Episode 2

Hurt/Comfort

The bright lights from the stage shined down on her as she strutted across the catwalk. Based on her image, her classmates expected her to stumble on stage so that they could have something else to laugh about in their social circles.

Truth be told, C.C was a bit frazzled because of the scene that had transpired in the dressing room a few minutes ago. Her mind could not escape the fact that Milly saw them. But, deep down in her heart, she had faith in Milly Ashford, the girl whose parents' family founded Ashford University along with the Brittanian family. The unapologetic girl who talked her head off during lunch even when she didn't ask. The girl whom she viewed as sweet, but loud and carefree for Milly truly walked with her own step, not conforming to the opinions her classmated had of her.

However, the audience below her could not see her riddled thoughts as she masked them all and walked across the catwalk as if she were from a different galaxy. They were mesmerized by her stunning hair and makeup and her beautiful dress that made her seem like Brittanian royalty of the past.

"Lelouch's makeup can do wonders. Did you see her eyes? The smoky eyeshadow and cranberry matte lip is so f #$ nice! Omg, I'm in love with Lelouch, he even made the witch hot."

"Hey, have you checked Twitter yet. The tea this time is piping hot!"

They looked down at their phones just as C.C exited the stage.

-Guys, Lelouch is officially taken. T-T…and it's by the witch. I can't believe it! I totally heard them in the dressing room. I heard that witch moan and….wtf, I don't even want to imagine. Lelouch (O.O), I loved you! Lol, I probably never had a chance but Ashford's princess must be devastated! #AshfordConfessions-

"The witch sank the ship wtf?!"

"Wow, Lelouch is brave."

"Ugh, you boys are so dumb. Lelouch is just playing with her. Who'd want to date that witch! Plus, everyone knows that Lelouch and Shirley are the school's destined couple."

It seems the rumor had begun to spread around the campus like an infection. The coming days would not be an easy task for C.C who just wanted to follow her aspirations in peace.

Their eyes followed her as she walked down the hall to her class. Some rolled their eyes and some gave her a thumbs up. A couple of the boys even catcalled her, but she ignored them, headed inside her fashion design arts lecture classroom and to her unassigned/assigned window seat. The inhabitants of the room stared her down fiercely as if they would eat her.

'I know I shouldn't have participated in the show yesterday! Stupid peer pressure!' She thought as she entered her phone to finish reading a history novel about Napoleon.

"C.C!"

An angry voice came from the class door. C.C turned her head to see a group of girls heading straight towards her. They were members of the swim club, and boy were they angry.

"Are you playing with Lelouch to get back at Shirley for forcing you to enter the showcase?!"

A girl with brown hair asked angrily. C.C didn't know how to answer her question so she just furrowed her brows in annoyance. What right did they have to come barging in on her, asking silly questions. Where even was their professor to stop all of this?

"What are you talking about?" She asked and they frowned.

"After making Shirley lock herself in her room and cry? Don't play dumb with us witch! Let's go, we need to settle this now." The girl demanded but C.C simply ignored her and returned to her phone. Forcefully, the other three girls grabbed her arms and pulled her out of her seat. C.C did not know how to react. She tried to pull away but they had taken her by surprise. She looked around and saw that her classmates just watched as she was pulled away by the girls. Her heart began to race as scenes from her past, which resembled this one, flashed inside her head. They ignored her distress as she was forcibly dragged into an empty classroom.

The swim club girls pushed her down and she fell with a thump onto the cold floor.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked angrily. The girls rolled their eyes. C.C stood up and brushed herself off. They flinched as her golden eyes glared at them. She was like a lion, ready to pounce if they made the smallest move. With her head raised and eyes lowered at them, she spoke,

"You call me the ice witch but dare to seclude yourselves in this room with me? How unwise."

The girls scoffed at her. "You can't do anything to us scholarship girl. If you put even a scratch on us your life at this school will be over." C.C rolled her eyes and pushed past the girls. One of them grabbed her shoulder, but in a quick move, C.C turned and pulled the girls' arm behind her back.

Yes, this was easy for her. After being scarred from her past, she enrolled in martial arts lessons and currently held a black belt in taekwondo.

"I won't scar you. However, I will defend myself." She shot back and the leader of the swim team ordered the other girls to hold C.C down. With her now being aware to their approach, she was able to push them off of her. Suddenly, the leader's phone rang. She picked it up and was surprised to hear Shirley's voice. As Shirley apologized repeatedly for missing club activities, the girl became angrier at C.C, so she thought of an idea to make Shirley feel better.

"Actually Shirley, we have C.C right here. Yeah really, and she admitted that she seduced Lelouch just to hurt you…Yeah, she's going to apologize right now." The girl put the phone down and called out loudly to C.C.

"If you apologize to Shirley and admit that you're just a dirty little slut, we'll let you go."

