Shopping Time

It wasn't until late that night when CC saw Lelouch stumble inside his room.

After checking up on Nunnally and helping her get to bed, Lelouch was ready to just lay down and fall asleep.

Of course, it was never that simple. First, CC stole his bed, so he couldn't lay down on that, and to add to his frustration, it smelled heavily of cheese as he walked in to his room. Lelouch's nose twitched at the smell. He took a few seconds to glance around his room, and he wasn't surprised to see that the smell was coming from the half or dozen boxes of pizza lying scattered across the floor.

CC was lying on his bed as usual with her green hair sprawled in all directions, in one hand held a slice of pizza which she dangled over its cardboard box. It would have been almost sexually appealing if CC's face wasn't as expressionless as a rock.

Lelouch became even more appalled when he noticed that she was eating pizza on his bed. If he wasn't so angry and tired, he would have tried to yank the bedsheets from underneath her. Instead he opted for a more controlled response.

"You really should stop eating so much pizza, it's not healthy for you." Lelouch said to the witch.

"I don't get fat so I can eat to my heart's content. CC said and her mouth formed a sly smile. Why? Are you actually concerned about me?"

"N-No! It's just that......." Lelouch tried to say that he didn't like the smell, but CC responded by taking another bite of her pizza.

"Whatever......" the witch said, and with that, a defeated Lelouch grabbed a spare blanket from his closet and moved over to the couch on the other side of his room. He then climbed in to his bed and tried to fall asleep with the smell of pizza lingering in the air still.

This is exasperating, he thought as his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.

The next day Lelouch and the others finally had some free time and there was no urgent business to attend to with the Black Knights. Today they were all planning to go to the mall to buy their Christmas gifts for the exchange coming up and to just hang out and enjoy themselves after almost a week of non-stop decorating.

As the monorail zipped across the Britannian settlement and past the imposing government building, Lelouch couldn't help but wonder what his two half-sisters were doing. Deep down, he had to admit that he did miss being with his older siblings and especially with his mother. That was a time where they got to lead carefree lives and succession of the Britannian Throne was the last thing on their minds.

The group got off the monorail and walked to the mall together as one group. Milly looked over at Shirley and smirked as she noticed that the orange-haired girl's face more flushed then usual.

It had been a while since Lelouch was able to enjoy something like this. It had been a while since he and Suzaku hung out as friends even as classmates. When the group reached the shopping mall, Milly suggested that the group split into two groups, with girls in one group and boys in the other.

"I'm cool with that." Rivalz said.

"Same." Said Nina.

So as the girls headed off in one direction the boys headed in the opposite direction. Eventually the three of them also split up to find the right gifts for their friends. All seemed well for Lelouch and his friends that day and it seemed that if he could go today without CC suddenly popping up somewhere, he would treat her pizza tonight.

Rivalz wanted to buy a special gift for Milly, and Suzaku of course wanted to buy something special for his princess. Though their reasons were slightly different. Pretty soon after some 'guy bonding,' the three of them split up as well and all walked to purchase their gifts. Lelouch knew he needed to buy a present for his little sister and Sayoko, but he also knew that he needed to buy presents for Rivalz, Milly, and Shirley. As for Kallen and CC, well.......that he wasn't quite sure. If his budget allowed him, and maybe a few extra chess matches, then perhaps so.

Lelouch walked out of the shop with his gifts in hand and was barely a few feet out the door when he felt something run into him.

He looked up to see who he was and he gazed into a pair of yellow eyes that he recognized automatically as CC's eyes. He cursed silently to himself and he would have to spend another day catering to the gray witch's every whim. After he got over his initial distaste he looked over behind CC. She was dragging along another girl with long pink hair who wore a hat and tinted glasses.

"Euphie!" Lelouch shouted out without thinking then lowered his voice and pulled the two girls to a more secluded area.

"What are you do doing here?!" Lelouch whispered through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry about that Lelouch."

Princess Euphemia li Britannia had somehow snuck out of the palace and avoided the guards. She claimed that she needed some fresh air and that her sister had commented that she should get out more as working at her desk job has made her stomach a little flabby.

"I bumped into this girl here......"

"Cecelia" CC corrected her, just name that she thought right off the top of her head.

"And I asked if she knew you Lelouch, so......"

Lelouch shook his head in frustration but reluctantly allowed them to follow him until he met up with the others. And conveniently for Euphemia, Suzaku was with them today. Lelouch suspected that was the real reason why the pink haired princess wanted to see him.

Lelouch heard his cell phone ring and picked it up.

