Chapter 3: Austere Friendship

What is more pure than the bond of friendship, more beautiful than a lover's wish, more sinister than a madman's fantasy, more austere than a tyrant's regime?

Nothing

-Old Britannian riddle

Part 7: Distance of Lies

After the turmoil of Mao and his psychopathic strife, the night of angst and hate dissipated for another bright day to continue the day before. Lelouch sat beneath an apple tree in the school courtyard and gazed at the entrance door of a department building. He stared with tired eyes, from the recent heyday that was last night and thought of nothing. Lelouch tried to forget about everything and slowly fell asleep.

Shirley walked down the brick-laid path to her dormitory and noticed a boy around her age sleeping beneath the old apple tree. She stopped by tree to get a closer look. He was too deep in his slumber to notice Shirley looking at him.

"HELLO, is anyone in there?" Shirley cried. Lelouch opened his eyes momentarily and found her staring at him with her cute olive-coloured eyes. She looked different from before, wearing a ponytail instead of letting her hair flow as usual.

"Shirley, what are you doing here?" Lelouch asked, tired from his little nap.

"Do I know you?" the girl returned, alarmed to find he learned of her name.

Lelouch stared at her awkwardly and found her obliviousness amusing but realized the horrific truth of the day before. He implanted a memory block into Shirley to prevent her from remembering about him.

"I am here and there but not popular, so you probably do not know me," Lelouch replied with a slight smile, "You however are a member of the student council correct?"

"Okay, but why are you here?" she smiled with her eyes closed.

Lelouch smiled and said, "I was tired from studying too hard."

Shirley widened her eyes and said, "You should take care of yourself, a good night sleep is important for your memory and your growth!"

Lelouch chuckled and said, "I know. Well I should be getting to class just about now."

Lelouch stood up and walked past her.

"Wait! What is your name?" her question resonated across the school courtyard.

"Call me Lelouch!" he hollered, "Lelouch Lamperouge."

"Lelouch… nope, never heard of him," she spoke to herself.

He acted as if this was the first time they met; a stroke of nostalgia provoked him.

When class was about to begin Lelouch walked towards his homeroom, looking at the ground. He bumped into Shirley who was also making her way into homeroom. She carried two textbooks with loose leaf paper stuck in between pages.

"Sorry, I have to be careful when walking next time," Lelouch apologized as he started to pick up her books lying flat on the floor. Lelouch dusted the textbooks off and kindly returned the books like a gentleman.

Shirley looked at him in awe and said, "No problem and thank you."

He smiled and said, "You're welcome."

A couple of girls from behind looked at the two from a corner and hollered, "You go girl!"

Shirley looked utterly confused and entered the room. She took her seat beside Lelouch and asked, "You have this class for first period?"

"Yeah, it seems I am so unpopular that my existence is miniscule!" Lelouch responded rather loudly.

"You are that hopeless?" Shirley asked.

A girl looked at her in disgust and scolded, "How can you call Lelouch hopeless! He is the hottest guy in class and we are all competing for him!"

"Is there something that I am unaware of?" Shirley asked.

"No, they are just saying that to cheer me up from my plain face," Lelouch replied.

"Your face is above average, I have to say," Shirley placed her index finger on her lips, wide eyed and gave an honest and conservative opinion from her instincts.

"Please, don't flatter me. I am an average boy!" Lelouch joked, he smiled at her comfortably.

Shirley looked at him with more wonder; clearly he wasn't an average boy.

Shirley hung out with her friends during lunchtime and they usually talk about Lelouch and how desirable he was to have as a spouse. They had always commented on his masculine beauty and his genius intellect but Shirley could not fathom why on that day.

"Isn't he just gorgeous," a friend said like a fan girl.

"I think he would make an excellent concert star," another stated.

The gossip continued without Shirley's participation. She thought, "Lelouch, how can you be so popular if you don't show up anywhere?'

"Shirley? You usually have lots to talk about, what has gotten into you today?" a friend asked.

"Yeah, you are the closest to him," another said, "Being a member of the student council with him."

Without a clue on what they just said, Shirley spoke honestly, "Do I know him? I just met him today! When he said I was on the student council, it sounded like he wasn't part of it."

