I am SOOO sorry for taking this long! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Code Geass blah blah blah.

They had both been so preoccupied with their own thoughts that the walk seemed to have taken seconds. As they climbed up the stairs into the library a winded teen not much older than them ran up to them.

"I..." he stopped, trying to catch his breath. He hunched over, resting his hands on his knees.

Aiko and Tristan glance at each other, confused as to what he wanted.

"Are you alright?" Tristan asked, searching his brain, wondering if he was perhaps acquainted with him.

He nodded without looking up and held Aiko's portfolio out.

"Oh!" Aiko exclaimed, running down the steps to retrieve her forgotten supplies. "Thank you very much!" she exclaimed, bowing. Tristan smiled fleetingly at her Japanese mannerism.

"It's no problem," he responded, straightening himself. "I had walked into the café as you left. One of the waitresses told me that it was yours." He looked up, almost shyly. "I figured that the both of you were working on that project we just got and that you might need this, so..."

"Umm... You're Gao, aren't you?" she tentatively asked.

"Y-yes," he answered, clearly surprised that she knew his name. She smiled and he very gladly, although awkwardly, returned it.

Tristan began to fidget, disliking the way that Gao was looking at Aiko. Now you're being ridiculous, he reprimanded himself. Anyone would be flattered to have their name remembered, especially by someone like her. Aiko was beautiful in an almost ethereal way, although it was an unconventional beauty. She was neither tall nor short and her dark chocolate colored hair was cut in long layers, a few inches past her shoulder.

"Thank you very much, Gao," Aiko repeated, holding her portfolio to her bosom. "I would have had to run back myself for it." She laughed.

Gao laughed as well and Tristan looked away. He disliked that Gao found so much pleasure in hearing her laugh, because in that smile lay her beauty. She could make anyone comfortable and although her brown eyes were almost black, they were never cold. Those eyes, those deep pools of life twinkled with such... he didn't even know what to call it. What ever it was, it showed every time she laughed and smiled. That laugh of hers... That smile of hers, that seemed able to save his very soul.

"... not so bad. You two are the smartest of our school. If any one can do it, I know you can. Good luck on your project!" Gao said, waving as he left.

Aiko smiled and waved at him until he was out of sight. She sighed. "I'm so glad! I can't believe that I completely forgot about this!" She laughed awkwardly. Way to make yourself look like an idiot! she thought. She grimaced inwardly and prepared for Tristan's remark.

He stayed silent, looking off in the general direction of Gao's departure. She bent her head back, looking up at Tristan. Aiko was four steps below him, meaning that she only reached his elbows and since she was only used to being a head shorter than him, she disliked looking up like that. "Tristan?" She made her way up the steps, stopping a few steps above Tristan so that she could be at his eye level.

Tristan slowly blinked and then looked at her, slightly startled to find her questioning eyes so close to his face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, wondering if he was perhaps sick. His pupils were hard to see in his almost navy eyes so she couldn't tell if he was.

"I'm.. fine," he answered her. "We should go inside. We have a project to work on." She jumped, agreeing and babbling about how she had forgotten. He smiled at her back.

Tristan followed Aiko to the second floor of the library. They quickly situated themselves at a table in a corner adjacent to the section dedicated to Lelouch. There were so many books about him that there were five completely filled bookshelves. The books on the shelves went from cold, hard history to art and music inspired by the actions of the revolutionary.

Without needing to say anything to each other, they each made their way to the books that were simply facts about his life, showing little, if any, bias for or against Lelouch. Aiko sat down with two books in her arms and spread out a few blank pieces of computer paper. She began making a rough timeline of Lelouch's life, from birth to death. Tristan interjected a few note-worthy dates for her to add as he skimmed through the books that he had picked up. While she searched for the biography of Lelouch Tristan looked for newspaper articles and essays that showed the goings on of the infamous man from a different perspective.

Each were so engrossed in their tasks that time passed them by without being much noticed. It wasn't until Aiko almost finished the final draft of the timeline that Tristan got up and stretched, yawning. He sat down and leaned back as he closed his eyes.

"Are you already sleepy?" Aiko asked, teasingly. "How old are you, one?"

Tristan raised his eyebrows. "One? Why one? Don't people usually say someone of a much older age?"

