This is the beta version. I give my thanks and apologies to Mimiv for the beta.
p.s. This might get deleted so i can work on the IC of Lelouch and CC. We see.
Lelouch dreaded this day like a small child dreading the first day of school after a long vacation. He tried to convince himself that it'd never happen, that the day didn't even exist. But it did. And in two days, he'd have to face it head on – without fear – for on that day, would be his girlfriend's birthday.
That's right, C.C. – the Witch of Ashford, the Queen of Cheese, Miss Pizza Butt herself – was celebrating her day of existence. And Lelouch had no idea waht to give her.
Don't be fooled, it wasn't like he hated her or anything. Quite the contrary, the two loved each other with all their hearts despite the arguments or the teases they give each other every single minute of every single hour of every single day. Really, you could base a whole series on their life – plus a movie.
The real reason why the black-haired teenager was not looking forward to it was simple – he had no idea what to give her.
There were three things that Lelouch learned about the green-haired beauty since they started dating over a year ago.
One, she loved her pizza. She'd eat the yellow gooey delight for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It actually surprised him how she could eat so much yet not gain any weight and still keep her slender figure. He bet that models wished they had her metabolism.
Two, she worshiped her Cheese-kun plush like it was her own child. She wouldn't even sleep unless she was cuddling that orange blob. (And that included when they slept together.) To her, it was a sacred treasure which no unworthy soul should ever touch.
And three, her private life was just that, private, and he was the only person to know such personal information. He knew all her fears and all her hopes. That indifferent, callous mask was discarded when they were together. There were no secrets that they didn't share with one another. She trusted him and vice versa. If she was a witch, he would be her warlock.
It was that reason alone why he was worried about her birthday. He wanted to give her something she would truly love.
And to help him think of something to give her, he went to someone who had a girlfriend – his best friend Suzaku.
"Well, you can always write a poem for her," the green-eyed youth advised. "I know Euphy loves them."
Alright, so maybe asking his friend wasn't a good idea. It wasn't that the suggestion was bad. It was just that he knew C.C would say something sarcastic about him reading her a poem.
Maybe he should've asked someone from a female perspective.
"A gift for C.C.?" Shirley, his ex-girlfriend and now friend, thought. "You can never go wrong with a candlelit dinner. Maybe afterward, take her on a horse drawn carriage ride."
A much better suggestion than the last, but it still wasn't something he thought she'd enjoy.
So he went to the next girl he knew.
"Just give her a Pizza Hut gift card," Kallen said, finding the solution simple. "Better yet, take her to that new place, Kiki's Pizza – an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant. She'd love that."
While good, Lelouch found two problems with that. One was that since C.C. used his credit card for the precise purpose of ordering pizza, the gift card was useless. And the other thing was that the two were banned from the restaurant. They couldn't handle the demand of the witch's appetite.
And he was not going with Milly's idea of what to do for C.C.'s birthday.
"It's really simple, Lulu. I'll just give you two access to all the areas in the school. Then, you'll be able to have a more 'private' birthday party," the Madame President said, wiggling her finger for emphasis. "I think the pool area would be the perfect place."
Not what he had in mind.
Lelouch was ready to give up on the whole thing whenshecame and gave him the best advice he'd heard all day.
"Just follow your heart, Onii-sama," Nunnally said, grabbing hold of his hands. "I bet whatever gift you decide to give C.C.-san, she will love it because it was given by you."
One of the best pieces of advice ever.
"Now I just have to find the gift," Lelouch told himself.
He was walking down the crowded shopping district of Japan and hoping there'd be a store that would have that "special gift" for his girlfriend, but no matter where he looked, or what store he entered, there was nothing that clicked for him. Until he saw "the ultimate gift".
He walked up towards the window displaying the magnificent thing. His lips pulled into his signature triumphant smirk.
"I can't believe I didn't think of this before," he berated himself. For a teenager with a high I.Q., equivalent to a master strategist, he should have done this in the beginning.