C.C pushed the girls who tried to hold her down. They fell to the floor as she walked to the leader and grabbed her phone.

"C.C?" Shirley called out. C.C's eyes were blank as she spoke. She was completely over the situation.

"Hey Shirley, what I did was wrong. I just wanted to get back at you for making me enter the showcase. I sincerely apologize." With that, C.C handed the girl her phone without hearing Shirley's reply.

She exited the room, thoughts whirling all around her head as she walked back to class. She slipped into the door as quietly as possible because the lecture had already started. As she reached her seat, she picked up her phone and searched for twitter on a browser, as she didn't have the app downloaded. As she scrolled through her schools tag (#AshfordConffesions), her heart sank and she buried her head on the desk. She looked back at her phone and read the most liked and retweeted tweet.

She scrolled through the replies, trying to figure out who would post something like this but the confession was anonymous. Then it dawned on her. The only person who saw them was Milly…Milly Ashford, the girl who reminded her of her very first friend. C.C felt a pain in her heart, she couldn't focus on the lecture as only dark thoughts clouded her mind.

'Even her. But why? Why would she do something like this to hurt me after all the times she smiled at me….all humans are the same. I've experienced betrayal already yet the feeling in my heart is still the same. I'm a fool for thinking she was different. I'm a fool for holding on this long. I'm a fool for basking in his warmth…I'm a fool for continuing to live in this world…I'm such a fool!'

C.C couldn't hear anything, not even the loud pounding of her heart. Desperately, she wanted to escape. So she did. She stood up from her seat, gathered her belongings and exited the class.

The class hid their phones behind their books and began reporting to their respective group chats.

The swim team said she apologized to Shirley.

Wow, do you guys think that's how she got into this school? Sexual favors~

Duh, no wonder she only smiles when she's with Milly. Hanging close to Ashford's Queen, to stay close to the family I see. Poor Milly.

Just thinking about it is gross.

Guys she left class!

(OoO!)

Is she finally leaving?!

Ding dong the witch is dead, the wicked witch is dead!

Guys you're being a little harsh lol

Sorry, just having some fun. This lecture is boring me ;p

Lelouch kept checking his phone for the time, causing him to not pay a lick of attention to his business lecture. All morning his mentions were blowing up about the hottest topic on campus. The situation was out of control and he was worried about C.C who was receiving all of the heat.

'I wouldn't expect any less. They always latch on to gossip and hate just to escape their boring lives. Soon they'll forget this ever happened…but for the person they target, it will ruin their life forever.' He thought angrily as time went by slowly. He checked his phone again to see that only a minute had passed. Frustrated, he got up from his seat, packed his bag and left.

The students in this class reported to their group chats right way.

He quickly left the business building whilst looking through his phone. His group chats were exploding, everyone was bombarding him with questions. Suddenly, he received a text from his best friend Suzaku.

-C.C returned to class after the swim club dragged her out, but apparently she left again. She took all of her stuff this time.-

He sent him a screenshot of one of his basketball club's group chat with messages about C.C. Lelouch frowned and headed straight for the arts building. He looked all around but she wasn't there and he still didn't have her number. 'How could this be happening again?' He thought as he exited the building and headed for the campus dorms. 'Every time someone gets involved with me, they are hurt. She's already had a hard time at school, how could I do this to her?' His eyes frantically scanned the campus. Looking up, he could see grey clouds start to cover the fluorescent blue sky. He shielded his face and continued to search.

C.C walked down the empty streets of Tokyo. The rain was pouring heavily and people who didn't have an umbrella to protect them rushed to find shelter. She didn't have an umbrella, and she didn't run for shelter, instead she let the cold droplets beat down on her. Soaking her from head to toe. 'This coldness is familiar…soon I'll be warm though'. She thought as she crossed the sidewalk.

Inside a makeup store, a student from Ashford noticed her and immediately did her duty to report C.C's whereabouts. *snap* was the sound her phone made when she took a photo as evidence.

After knocking on C.C's room door to no avail, Lelouch's phone rang. Once again, it was Suzaku.

"Lelouch, C.C was last seen in Tokyo. Everyone's raving about how she's finally leaving the school. I'll send you a picture, but from my perspective she looks pretty beaten up Lelouch. She isn't handling this situation to well."

"Who would handle this situation well Suzaku?" Lelouch asked. After disconnecting, Lelouch looked at the photo Suzaku sent. He felt his heart break as he saw her drenched from head to toe with a blank stare. Bawling his fists, he quickly exited the dorm and got into his car to head to the city.

"Welcome to Pizza Hut, what can I get for yo- Mam, are you alright? Do you need a towel?"

"No, I'm fine. Can I get three large peperoni pizzas with mushrooms and bell peppers?"

"O-okay, that'll be $41.88. Your order will be ready in an hour."

