Description: Lelouch and C.C. are the smartest at Ashford Academy. They 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: A Also, this story is going a lot faster than expected, I wouldn't be able to expand on much so I'm cutting out of the scenes that, imo, actually TAKE AWAY from the story, thus this story has been shortened quite a bit. Enjoy this next chapter. Also, in the middle the POV shifts to 3rd person as Lelouch is not there

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Day 3: Surrender

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I woke lazily, not wanting to turn off the alarm clock. Suddenly the noise stopped. I groggily opened up my eyes and looked up. C.C. was sitting up yawning and had turned off the alarm. I sleepily took in the room. It was mine. I gazed confusedly at her as she walked into the shower with a change of clothes. As she closed the bathroom door I remembered. Two days ago on Saturday, I had accidentally fallen asleep in her bed; with her. Needless to say she was not happy about it and I felt as if I had been bruised from head to toe most of yesterday. However, she grudgingly forgave me and after we had worked on the filler system for a few hours she had decided to promptly fall asleep on my bed. I think that was planned though… How else would she have known to bring a spare change of clothes?

I yawned myself and headed into the smaller second bathroom to take my morning shower. By the time I had finished with the morning routine she had already fully dressed out and was eating breakfast in the dining room. I grabbed a couple eggs and sausages from the platter and started to eat myself. It was quiet except for the ding of forks and the patter of water as it splashed against our cups. She finished first and left to her dorm to retrieve her books. I still had an hour to kill. I decided to take one of my customary walks around campus. For some reason… It appeared different to me. Could it be C.C.'s fault? I wouldn't put it past her to change how I perceive life and the world around me.

I gave it no further thought as I saw her waiting for me by the school's entrance. We walked silently through the halls ignoring the furtive and jealous stares of those around us. The boys, and some of the females, were glaring daggers at me, while the females were agape at C.C. If looks really could kill, C.C. and I wouldn't have made it through the door, much less the way to the Physics room. As we walked in, all eyes were on us as we took our separate seats. Class began as normal and was just as boring as normal. After turning in a short report on what we had achieved thus far, the teacher told us that the energy filler production company, Ragnarok, wanted to see a test of our improved recharger/energy production system. We sat there in shock. Such a reputable company wanted to see the work of a few students? It was mind-blowing.

"What do you think of that C.C.?" I asked getting more and more excited, "This is an excellent way to show to the world just how innovative we can get!"



She looked slightly troubled though and only gave me a noncommittal shrug. I gazed at her troubled, it wasn't like her to act this way. She was always full of cool confidence, now she had a worried look on her face and it just didn't suit her.

"Oi… It'll be fine!" I said, doing my best to cheer her up, "I'm sure we'll be able to stun them into silence with our genius!"

"Yeah…" She said, giving me a faint smile, "Thanks for worrying; I think I'm going to retire to my room."

I shrugged and we parted. I thought nothing of it. However, elsewhere…

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"What's the meaning of this!" C.C. exclaimed, "Why are you interfering?"

"To observe your progress." A mysterious voice murmured through the phone.

C.C. clenched her fists and wanted to punch the wall next behind her.

"There is no need for this." She said coldly, "I can handle it on my own thank you very much."

"…" The voice sighed, "No need for such hostility, I get it, but it's too late, the wheels are already in motion and not even you can stop them."

"Whatever…"

"Know this though, you will complete what you've started, if you do not…"

"Got it, already knew that. You didn't need to remind me."

"Don't start falling for him now… Ah wait… It's too late isn't it? He's head over heels for you."

"How-?!"

"You know how…"

"…"

"Heh, I'll talk to you later."

The phone clicked. She sat there stunned for a moment; than in an uncharacteristic rage threw the phone against the wall, the hardened Sakuradite thudded onto the floor with not even a scratch…

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"So I was thinking that we should get together tonight and start actually building our machine. It'll take quite a while to perfect and we'll need to do test run." I said nonchalantly taking a sip of soup while gazing at her.



"Sure…" She took a lackluster bite of her pizza and took a sip of soup from her own bowl. "I guess we'll meet around 7ish?"

"Yeah, that sounds like enough time to finish homework and take a quick shower."

"Mhmm…" She became quiet and looked out the window.

"Hey… What's wrong with you today? Every since the announcement that the teacher made you've been acting quite introverted; more so than when we weren't working together!" I asked cautiously. "Is there anything that I should know about?"

She shook her head and told me not to worry about her and that she was fine. Her words sounded empty and her eyes liked that fire. I reached out for her hand but she suddenly pulled back. I glanced at her, confused at what was going on.

