Description: Lelouch and C.C. are the smartest at Ashford Academy. They are are also the most stubborn and competitive. When they are forced to work together, they begin to build a new friendship. A friendship that brought them together, AU, probably OOC, CC x Lelouch

A/n: Okay, I lied, I have the third chapter completely done, so I might as well release it ne? Still the rest of Once More is on Hiatus. Please ignore the science here, it's completely made up, though some of it is indeed real, most of it is crap. Also, I'm taking liberties with the story, this isn't really day two, and the project's been extended to 3 weeks. This means there will be jumps in time. Also, Lelouch and C.C. are both 16 in this story, that's important for later :)

--

Day 2: Leap of Faith

"You're an idiot! That equation would leave us with a deficit of energy!"

"You're the idiot! I've accounted for all the atoms and potential chemical energy!"

"You're a moron! You've left out at least 5 of the hydrogen ions!"

"Which were used to create electricity and turned into H2O!"

"But you don't account for where the energy went or what created it!"

We stood there, glaring at each other. Our physics project was deeply rooted into chemistry for some odd reason. We knew not why but we just accepted it. At least energy conversions and such were physics related.

"Even if your equation works, the Sakuradite wouldn't be able to pump enough energy through the system, thus nullifying the point of the project!"

What was the project? It was a demonstration of how to create a more cost effective energy filler for the Knightmare frames that were used to police the countries. In truth, this sort of thing actually interested me. Picking apart the flaws of others and creating something better gave me a sense of smugness and pride. This is probably why C.C. still thinks of me as arrogant, and probably why she's still yelling at me telling me how I've screwed up the math…

"If we we're to use a higher quality ore than it would be able to generate more energy, as more energy would be able to move through the core." I replied patiently. "And it is possible to refine or enrich the Sakuradite and still make the energy fillers cheaper."

"Are you retarded? A refining process would reduce the amount of ore thus creating zero increases in energy output. And enriching the Sakuradite? You'd make it into a nuclear bomb! The instant you pulsed any sort of hydrogen ion through it, you'd get enough fallout to engulf Tokyo!" She snapped back.

And thus, we glared at one another again. This was getting us nowhere; we had already procured an empty energy filler, extra high quality Sakuradite ore, and a pulse generator. Now, the only problem was that we couldn't decide on how to put it together in order to maximize the energy output. I sighed and took a look over our three page long conversions and calculations.

"Currently, standard energy fillers can store up to three trillion kilowatts of hydrogen, enough to run a Knightmare frame for about 5 hours. Less if they were to use pulse weapons or float systems." I recited from memory.

"Our current projected output with your equation would be around three point five trillion kilowatts of hydrogen. However, the production costs would be nearly double the cost of regular energy fillers." She replied, glancing as she compared the numbers between my laptop and hers.

"Let's take the rest of the day off, we've been at it for hours." I said to her. "It's Saturday, and it's lunch, let's go grab a bite to eat."

She stood up and helped me gather the papers. Lucky that the teacher decided to give us two extra weeks since our project was so damn hard. I scooped up some of her neatly written equations and set them in a neat pile on the side. She silently dropped them into a folder and shoved it into her bag. I grabbed my papers and threw them into a binder and tossed that into my bag. We then both silently walked to the cafeteria.

She once again got pizza, and I decided to go with a garden salad and sandwich. It was peculiar; we'd been eating together for quite a while now. I found myself amazed our sudden attitude changes with each other. She wasn't open, but at least she never ignored me anymore. Likewise, I held my tongue more around her and didn't lash out at her as I would with others. We'd seem to have fallen into an uneasy peace. It was alright to me though. I enjoyed this quiet. It gave me time to think and time to get to know her better. She didn't talk much though, even though she was so animated when talking about studies. Maybe she didn't have time for anything else? I digress.

"Lelouch" She said suddenly, "What do you think of our relationship?"

It was a casual question, thrown out from left field. It caught me off guard and knocked the blood out of my brain. I struggled to come up with an answer when she suddenly laughed.

"No need to take it so seriously." She said giving me a faint smile, "I just want to know if you would consider this friendship?"

Was it friendship? Or were we just partners enjoying lunch everyday together? Either way, I liked it and hoped it wouldn't end.

"I don't know." I said with a blank expression, "I suppose only acquaintances as we don't really know each other well enough."

"Ah…" She said knowingly. "So the great Lelouch doesn't know all, does he?"

I mentally smacked myself. I had overly analyzed her question and fallen into her trap. It wouldn't happen again though, that I would promise her. I collected myself and let a faint grin grace my face. We ate in silence and let the languid peace continue for a while. We both finished at the same time and decided to retire to our rooms for a while.