"No, you were hopelessly in love with him, fantasizing about him every day," a friend elaborated.

"I do not remember knowing him," Shirley said.

"You once said, 'his skies are my skies, his wind is my wind, his heart is my heart.'"

"I could not have said something so embarrassing!" Shirley retorted.

"Love makes us all blind," one of her friends said, "Love makes us all blind!"

Shirley suddenly left her little social clique in a hurry in search for Lelouch. She thought her friend Milly would be the right person to talk to.

"Milly!" she gasped for air from the long distance to the student council room, "Do you know who Lelouch is."

"What a silly question, of course I do!" Milly replied.

"Even the president of the student council knows! Am I the only person who just met him?" Shirley asked.

"What are you talking about? You have always known him; you had a crush on him!"

"That was what one of my friends said!"

"She is right. Are you feeling fine?"

"I am fine but Lelouch is too well known to be a misfit loner!"

"What do you mean misfit loner, he is the vice president of the student council and a great cook!"

"He worked here with all of us! How can that be?"

"I think you have overworked yourself. Perhaps you should get some rest and all your fond memories of him will return."

"That was awesome," Rivel and Lelouch entered the room; Rivel was speaking.

"Lelouch, what did you do to Shirley?" Milly asked with a vexed expression.

"Shirley? Oh we just met today!" Lelouch played on Shirley's side.

"You too? Are you high? You know drugs are not tolerated here!" Milly said and assumed illicit substances were the cause.

"I think Shirley needs some rest, that's all," Lelouch said.

Shirley left the room with a lost expression.

"Lelouch, did you dump her or something and she just wants to ignore you?" Rivel asked.

"I did not dump her, we just separated temporarily," Lelouch lied, "She will pretend to learn about me. It is an acting tactic we currently use when the relationship is not going anywhere."

"Where did you get this crazy idea?" Milly and Rivel asked in unison.

"I heard it from somewhere," Lelouch fibbed.

"Oh heavens NO! I cannot stand this madness! Tell her to stop at once!" Milly nagged dramatically in distress.

"We are trying to find the root of our relationship problems through re-enactment. Just you wait, we are just trying to spice things up for the future," Lelouch added.

The truth was that the two were never in a relationship other than classmates and coworkers.

Part 8: Progeny?

Lelouch stepped into his room and found C.C. eating pizza on his bed. Lelouch walked across to his window in a hurry, sat down on a wooden stool and crossed his leg, staring at C.C. with a stern face.

"HMMMMMM," He gave out a long sigh of discontent.

"What?" C.C. asked.

"It's about YOU and spending my money on pizza!" Lelouch complained.

"I just love this pizza!"

"You are wasting my debit card!"

"Look, I will control myself from now on, okay?"

"I will tie you up in my closet if that is what it takes!"

"Ooh! Bondage, how bold," C.C. exclaimed with an excited look.

"Damn you think lewd thoughts!" he said while he covered his face from the disappointment.

"So when should we get busy?" C.C. directed at him.

"Busy for what?"

"You know the contract you promised last night."

"Oh my…I was thinking when I grow up a little. I am only seventeen!"

"So, during my time, thirteen year olds were being fathers!"

"Times have changed!"

"Just saying," she showed an innocent face.

"I know you are a witch, but I never thought witches were horny. Now I am scared sharing this room with you." C.C. got off his bed and strode to his side.

"Don't worry Lelouch, I will not do anything to you while you are asleep," C.C. said while approaching him by touching his face.

"You still make me sick, even after yesterday!" Lelouch said.

"What happens if you die tomorrow and tonight was our last night together?" C.C. asked.

"Look, if you truly love me, then you would never think like that," Lelouch stated.

"I just want to do it!" she implored.

"The word is final. No!" Lelouch turned around to face his window.

"You are no fun as always!" C.C. turned around and stomped to his bed. She resumed to eating her pizza.

"I knew it! It was too good to be true! My words of passion were ineffective!" Lelouch said angrily, covering his eyes.

"What do you mean," she asked while nibbling on a slice of pizza.

Lelouch revealed his left eye, with strands of hair hanging over and stared at her, "You do not love me. You are just a lustful witch!"

"That is not true! I care a lot about you, more than you can imagine!" C.C. defended.

