanced down, gasping in shock.

She was naked. Stark naked.

She reached out and grabbed the bedsheet from the mattress and pulled it around her. Glaring, she watched as he slowly moved closer to the bed, still holding one hand over his eyes, and set a pile of fabric down. "Here's, ah, some clothes for you. The shower's in there," he said, pointing towards a door to the side. "I'm making breakfast, so come on out when you're done." He kept his hand up, shielding his view of her and slowly backed out of the room.

She couldn't remember for the life of her what had happened the previous night, but the pieces weren't adding up in a good way. She had woken up in Gino's room with a terrible headache and no clothes? That spelled out a night of less-than-decent activities that would've had Shirley and Milly all over her.

Yes, she and Gino had started going steady, but things were still iffy between them. She was a Japanese Captain of Squad Zero, the elite guard that served directly under Zero—Suzaku—himself. He was the Knight of One, having been promoted for being the only Knight of the Round surviving the coup d'état and staying with the military.

Though Britannia was now recognized as a part of the UFN, the Round were now members of the Black Knights, serving as an elite team that answered only to the vote of the UFN chairpersons. Zero, Xingke, Tohdoh, and Gino, as the Knight of One, were the four generals of the Black Knights, holding the most authority over the rest of the fleet.

Kallen and the other three generals were the only ones to know Zero's new identity, and Suzaku had asked for it to stay that way. Lelouch had immortalized Zero as a symbol of freedom and hope. It was only right that the people didn't have a face for him, else the symbol would lose that meaning. Besides, Suzaku was supposed to be dead. He had been buried as the Knight of the Demon Emperor Lelouch and people were glad to think he had been killed.

Kallen and Gino were both repeating their senior year of high school due to fighting in a war. She had missed more than half of her classes and Gino had attended only five days of class total. Both had been incarcerated by Lelouch during final exams, so they were forced to repeat the whole year.

It was before classes had even started that Gino had first asked her out. She had been stunned, but she had accepted. He was a friend and ally to her, not to mention he was drop-dead gorgeous.

She leaned her head against the wall of the shower, letting the warm water run down her back as she thought about the past. To think, after almost a full year of dating him, their relationship would come around in such a way to be like this. She couldn't decide what to think on the matter. She was grateful that he at least showed tact that morning and hadn't ogled her or behaved inappropriately. He was a perfect gentleman and respected her completely.

She brought her head back and let her forehead drop against the wall again. How could she face him again? This was something she hadn't anticipated. It seemed like this should have been planned or something. But, instead, something had happened and she couldn't remember a thing of last night. How could she look at him the same after that kind of humiliation?

They had kissed, made out, and touched each other provocatively, but they had never taken this step and she didn't want for her first time to be a blur. She hoped and prayed that he didn't remember, either. At least, if that were the case, then they could have a second first time, if that made any sense.

They worked together. He was one of four generals of the world's single military force. She was commander of one of those general's private corps. Their relationship was difficult as it was, and she wasn't sure how to make it work now. She cared about him and she wanted to make this work, but it was hard enough as it was. They were soldiers, and highly respected ones at that. But they were only teenagers. He was barely nineteen, and she was still only eighteen.

And now… Now she lost her virginity and she couldn't remember it. It was driving her insane, that she could lose control of herself like that. Heaving a sigh, she realized she couldn't stay in his shower any longer and hide from the truth. She'd have to face him soon, and she figured it had better be sooner than later.

Slowly, she stepped out of the shower and pulled a thick cotton towel from the heated rack. Wrapping herself in it, she stepped out and glanced around. She wondered for a brief moment if he'd mind if she used his toothbrush. He'd had her tongue in his mouth before and vice versa, so she doubted it would be much different. Besides, she felt the morning breath on her teeth and wanted it gone in case he tried to kiss her.

And, knowing Gino, he would.

She ran his toothbrush over her teeth a few times, washing away the nasty taste in her mouth. Satisfied, she tossed the brush back into the holder before standing back and tossing her hands through her hair. She didn't have her styling product, so she'd have to leave it down. She didn't doubt Gino had hairspray and gel, but she didn't really care. At the beginning of their relationship, she'd made it clear that she didn't care to dress up just to impress him.

Moving over to the shelf where she placed the clothes he'd given her, she examined the button-down shirt and slacks he'd left out. She couldn't help but wonder if the man even knew what a t-shirt was. Or if he thought her breasts would actually fit in one of his neatly-tailored shirts.

She left the bathroom in his pants, which were to long for her—he had some long legs—and his shirt buttoned as high as she could get it and held it closed the rest of the way. Searching the room, she couldn't find her shirt from last night, but did manage to locate a baggy shirt that she assumed was from his pajamas. Pulling it over her head, she sighed and decided this was as decent as she was going to get.

Turning for the door, she inhaled a deep breath and opened the white-painted cedar. This was it. Time to get some answers.

How was it that she could fearlessly pilot her Guren into a battle dictated by terrible odds and, yet, she was terrified of asking Gino what exactly happened the previous night? Quite frankly, she knew she was just frightened of knowing what this turn in their lives together meant.

Lifting her chin and squaring her shoulders, she moved down the hall before she could convince herself to stall any longer. The apartment was pretty straightforward, if not a little excessive. Everything was elaborate and matched Gino's tastes well. It only took her a short moment to find the kitchen and she paused, freezing in the doorway as she took in the sight of him poised at the stove, flipping some kind of patty in the pan on top.

He turned with a grin at the sound of her near-silent footsteps, pausing and turning back to breakfast with a slight dusting of red on his cheeks. "Hey, ah, good morning. How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?"