"Well," she began as she set down her pen, "the older people get, the less sleep they need, so in order for me to truly prove my point I need to compare you to a one-year-old because they sleep about 18 hours a day, whereas an older person needs only 5 or 6."

Tristan chuckled. "I find no flaw in your argument," he said as he got up to get more books.

"I win," Aiko said matter-of-factly, continuing her timeline.

Tristan listened to the sound of her pen against the paper as he looked for books that concentrated more on the various opinions of Lelouch's actions. When he sat back down, Aiko stretched and yawned. He simply smiled, deciding not to comment. Even though they were going through so much information he had never been more relaxed. He wished that he could stay in that quiet, peaceful moment for as long as possible.

There was a thump as Aiko closed her books. She sighed, getting up to search for more books. Stretching, she skimmed through the titles, hoping to find something that would catch her eye. Tristan is working on... wait, she thought. What is he working on? She quickly went over to him, looking over the table at his open books. He glanced up, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Oh, haha," she explained, "I was checking what you were looking at so that I wouldn't start on the same thing. That way we get more done!" She smiled at him. Tristan wanted nothing more that to steal a kiss as her eyes were closed, but he suppressed it.

"Well then," he replied, sitting back and distancing himself from temptation, "why don't you start coming up with questions to ask Ms. Kouzuki, and possibly the Viceroy. Hmm... I suppose it would be more accurate to call her 'ambassador' instead of 'viceroy'." He tapped his pen on the paper in front of him.

"Yessir!" she said, saluting him. He laughed and she smiled. She loved making him smile and, most especially, laugh. It made her happy to know that she knew a side to him that most others didn't even imagine.

They looked at each other for a few minutes until they realized that they were staring. They both looked away, blushing slightly . Aiko sat and began writing down the questions, but she was too distracted. She found that she kept glancing up at Tristan, admiring his raven hair and the way that the simple gray shirt complimented his complexion.

She sighed again, wondering when she would start truly being honest with herself. She liked him and that was that. In fact she might even- she didn't want to think about it. How could she even think that when she had only just started talking to him. It hadn't even been two days! Aiko shook her head. She wouldn't say that she loved him. She wouldn't let herself contemplate the thought of him, or herself, being with anyone else. For the time being she would simply enjoy the butterflies that she got every time she realized that he was next to her. Aiko smiled to herself and continued working.

Tristan glanced up and saw her smiling. He stared at her, wondering what would make her smile like that. What he would give to get inside her head for a few moments. How he hoped that she wasn't thinking of someone. Unless, of course, she was thinking of him. He smiled softly. Up until last night he hadn't really believed in love. If he had then he had thought of it as something imagined and fleeting. Now, he hoped with every fiber of his being that he was wrong. He wanted this to be real and he wanted this to never end. At the very least, he wanted her to be the exception. His exception, no one else's.

His phone vibrated loudly against the table, startling both. He flipped it open as Aiko watched. He sighed and closed it. He looked up to find Aiko looking at him curiously. He smiled.

"You're so curious. Like a cat."

"Wasn't that a text?" she asked, not commenting on his remark.

"Yes, it was," he answered her patiently.

"It wasn't important?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She looked adorable. It took all of Tristan's will power not to reach out and touch her.

"No," he said, purposely not giving her more than what she asked.

She was silent for a few seconds, debating whether or not she should press the matter further. They had done quite a bit of work. She thought they deserved a break.

"Who was it from?"

"Why do you want to know?" Tristan asked, lifting his eyebrow cockily.

She wanted to smack him for being so cocky, but she also wanted to kiss him for being so confident in... in what? She wasn't going to let herself think about that, either.

"Well it'd suck if it were from your girlfriend," she said, almost positive that he didn't have one. "You can answer it. I don't mind." He stared at her silently, almost as if he were waiting. "... I can leave if that would make it easier for you," she added.

Tristan shook his head, looking somewhat disappointed. He had been hoping that she would slip up and tell him what she thought about him.

"I don't have a girlfriend," he responded, "but it was from a girl." He waited for her response but she didn't react. He continued. "She told me that she likes me a while back but I told her that I couldn't return her feelings." He shrugged. "She told me that she would keep trying, though. How bothersome."

"Why is that bothersome?" Aiko asked, confused. She was not going to allow herself to acknowledge the reason for her stomach churning.