C.C handed the cashier her credit card when she remembered that she earned enough points to get a cheese-kun plushie.

"I want to redeem my points for cheese-kun." The cashier nodded and made her way to a door where she would get the plushie. She soon returned to the register empty handed.

"I'm sorry mam but we're out of cheese-kun plushies. A new shipment is expected to be here soon, would you like to reserve one?" C.C shook her head and headed to a booth at the back of the restaurant.

For the next hour all she did was stare outside at the rain that beat down on the asphalt. She started to feel colder and colder until she recalled that day once again,

4 years ago

'When will you be done with worship tonight Diana?' a 16 year old C.C asked, to which Diana gave her a pained smile. They entered the church and C.C sat on the bench where she would wait for Diana to return. The nun kneeled beside her and clasped her hands around C.C's. Her touch wasn't warm like it usually was, in fact, her hands were ice cold. C.C frowned as the nun began to pray over her.

"Camellia, I pray that you escape. If you do, never forgive me. Hate me for the rest of your life."

"Diana?"

Suddenly the church doors burst open, and the priest along with his followers barged inside. They headed straight towards them. As soon as C.C turned her head Diana had disappeared from her side.

A flash of lightening lit up the church. The men were right in front of her. Her struggling was useless as they dragged her out of the church and into the heavy rain. Her favorite yellow heels and dress she designed with Diana were being dragged through the mud until their beautiful color was masked by the dirty mud. The men loaded her into a white van and drove out of the city and to a rural town.

The rain was cold on her skin as they pulled her out of the van and led her inside a different church. All on C.C's mind was Diana and her face when she kneeled in front of her. Not even leaving her with the smile she loved, but with an expression that would haunt her for the rest of her life…

"Mam! Your pizza is ready!" C.C regained consciousness as the cashier called for her. She collected her pizza and returned to the booth at the back, her back faced towards the other inhabitants of the restaurant.

She opened the first box and let the sweet aroma of cheese, bread and tomatoes fill her nostrils. Strangely she wasn't excited. She picked up a piece and took a bite. She finished the slice and ate another one. She continued to eat and eat and eat…

but,

'Why isn't it the same?' She thought. Why couldn't she feel the warmth she'd been longing for? She took another bite when a tear fell down her right eye. She picked up another slice and took a bite, but nothing. It was so cold. Cold like the rain, cold like Milly, cold like her classmates…cold like Diana's hands. The tears wouldn't stop but she continued to eat.

Lelouch wandered the streets of Tokyo with an umbrella in his hand. He looked through corner after corner until he walked past the windows of Pizza Hut. The bright green color in his peripheral vision caused him to stop and spin around. There she was, sobbing as she devoured her second box of pizza. He quickly ran inside and approached her.

"C.C?" He called with no answer.

"C.C" He called again.

"Camellia!" This time she was broken from her trance. The way his voiced called her name sent shivers down her spine, but that was soon replaced with the urge to vomit.

She held her mouth and pushed past him as she rushed to the restroom. He ran beside her but stopped in front of the bathroom door. His fists clenched as he heard her heave. He was impatient, so he barged in, relaying his apologies to those inside and heading straight for her stall. He held her long green hair up so that it wasn't ruined. When she was finished, he escorted her to his apartment.

After taking a shower and drying off, C.C sat on the couch in an oversized purple hoodie as Lelouch rummaged through his bathroom cabinets for medicine. He brought medicine for pain, indigestion, heartburn and stomach ache, all to try and cure the girl.

As he tried to hand her a glass of water, he noticed that she wouldn't stop shaking.

"What's wrong? Is the pain that bad, should we go to the hospital?" He asked as he set the cup of water on the coffee table and sat next to her.

"I'm so cold…not even pizza, that reminds me of my home can make me feel warm… And I feel listless, like any moment I could disappear into this coldness and no one would care. Honestly, I don't think its such a bad idea, even if I wouldn't be able to feel warmth, as long as I could escape from this coldness in my heart" She said shakily, as she clasped her hands tightly.

Lelouch was speechless. Words couldn't come to his mind at that moment and so, he wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her close and rested his head atop hers. He held her tightly so that she wouldn't escape, so that she wouldn't disappear.

C.C stopped shaking and her expression softened, allowing a tear to escape from her right eye. She spoke in a quiet voice,

"Why are you so warm Lelouch?"

He thought, and thought, until giving her the answer she truly wished for,

"It's because I don't want you to disappear…you have to live…Camellia, I want to protect you. Will you go out with me?"

He asked and she wrapped her arms around him, basking in the warmth she swore to abandon.

'One last time…one last time. I'll let myself be fooled and then finally I can disappear.' She thought.

'This time will I stop someone from being hurt because of me?' He thought.

She nodded and he smiled.

"As your boyfriend I will protect you."

Part 2 Next~