She felt her body stiffen immediately and shook her head, stupidly realizing that he couldn't see with his back turned. Finally, she muttered, "No, I'm fine. Um, what exactly happened last night?"

He faced her full-on, that ever-present smile on his face and, with all hint of embarrassment gone, asked, "You don't remember? I thought you'd remember a crazy night like that without a doubt."

She bit down on her lip and averted her gaze. So it was true. They did end up in bed last night. Not only that, but it looked like he remembered, too. "I… see…"

He shifted to set a plate of pancakes on the table, a dish she'd never tried before, and gave a slight bow. "Bon appétit, milady."

She sat down and stared at the cakes, then shifted to take two on the plate in front of her and offered a slight smile without meeting his eyes. She had no idea how to go about eating them and the silverware set to her right offered no help whatsoever. She had spent her whole life—save that spent at Ashford Academy—eating with chopsticks. Forks and spoons were a relatively new concept to her.

He sat down across from her and took the hint without commenting, taking two of the pancakes on his own plate before slathering butter on them and dousing them in the syrup. Britannian dishes were really weird, she decided.

After a bite of thoughtfully-chewed food, she swallowed the glorious-tasting cake and stared at her plate. The taste was amazing, but she had known for months that Gino was an excellent cook. He told her had had taken a liking to his family's former housekeeper and had learned to cook to help her. Kallen had, at the time, dismissed the underlying meaning to his words, and instead asked what he liked to cook.

Now, she shifted slightly and set her fork down, grinding her teeth out of habit. Naoto had constantly chastised her for her bad habit and she knew she should quit it, but she couldn't help it when she was nervous. After a long moment of silence and feeling his eyes on her after she had stopped eating, she mumbled, "Gino, can you tell me what exactly happened last night? All I know is that I'm waking up in your bed—naked—with no idea what happened after we left my place to get dinner."

He froze, his fork lifted halfway to his mouth and his eyes focused on the wall behind her head. Slowly, he set his fork down and swallowed, using a napkin to wipe his mouth like the civilized man he sometimes was. Slowly, he placed his hands on the table as if to hold his balance and started speaking, choosing his words very carefully, "Kallen, I'll say this once. It wasn't that."

She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, catching herself after a slight moment. Quickly, she said, "It's not that I don't want to… with you…" She shook her head, offering that as her only clue for what she was talking about, and continued, "It's just that I don't remember and I think that's something that should be remembered, you know?"

He nodded once, still staring at the wall. "I understand."

"So…" she started, fiddling her hands under the table. "What exactly did happen?"

He jumped, as if being torn from his thoughts and being brought back to their conversation. "Oh, right. What do you remember?"

"Just deciding to go out after school. We were going to get dinner, right?"

He nodded, still avoiding eye contact. "We were going to get dinner, but decided against it. You said you knew of a club to go to with great liquor, and, when I told you I was underage, you said eighteen is legal in Japan. So we went to the club and you drank me under the table." He gave a short chuckle, finally meeting her eyes and, with a glimmer of mischief, said, "When I say, 'drank me under the table,' I mean that you wound up under the table and I was just a little unsteady."

She kept her eyes on the food, not daring to let her mind try to figure out why she'd been naked.

After a slight moment of silence, he added, "I tried to carry you out and, since I didn't want to carry your drunk self in front of your mother, I used your phone to send a text to her and let her know you were spending the night at Lydia's house, then carried you back here. Or, I tried to."

Almost against her will, she asked, "What happened?"

"Low-class scoundrels decided we looked like we had money and decided to try to rob us. They surrounded me and, with you unconscious, I had no choice. I set you down and took care of them-"

She stared in shock, assuming the 'scoundrels' were hungry Japanese, and cut him off, asking, "What did you do to them?"

He smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry! They'll walk again. Eventually."

She dropped her forehead to her palm and sighed, waiting for him to continue his story. He leaned back in his chair, still smiling, and for the first time, she realized his braids were let out. The thin amount of his hair that was grown out fell loosely over his shoulder and down his back, adding a boyish charm to his already adorable face. "So, I had to set you down to fight them. I didn't realize there were more hiding in the shadows and, by the time I knocked out the ones in front of me, the ones who snuck up behind me had gotten a hold of you and started to search your pockets.

"When they realized you weren't carrying any money, they shoved you to the ground and kicked you before I could get to them. You took a strong hit to the ribs before they gave me a loaded speech about how I'm your knight, protecting my girlfriend… So on and so forth. I took the opportunity they gave me to clarify and tell them I wasn't just a knight, and that I was the Knight of One. They laughed, but quickly learned their mistake. Like I said, they'll be walking again eventually."

Kallen couldn't help but laugh as he concluded his tale and touched her upper side gently. She did have a bruise forming there, now that she thought about it. Her skin had just been turning yellow as the early stages of the bruise, making her wonder just how long she'd been asleep. She paused, thinking, and asked, "But why was I naked?"

"Well, er…" He paused, grappling for the words to use. "That is to say… You were hurt, so I wanted to check your wound and make sure it wasn't too harmful, or bandage it if needed. Otherwise, you were dirty from the muddy streets, so… I… I didn't look. I swear to God, Kallen, I didn't look beyond your injury."

She felt her blush rise up again and turned away. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as she'd initially thought. She could deal with bruised ribs. Wounded pride and the loss of her virginity was a different story all together.

She nodded once and offered him a slight smile, taking another bite of her pancakes before saying, "Thanks, Gino, for watching out for me."

He returned her smile with a bright grin, leaning on the table casually and saying, "Well, those thugs had one fact right. I am a knight, and I'll always watch out for you."

What did you think of my first CG fic? Please review!

-Valk