"Hey… Are you sure you're okay?" I hesitantly asked, "Seriously, what's wrong?"

She looked away from my probing gaze. I sighed and didn't pursue the subject. We finished dinner in a depressing silence and we retreated to our rooms. I sighed again, and looked up at the ceiling wondering what I could do to help her out. What if she didn't want help though? What I only push her away more by attempting to rectify something that she obviously didn't want me to be involved in? I didn't know. And it pissed me off to no end.

I grudgingly did my homework and took the quick shower. By the time I was done dressing it was 6:50. I hurriedly rushed to the basement where we had been given space to create our system. We had finally got the plans done a couple of test variables that showed promise during initial simulations on our computers. Unfortunately, simulations will often not match up to real life results. Though we assumed the worst case scenario, we decided to go through with it anyways. Our projected input/output was just slightly above the average and would save factories roughly 30 of wasted time, money, and energy, which all add up to quite a chunk of change.

She arrived a few minutes late, quite unusual for her as punctual as she is. She pulled out her computer linked it to our small network of five and began to program the system running diagnostics and checking for syntax errors. I began to build the contraption. I created an input slot for the energy filler to connect to and built around it. Eventually after about two weeks of work, we had finally finished the contraption. According to simulations the code C.C. had made was flawless and would output at about 5 higher than what was predicted. Pleasing results, but we held no expectations till after the test run.

I ran the program and we held our breath. The machines whirred to life and the mechanical arm lifted the energy filler and slid it perfectly into the slot. I checked the diagnostic readings, so far so good. We had excellent connections on every single recharge and recycle port. Energy that couldn't be used by the Frames was sent back into the machine to split the hydrogen and cause the fusion reactors to begin. Energy levels were rising much faster than the projections had indicated but it slowly leveled off underneath one of the overheating limiters. Slowly the energy began to flow faster and faster back into 

the filler and in about 10 minutes, we had registered a maximum transfer of about 3.5 million kW of energy. The results were completely beyond our expectations! However, C.C. didn't look happy at all when she saw the projections. She murmured something about the code being a bit faulty and began to rework it inserting and removing code at a rapid pace. I gently wrapped my arms around her and I felt her press into me. At least I got a reaction out of her now…

"What exactly do you plan to change about your code?"

"The connections fluctuated slightly, I'm fixing that dilation in order to maximize the potential and minimize risk of a short." She replied softly but curtly, "Prevention measures such as these are what ensure safety."

"I see…" I actually did she what she was talking about, prevention of a short would the circuitry from frying which could ignite the filler which was has 3.5 million kW of potential hydrogen energy stored in it. That could create a loud explosion.

"I'm also programming in a failsafe to minimize explosive properties through vents in the energy filler design. If it works, when temperatures reach too high of a level, some hydrogen will be vented out to make way for Freon to chill it down and dampen the explosion."

I had to admit, that was quite an excellent idea, and I kicked myself for not thinking of it before. Whatever, the good thing about this project was that we're equals; we share the work and the credit. I knew though, that that if it boiled down to those last points, she would probably get them. I smiled melancholically and released her. She seemed to shiver slightly before regaining her composure.

"Night…" I called out to her as I walked up the stairs.

"Night." She replied as I opened the door.

Unknown to me, the instant I had turned my back she had turned away and the tears were already flowing. She wiped them off quickly though and tried to get back onto programming. She opened up her binder and saw a picture of the two of us enjoying ourselves at yesterday's carnival. She gently went over my face with her hand before dropping the folder back into her bag. She gazed up at the ceiling and let out a silent scream.

Elsewhere, I collapsed onto my bed, weary of the past weeks' events. The daily prickling glares of the students, the sudden coldness of C.C. They all spun around in my head, and I had no idea what to make of it. I glanced at my photograph of me and C.C. at the carnival. I gently touched her face. She looked so blissful yesterday, was it only for the picture? I wouldn't know now probably… I doubt she would answer me if I did ask her. It didn't concern me though… Not anymore at least… Time must move on…

I set my alarm and turned in my bed. Just as I was about to fall asleep my door slid open softly. I heard the muffled walking on the carpet and suddenly felt a warm weight on top of me. I kept my eyes closed and felt a teardrop hit my cheek. She gave me a quick kiss and walked out the door, letting it slide 

on close behind her. I opened my eyes, gazing mournfully at the wall. What was going on these days… Little did I know, something darker than I could have imagined was soon approaching.

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A/n: The story is now jumping forward to its soon upcoming conclusion. I'm hoping that the plot twist will stun must of you. If it doesn't than I've probably given way to much away… Anyways R & R please thank you very much!