"Now I just have to…you got to be kidding me?" Lelouch's face was aghast at the price of his future purchase.
$499.99
The now frustrated teen ran his hand through his ebony locks, the other digging through his pockets. He pulled out a black king chess piece and brought it close to his face. "The witch better be grateful for this."
Violet eyes narrowed as he headed towards one of the gambling halls, intent on raising the money for his girlfriend.
C.C.'s birthday.
The student council hall was decorated from head to toe in Cheese-kun. It had dozens and dozens of balloons shaped after the Pizza Hut mascot. Banners with the yellow goop embedded on them were hung all over the place. The cups, plates, and covers also had pictures of the yellow guy... And to top it all off, there were two five-foot Cheese-kun plushies and, in their center, a Cheese-kun style chair on which the birthday girl was currently sitting.
On and on, this had to be the best birthday C.C. ever had. Not that she could compare it to any other birthdays, what with this being her very first.
The bash was organized thanks to Ashford's own Madame President, Milly. She even cancelled all classes for this special event.
All of C.C.'s friends were there.
There was her best friend Kallen who was trying with all her might not to blush at whatever her "not boyfriend" Gino was saying to her.
And of course there were the other student council members – Shirley, Rivalz, Nina, and Milly. They were hanging around with the birthday girl.
Also, there were Lelouch's two favorite sisters – Nunnally and Euphemia – and his best friend, Suzaku.
And of course there was Anya, the de facto photographer for the party.
As stated before, best birthday she ever had. Except for one tiny thing–
"I wonder where's Lelouch?" the pinkette wondered out loud, never once imagining that her brother would miss his girlfriend's birthday party.
All of the other guests were wondering the exact same thing. They all thought that he would be the first person to be here. Matter a fact, the busty blonde had originally wanted to use him to keep the green beauty occupied as they set up her surprise party. Instead, Shirley, Kallen and Nunnally got the honors.
"He's probably being ravaged by his fanatic fan girls," C.C. joked emotionlessly, taking a bite out of her quadruple cheese, mushroom and pineapple pizza, but deep down, she was disappointed that he wasn't there. It would have been nice to spend a birthday with a boyfriend that wasn't insane. Well, not totally insane anyway.
"Oh, don't think that, C.C.-san," Nunnally tried to assure her. "He might be running late. He said he was having trouble getting your present."
"Yeah, I bet right now he'll be coming through that door," Suzaku agreed, pointing to said door.
And it seemed the green-eyed youth found another power other than defying gravity and making it his bitch because as he said those words, the person who was on everybody's mind came bursting out, his hand carrying a big box not surprisingly covered in Cheese-kun wrapping paper.
"Where have you been?" Kallen asked. "We started this party nearly an hour ago." Her tone did not hide her disappointment.
"I would have been here earlier, but there was this crazy girl who wanted the gift herself. So I had to out bid her." Nearly two times the original cost.
"Whatever. Just go to her. She's been waiting as it is."
She pushed him (a little harder than she meant) to his girlfriend.
"So, my warlock finally came to the party. Better late than never." Her tone was sharp as a sword. One of her crossed legs swung back and forth in annoyance.
"You're in the hot seat now, Lelouch," commented Rivalz.
Lelouch chose to ignore both his girlfriend's icy words and his friend's failed attempt at a joke. Instead, he just put the present on C.C.'s lap. "I hope you like it."
"What is it? A boom box or something?"
"Just open it already."
"Fine."
She started unwrapping her present, being extra careful in not ripping the paper, wanting to save it for later.
"It's a brown box," she said, not liking that she waited an hour for her boyfriend just to receive a box.
"Then I guess you have to open the box," he said sarcastically.
C.C. narrowed her golden eyes as she opened the top.
"Lelouch, I warn you if this is… some… kind… of…"
The now shocked girl could not finish her sentence because the actual present that was inside made her speechless. The other party goers followed suit.