"Prove it to me in a civilized way!" Lelouch ordered.

"If you die, I will jump into a volcano and eternally suffer for losing you!" she yelled with tears streaming out of her eyes.

Though that statement was not a proper proof, Lelouch gawked at her release of emotions, falling for what remained of her femininity and said in a soft tone of atonement, "I am sorry I doubted you C.C. but you would really do that for me?"

C.C. nodded with authentic tears flowing out of her soft-looking eyes. Lelouch walked forward and sat on the bed. He embraced her and whispered something into her ear. C.C. carried a surprised look: it was everything she had desired for, a straight apology addressed to her real name and an 'I love you.'

Lelouch immediately stood up but C.C. grabbed his arm and said, "Could you please repeat that?"

"As you wish," Lelouch replied and he did.

He bent down to kiss her for a short moment and walked out of the room with a change of clothes in his hands.

Lelouch was in the washroom, taking a bath. He stepped into a tub filled with lukewarm water and relaxed from all the stress he developed from lying to his friends about Shirley's condition. He did not brainwash her because he felt like it, it was purely utilitarian and necessary to prevent being exposed as a terrorist ringleader.

He looked into the water and forgot about everything that was depressing and of guilt. He looked up and said, "C.C. matured for five centuries but that element of girlhood hasn't disappeared within her. There is this playful spirit inside her heart that wants to experiment with all the wonders of the world, of existence, treading through the meadows of life's peaks and troughs. Women are such complicated creatures; I just cannot fully understand them."

Lelouch heard a sudden knock on the door; a female figure was behind it; it was C.C.

"The door is locked," Lelouch told her, "You can't come in."

"I know. I came to apologize for wasting your money," C.C. apologized.

"Uh-huh."

"I promise I will not bother you and your sister. I will be leaving, tell Nunnally I said goodnight."

Lelouch did not take that seriously and thought to himself, "She still practices that ritualistic lie to Nunnally. I see C.C. is a reliable woman indeed."

Lelouch heard the entrance door shut and immediately reacted by jumping out of the bathtub. He quickly dried his body without second thought for thoroughness. He put on his pyjamas at top speed and ran to the door. Wearing nothing but slippers, Lelouch sped down the halls, rushed down the stairs to the dormitory lobby while tiptoeing, trying to be as discreet as possible.

Lelouch entered the scene of darkness and looked around for C.C.

"C.C., don't leave me!" Lelouch called for her.

"Oh Lelouch," C.C. cried from a corner in the darkness. The two ran and hugged each other.

"I thought you were going to leave me," Lelouch said, worried as hell.

"I was just kidding, but now I know you are not faking one bit," C.C. said in relief.

"I have to admit I am a liar but my feelings for you are genuine," Lelouch said, "C.C., never joke like that again, I was worried sick!"

Lelouch gazed at her flawless complexion and kissed her on the spot, under a beam of moonlight which peeked into the room through a high window. She returned with her arms tightly wrapped around him, with the feeling of ecstasy rushing within her. Luckily, there weren't any spectators to catch them as they continued for quite some period of time. Their lips parted under the moonlight and they gazed into each other's eyes affectionately.

"Why do you weep?" Lelouch asked with a heartfelt tone.

"Only a lover's tear can be so true to signal that I love you," C.C. replied as the tears of consolation flowed out her eyes.

"I will never leave you C.C.," Lelouch confessed.

"That was the first time anyone had said that to me before," C.C. replied with adoration and comfort.

Ever since she had met him, he was the first to ever thank her, to appreciate her original name, and now to never leave her. Usually it was the other way around and C.C. had always used this scheme to get herself an accomplice to kill her, to liberate her from the eternal torment that was her life.

C.C. gazed at her Lelouch lovingly for what felt like ages to her. (In truth it was twenty seconds). They paused and looked into each other's eyes. Lelouch lifted her chin and said, "I will do what you ask me to do but you have to promise me that it will be morally acceptable."

"Can we do it," C.C. begged.

"No, that is off limits for now," Lelouch said. He was adamantly conservative of this procreation business.

They walked back to the dorm and went straight to sleep; she on his bed and he on the floor. It had always been like that with the two of them and that will continue for now.