"Hello?"

It was Suzaku. "Hey Lelouch! Are you done with your Christmas shopping yet? Everyone's waiting for you at the pizza parlor for you."

CC ears perked as she heard the word 'pizza' and Euphie felt her heart jump into her throat as she heard his voice. She looked over at CC who silently nodded behind Lelouch's back. And before Lelouch could do anything else, Euphie and CC started dragging Lelouch across the mall to the pizza parlor. Euphie let CC steer since she seemed to know where the pizza parlor was.

Lelouch's pride and ego once again took a hit, as he got a lot of stares and giggles from bystanders.

When the three finally arrived at the pizza parlor, the others looked up at this rather strange but funny sight.

"Lelouch, just who are these people?" Milly asked.

"Suzaku! I finally get to see you again!" Euphie cried and swooped down and hugged Suzaku nearly knocking him out of his chair.

Lelouch noticed how awkward the situation was becoming and he also noticed CC's eyes. For a split second he gulped and suggested to the group, "Hey, you guys haven't ate lunch yet right? Why don't we get some pizza?"

That seemed to have worked. Everyone started discussing which toppings they wanted, what drinks they wanted and how they should pay. This was just the distraction Lelouch needed. After getting all the orders he lined up to pay for the food at the same time, think about what he was going to say to everyone.

When Lelouch walked back to the table, he found the others all huddled around the Princess Euphemia and CC. Lelouch could only imagine what they were talking about and ran over.

Lelouch felt his heart sank. Euphie here was going to blow his cover. However, to Lelouch's relieve when he actually walked closer to the table, they didn't seem to mind her at all, and other random people did not suddenly run up to her to ask questions. So others, it simply looked like a group of friends clamoring over the newest gossip. And to top it all, they hid Euphie from view of any bodyguards that might be looking for her.

When the pizza and drinks finally arrived, CC doved right into her own pizza that Lelouch ordered for her, earning several suspicious glances from the other girls. Then again, all of them knew instantly that there was only one girl who could eat a whole pizza like that and that was CC. Luckily for Lelouch, Suzaku didn't seem to recognize her at all, and in fact, Lelouch was grateful now that Euphie came along. Suzaku seemed to be focused entirely on the princess that he probably wouldn't have recognized CC even without her disguise.

"So when did you two first meet Euphie?" Shirley asked the pink haired girl.

"Um......about two months ago......."

"What got you so interested in him? Like selecting him to be your knight?" Milly asked.

"Well.......I...."

Suzaku couldn't stand this anymore. "She chose me as her knight because she felt I was the most qualified."

"Y-yes. I enjoy having Suzaku by my side."

For the rest of their shopping trip, Euphie and CC accompanied the girls on shopping for gifts and other stuff. Euphie had to admit that it was fun and having Suzaku there with her was a definite bonus. He was more to her than her knight, and people like Milly could easily tell that she liked him as a person, perhaps even loved him. As for Suzaku, Milly was a little more in the dark as she couldn't tell what Suzaku was thinking.

As the day came to a close, and Euphie had to leave, Suzaku grabbed her hand and took her aside from the group.

"Don't worry about us, I'll catch up okay?" Suzaku called.

"What's this about?" the pink-haired princess asked as he escorted her to a more private place in a nearby park. The sun had already set and the lights were just starting to come on of the buildings.

"Um.....Euphie? Um, if it's alright with you.....will you......go to the dance this Friday with me?" Suzaku stammered out. "I'm sure Milly told you about it and......I wanted to see if you can come."

Euphie was delighted that she was getting this chance. "Of course I will Suzaku!"

That night, Euphie and Suzaku decided to take a nice stroll around town until late, when Suzaku finally escorted her back to the government building. As the young man waved goodbye to his princess, he felt his heart thump harder than usual as Euphiemia's long, pink hair disappeared behind the doors.

So after all that has happened, Lelouch was surprised that it didn't turn out as bad as he thought it was going to. CC and Euphie did not blow his cover, and Suzaku was preoccupied so that he didn't recognize the green-haired witch. He had bought all his gifts including one for CC, and he enjoyed himself playing some of the arcade games with Rivalz, and chatting away with Suzaku about school and Milly's crazy antics.

"Welcome home big brother and CC! How was shopping?" Nunnally asked Lelouch as he and CC walked into the clubhouse.

Lelouch didn't answer right away. He walked over to the Christmas tree and set down his bags before stretching a little bit before he turned back to face his sister. CC already left upstairs presumably to take a shower.

"It was fine."

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