As I sat at my chair, I began to wonder, just who exactly was C.C.? I had known her since I had transferred to the Ashford Academy branch in Japan. She tied with me for the highest entrance examination score, and was here on a scholarship. Also, every year she had been in at least one of my classes, and usually sat somewhere within two or three seats of me. She was quite a mystery now that I think about it. She had just suddenly appeared in the corner of my life, always lurking there. Oh well… She seemed like a decent person at least. Intellectual for sure! I wouldn't even consider double crossing her. There was no predicting what she could do to me. As I mulled in these thoughts there was a sudden rap on my door. I hit the remote and C.C. walked in.

"I was wondering," She said rather quickly, "If you wanted to go out together right now?"

"Out where?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The plaza stupid," She said playfully, "We need to get more supplies for our project."

That was a lie, and I knew it. We had enough supplies in the student supply store on campus. However, I decided to see how this would play out.

"Alright," I said smiling faintly, "Let me change into something more suitable. I'll meet you by the gates in a couple minutes."

I got there early by a couple minutes, I checked my watch. At exactly nine minutes she began to walk over to me, and by the time the seconds hand had completed another revolution, we were walking towards the plaza shopping wall about a block away. We walked in awkward silence, unsure how to deal with being together outside of school. Suddenly though she took my hand, and I instinctively squeezed it. We looked at each other and gave a nervous laugh. When we started off again, it was a different kind of silence. It felt more natural, and I must admit, my heart my soaring at that moment.

It became clear quite rapidly that we were not shopping for any sort of school supplies. She began to drag me around the plaza window shopping. I must've seen more dresses and clothes in those couple of hours than in my entire life. It was insanity! But I kept my cool and let her have her way. She seemed more animated now, and it gave her a sort of cute look on her face. She glanced up and blushed when she saw me staring at her. We held our gaze for a while, and I unconsciously started to lean down towards her, but suddenly there was an explosion from behind us.

Instinctively, I grabbed her and dived behind a pillar. Her eyes were wide in shock and people were screaming everywhere. I clutched her close and waited for the riot squads to come pick us up. I felt my adrenaline rush slowly dissipate and I wearily picked C.C. up and pulled her behind the newly erected barricade. I glanced at her as we were checked out and sent back to school, her face was ghostly and her eyes were squeezed shut. I brought her to her room, and swiped the keycard hanging on her purse through the lock and gently deposited her on the bed. As I got up to leave she suddenly sat up and said:

"Don't go…" She called out softly, looking at the floor. "Please don't leave me…"

I glanced back surprised and moved back towards her. I awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she buried herself into my chest. I held her until she suddenly pushed me off. I looked at her in surprise. I was about to ask what was wrong when she began again.

"Do you want to know why that bomb freaked me out?" She asked quietly, seemingly embarrassed by it. I nodded my head. She sighed and went on, "Then don't interrupt for a while, alright?" I nodded and she took a deep breath and started.

"When I was five, I lived with my mom and dad and we weren't the best off family. We we're constantly moving around and we eventually settled down in Kyoto. A couple weeks later, when I was at school, my mom and dad died in a bombing.

"It turned out that the bomb was caused by those we rejected the alliance with Britannia and wanted them out of Japan. I was so confused at the time. Everything seemed okay to me. What was it that made the Japanese so angry that we had an alliance with Britannia?

"I still don't know, but that bomb… It just brought back so many memories… The terror that I felt… If I hadn't been taken in by my new family… I would've died all alone…"

She stopped abruptly.

"Sorry… Now I'm not making any sense…" She mumbled.

"It's alright." I said softly, "As long as it doesn't bother you that I'm a Britannian."

She shook her head and buried herself into my uniform again. I gently stroked her hair and held her close.

"Hey…" I whispered, "You don't need to be scared when I'm around okay?"

I felt myself blush, what the hell kinda cheesy thought was that? I sighed again, and held her tight. She was so warm… Suddenly I found myself in deep kiss. I opened my eyes in shock. She held it for a while before gently moving off. She turned away and her face turned bright red. I pushed her onto the bed and we locked gazes with each other. I leaned down and did what I tried to do in the plaza. Those minutes and seconds were pure paradise. Something unexpected flared up in me. It was an incredibly feeling. One I did not expect after only talking with her for so short a time period.

She was fast asleep now, looking blissful and beautiful. I find a sudden weariness overtake me and I collapsed next to her, our hands locked together.

--

A/n: Well, it's a change now isn't it? Next chapter really won't be out till June or super late May :D Please R&R, expect a new Lesson's chapter out by tommorow