For in C.C.'s hand was a mini replica of a happy day in a town except, instead of people, there were CHEESE-KUNs.
There was Cheese-kun daddy and his lovely Cheese-chan wife with their Cheese-kun kids, boy and girl, walking their Cheese-kun doggy.
There was also a park where Cheese-kuns were playing Frisbee, having a picnic, or fishing on the pond. They even had a clown, Cheese-kun of course, giving away balloons to all the good boys and girls of Cheese-kun.
There were ones dressed as race car drivers, superheroes, wrestlers and boxers. There was even a Cheese-kun making pizzas.
And to add a little extra diversity, there was a zoo made up of Cheese-kun animals.
This was definitely a must-have for Cheese-kun fanatics.
"So, you like it."
Instead of just telling him, C.C. got up from her seat, being careful in laying her gift on the chair. She then walked up very slowly towards Lelouch, their bodies only mere inches away from each other.
"I love it." and with that, she grabbed hold of his jacket and smashed his lips against hers in heated passion. Anya took the moment to snap a couple of pictures.
"I take that as a yes," Gino said, chuckling at the display of affection. The others were either smiling nervously or looking away to give them some privacy.
"Before this whole love scene goes 'R' rated," Milly interrupted the still kissing couple, "there's still one more present for our lovely Cheese-san here."
Milly raised her hands up in the air and snapped them. Four men came in carrying a big, flat square box. They placed it on the center table, the size of it nearly dwarfing the whole table.
"Milly, what is that?" Shirley asked, coming near the giant object. The others joined her.
"You'll see," she smirked. "Ok boys, open it up."
Following her orders, the men unhooked the locks and removed the upper covering. Everybody's eyes, except for the delivery people and Milly's, went wide at the content inside.
For inside the box was a fifteen-by-ten-foot square pizza, each side with different toppings ranging from sausage to mushrooms.
"Is this, is this for me?" C.C. asked. Her eyes glazed over, and her mouth was nearly drooling in anticipation of eating this glorious creation.
"Yep. This is all for you. Now eat up birthday girl."
"She has to be kidding, right?" one of the guys asked.
"I know," another agreed. "Look at that small body of hers. There's no way she can eat that whole thing."
"You don't know, C.C.," everybody said at the same time, watching as the green-haired lady chowed down on her birthday cheesy pie.
An hour and thirty minutes later.
"Ugh, hmmm" was the sound C.C. was making, her arms clutched around her upset stomach.
"I told you should have stopped at the eighty-fifth slice," Lelouch berated her with a smirk. He was currently carrying her in his arms back to her dorm room. Suzaku followed behind with her "Cheese-kun Village".
"It was worth it." Fighting another bout of indigestion, she buried her head in the crook of his chest.
"Other than gorging yourself like a mad woman, you enjoyed your party?"
"Surprisingly, yes. Although…"
"Although what?" His eyebrows rose.
"I think you could have done better for my birthday."
Lelouch was absolutely taken aback by what she said. He gave her the perfect gift, and she still thought he should have done better.
"What are you talking about?" he nearly shouted at her, stopping in his tracks. "I spent a fortune on that gift."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I love that gift. I will treasure it like my Cheese-kun doll. It's just that…there was no romance in it."
"Ro-romance."
"You know, recite a little poem, maybe a candlelit dinner. I could have been happy with a little 'private' birthday, just the two of us in the pool room maybe. Afterwards, we could have gone to Kiki's or Pizza Hut – the simple stuff."
"I can't believe this."
"Well, there's always next year."
Lelouch was about to retort on her comment when he saw that her eyes were closed. Her head found the perfect position on his chest. She was either falling asleep or faking it; he was thinking the latter.
"Damn witch." His lips pulled down in a frown, but a few seconds later, they went up to form a small smirk. A little chuckle accompanied it.
"Next time, then."
As always, review with your thoughts. And thanks for the read and have a nice day.