"Because," he responded matter-of-factly, "I think that there are better things to spend my time on, like studying and practicing martial arts."

"Ha. Haha. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Aiko couldn't contain her laughter. That seemed like something Tristan would do and she couldn't help but picture the poor girl as he explained his reasoning to her. She was so relieved.

"Are you laughing at me?" Tristan asked, incredulous. "Why are you laughing at me? I didn't say anything funny." Aiko simply laughed harder.

"A-hem," Aiko cleared her throat. "'Just because a girl is cute and likes me,'" she said in an awful imitation of Tristan, "'doesn't mean I have to answer her feelings when she asks me out.'" Aiko laughed some more, wiping her eyes.

"Why is that so funny?" he asked, completely lost.

"Well," Aiko said, trying to maintain a straight face, "I just… imagined… a girl confessing to you… and then you looking in her eyes… and trying to explain why you won't return her feelings from a logical standpoint." She giggled. "'Well, you see'," she continued her earlier impersonation, "'I'm flattered; but quite frankly, I don't think much of you. I don't even know you. You should be studying instead of wasting your time on such frivolous matters'." She giggled, getting dangerously close to laughing like an idiot again.

"But…" Tristan said, still confused, "How's that funny? It's simply what I see as the truth. I don't believe that the opposite sex should distract someone from their studies, especially at this age. At this age we don't really know love, much less understand it."

"What?" Aiko said, abashed. "I don't believe that. I will say that knowing the differences between loves* at this age is hard, but I wouldn't say that it's unknown."

"It's because of this very confusion on the term that I say that at this age we don't know it. When 'infatuation' and 'lust' are confused for love, it ruins what love is."

"I don't disagree there. That's the reason why so many people are jaded and bitter about it. However, it's completely possible to know the difference at this age. Hard, but possible."

"Please," Tristan rolled his eyes, "With the raging hormones at this age 'like' almost entirely equals 'lust' and 'want', although these aren't always associated with sex."

"Pfft," Aiko scoffed, "What about when you've personally liked someone? You understand that it's just 'like' and don't confuse it. I'm sure that you, being all about logic, haven't liked girls simply because of their appearance."

Tristan looked down at the book he had in his lap, continuing his research, wanting to just return to the project. The sooner this was done, the sooner he could take a nap.

"You have liked someone before, right?" Aiko asked suspiciously.

"That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that we're too young to know love, truly, and so until we actually feel real love we-"

"'Real love'?" Aiko asked, raising her eyebrows. "How are we too young to love truly? Don't you truly start loving from birth? And if we don't know it then how will we know that it's-"

"I mean a more… sexual love where-"

"So 'love' is sexual?"

"- where two people who accept each other as they are and are essentially best friends take the next step. Since sex finishes up the last level of love, in a sense, it is. When I say 'sex' I mean as a whole, not simply the physical. Love is simply something that will slap you in the face one day, letting you know very clearly that it is what it is. This takes time, so the chances of it happening at this age are infinitesimal." He finished his sentence, looking at Aiko as if to say thanks for letting me finish. He waited for her answer, wondering how she would react to his thoughts.

"That word's not fair," Aiko grumbled. "It implies that it's not real… It's rare to find kids in our generation who understand and believe in the importance of the three loves* and the differentiation of love in general. It's a word that's used too much nowadays. Besides, that's a very idealistic way of looking at a relationship."

"Unfortunately that misconception leads to the fleeting word that 'marriage' has become. And how is that idealistic? That is simply what it is supposed to be, regardless if that's the reality of it," Tristan said. He sat back in his chair and stretched, yawning.

"Excuse me for boring you," Aiko teasingly said while rolling her eyes. "W-"

"I think we should call it a day," Tristan said, yawning again and looking at his watch, "We've done more work on the first day than any of our classmates will have done by Wednesday. Besides, it's starting to get late." He began closing books and arranging the papers by subject.

Aiko simply blinked. She looked at the digital clock on the wall. "It's already 8:45?" she said a little too loudly.

"Why do you think I'm so tired?" Tristan answered, amused. "8 hours at the library working pretty much nonstop is pretty exhausting." He chuckled. "You don't seem the least bit tired, though."

"Heh heh…" Aiko laughed awkwardly. She quickly began packing all of her papers into her organizer. She was glad that she loved the huge expandable ones that lasted years. She could have fit a normal sized book in there comfortably along with all of the papers. "Hey," she called to Tristan as he picked up the books, "Why don't we check out the most useful books in case we're not able to come back?"

"I don't see why we wouldn't be able to come back here, but I see your point," he agreed. He looked through the books on the table and took one, writing the titles and ISBNs of the others. Aiko put up all but two of hers as well as taking another from the shelf. It was a book on art inspired by the deeds and life of Leleouch vi Britannia. Tristan followed her example and took a book off the shelf as well. His, however, was a philosophical and psychological analysis on the infamy of Lelouch and his very way of life.

Tristan took the five books, against Aiko's will, balancing them carefully in his arms. Aiko rolled her eyes, carrying her portfolio and her purse. She stole a book from his arms, running ahead of him so that he couldn't protest. He chuckled and followed her, catching up to her quickly.

They checked out the books and made their way down the library steps. Aiko turned to Tristan, bowing.

"I'm very sorry for keeping you this late," she said, remembering that he still had more than an hour train ride home. "Oh! We haven't eaten anything!" she added as both their stomachs grumbled almost simultaneously.

They laughed. She looked at him, embarrassed. He smiled at her.

"It's okay," he said, "I can pick something up on my way home."

"Won't your parents be mad?" she asked. It was at times like these that she was glad that her parents trusted her enough to leave her in Japan when they had to go to Italy for business for a year.

"My parent's are out of town this week. They left yesterday afternoon. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" she repeated, unsure.

"Yes," he smiled even more, "I'll be just fine. Let me walk you home, though."

"Alright," she answered him, mirroring his smile.

They walked next to each other, silently enjoying the other's night air was gentle and cool, rustling the leaves occasionally. Except for the occasional passerby, they had the street entirely to themselves. The shops turned into houses as they made their way towards Aiko's home.

The moonlight danced through the leaves of the trees. Aiko smiled. She felt like taking Tristan's arm and resting her head on his shoulder. She breathed in the night air, satisfying herself by simply allowing her mind to wander.

"You know," she said, stopping a few houses away from her home, "I could make dinner, that way you don't have to use any money. You could also stay in the guest bedroom of my house. That way you don't have to worry about the trains and walking so late at night." She glanced at him, giving him a warm smile.

"Dinner sounds great," he said carefully, "but I think I'd rather go home."

"Ah, come on!" she exclaimed, "My cooking wouldn't kill you. Sheesh..." She rolled her eyes and continued walking.

"It's not that, it's just that..." he trailed off. He hadn't lied to her that at their age "love" was a troublesome thing.

"The bedroom is on the opposite side of the house and both doors have locks on them. That bedroom also has it's own restroom," she added, understanding his dilemma. "However, I shall respect your decision."

"D... don't you care what your neighbors may think?" he asked tentatively. She was a girl living on her own. Others would obviously assume the worst.

"They all know me well enough," she said, resuming her way home, "and those that don't, well.. they don't count." She smiled again, opening the gate to her house.

"Goodnight," she told him, attempting not to show her disappointment. She hated sleeping there alone and Eirian slept over whenever she could, but that, unfortunately, wasn't as often as Aiko would like.

She turned, letting the gate gently close itself. Tristan watched as she walked up to her door. Both decisions could lead to regret, he thought. He sighed. Sometimes logic didn't lead to the best choice. But sometimes it does, he thought. He waved goodbye as she wished him a goodnight from the door.

*The different loves I'm talking about here are filial, eros, infatuation, etc.
**The three loves I talk about here are the three Hebrew loves called raya (companionship, "I see you for both your good and bad but I still want to be part of your life"), ahava ("There's no where else I'd rather be"), and dod (literally: the mingling of souls). Look 'em up! It's interesting stuff. If you're too lazy for that, PM me and I shall elaborate. :)

Author's notes: I am SOOOOOO sorry for taking so long! I lost my flash drive, then I got writer's block, then life happened, etc. etc. If it makes y'all feel better, I've started on chapter 5 already (Oh geez, there goes my Texan...). . Remember kids, get an external hard drive! They help a lot. If not, at least have a back up of your documents online. Google has this nifty feature called Google Documents that works just like Microsoft Word, except it's free! Woot!
Please remember to review and critique! Thank you all for reading and putting up with me! *bows*