Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. I also don't own the song "Die Tonight, Live Forever" by InnerPartySystem.
(Sorry if you've already read this, and it had the wrong song title =/)
Warnings: May Contain Strong Language
AU since obviously, Lelouch is not a famous singer and The Black Knights, sure as hell aren't a rock band.
Sorry guys…I know it's been awhile since I've updated this. I'm finally back though~ I still need a new computer, but I should be fine for now. Hopefully there will be nothing to stand in the way of my updates :D
Also, disregard what I said about InnerPartySystem earlier. I like this band, and you guys don't seem to have a problem with my music selection…so I'm going to make them the main band I take songs from. :)
Thanks for your patience, let's get on with the show~
Lelouch glared at his bassist, but he had to give the witch some credit. C.C. really knew how to get what she wanted.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you prefer something else?" Lelouch asked although he knew C.C. would decline.
"I'm sure. Now c'mon lets go already. We still have to go find the others," C.C. quickly continued, and tugged at Lelouch's arm impatiently. As much as she loved annoying Suzaku, he wasn't above Pizza on her list of priorities.
"Alright. I guess we'll see you guys later. Milly, you said no one's going to be in the auditorium later right? Mind if we use it to practice?"
"Of course you can use it Lelouch, but why would you want to? I mean…you guys have a sound room in your house right? Isn't that where you normally practice?"
"It's still being set up," Lelouch replied casually. It didn't really bother him that the room wasn't finished. They did arrive rather abruptly. "We're going to have a concert in a few weeks at a stadium in Tokyo. I kind of wanted to get a feel for how big the place will be…also I don't really want to interrupt your band room's practice session."
"Oh! I forgot they practiced on Friday, but it's alright Lulu. I'll have someone bring your instruments. They'll be here by the time you get back from Pizza Hut."
"Thanks Milly." Lelouch waved and let C.C. pull him away from the two student council members. As soon as the rooftop door swung closed behind them, Milly laughed in delight.
"I knew they were dating! Shirley owes me 50 bucks," the blond woman cried triumphantly and slid her hand in her pocket to retrieve her cell phone.
"How could you possibly know something like that?" Suzaku replied solemnly, and stared off in the direction the others had left in. His mind raced with all the past events he remembered seeing the Black Knights in. Suzaku never believed the rumors about Zero's love life. The singer never seemed particularly into anyone when he watched. It added to his mysterious allure, however thinking back on it now…there could have been something he missed. Zero seemed to hold a platonic relationship with all of his band members. So why was he seeing the green haired bassist? "What made you so sure?"
So lost in thought was Suzaku, that he failed to notice the intense blue eyes that studied him. Studied the way he was unconsciously glaring at the door. The way his fists clenched as his words grew in volume.
Milly was sure of one thing. Lelouch's relationship was bothering Suzaku somehow.
She walked towards him, and gently placed her hand on his shoulder to try and lighten the mood. In the time she'd known the brunette, she had never been exposed to this side of him. Suzaku was always all smiles. She had to wonder if the hostility Kallen displayed earlier had anything to do with his sudden change. Perhaps her and Rivalz weren't the only ones on the student council with ties to the Black Knights…
"I guess you can call it woman's intuition."
"No. Something's not right Milly. She's not right for him, and I don't really think they're in…love," Suzaku concluded firmly. A small frown coming over him as he spoke the last word. He couldn't think of a reason why Lelouch would date the strange bassist. C.C. seemed to be an opportunist. If she was dating Lelouch it would be because she wanted something from him.
His glare intensified as a look of pure animosity crossed his features. Just thinking about C.C. with her arms all over Lelouch put him in a foul mood.
"Don't worry Suzaku. You'll find your own C.C. someday," Milly spoke whimsically from his side.
He quickly turned to face her, and shot her a shocked look. "Why would I want another C.C.? I think one's already pushing it…"
"Oh?"Milly replied playfully, and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. "Then would it happen to be Lelouch you want?"
"Huh?" Suzaku flushed in embarrassment. "I-it's-"
Milly cut him off with her sudden burst of laughter.
"I was only joking Suzaku. Sorry if I offended you or anything. I know you're not into guys. I just wanted to see how you'd react."
"Right…" Suzaku trailed off sounding unsure. Would it be better to admit his feelings to Milly? Maybe she could help him out. She is one of Lelouch's best friends, or at least seems like one. She doesn't hate him, so she couldn't possibly know about him and Lelouch's falling out…
"Why don't you think C.C. and Lelouch make a good couple Suzaku?" Milly asked in curiosity.
"I get the feeling she's interested in something else."
"Hmm? Like his money? You know she's also in the band right? She has fame and fortune, so there's no reason she'd need to use him."
"I don't know Milly," Suzaku frowned and looked at the floor. "Something about her seems off. I think the Black Knights could find themselves a better bassist."
"Maybe, but chances are Lelouch hand picked her himself," Milly finished cheerfully and offered Suzaku a smile. Something about the situation was peculiar. She quickly made a mental note to look into Suzaku's history. Somewhere down the line he met with Kallen. All she had to do was trace their files back to a possible encounter, and confront one of them. 'Was Lelouch somehow involved? Maybe Suzaku was a friend of theirs?'
"Hey, weren't they going to play in the auditorium?"
"Oh my god," Milly cried out suddenly. "I forgot to send for the instruments! Suzaku, I want you to run over to the Black Knights' house, and pick up their instruments. Hurry up though, and take Gino and Rivalz with you. They should be in the meeting room."
Suzaku nodded, and quickly headed off. He knew Milly was going to send them to do it. He couldn't help but wonder what Lelouch's room would look like now.
Suzaku frowned, and crossed his arms as he stared into the somewhat clean room he knew belonged to his raven haired ex.
There were lots of boxes around the room, but that's not what bothered him. No, what bothered him was the female clothes neatly folded at the edge of the bed, and the make-up sitting innocently on the sleek black vanity. He knew Lelouch didn't wear make-up or women's clothes by choice, so his next guess was that C.C. had set up refuge in his room.
'God that witch is getting on my nerves,' Suzaku scowled and continued to survey the room. He smiled when he finished. It seemed Lelouch still preferred intricate looking things. Suzaku instantly recognized the old navy blue guitar propped up beside the bed. It was an old gift from Nunnally. He remembered the day he'd taken her to buy it. She had saved her allowance for weeks, and hoped to buy her brother a guitar to practice. In the end he had pitched in to help her get it, but they had achieved the desired result and made Lelouch extremely happy. He hoped Lelouch hadn't changed too much in his absence.
'The rest of his stuff is probably still packed away. Did you keep anything I gave you Lelouch?' Suzaku instantly frowned when he remembered the last time he'd seen Lelouch when they were still together. That memory was engraved in his head. He could still see Lelouch glaring at him in anger. His beautiful violet eyes glistening with unshed tears as he yelled at him and Euphemia. The lost look in his eyes as he heard his sister's confession. Suzaku gave a short cry of frustration and tugged at his curly brown hair.
'Why did I have to be so stupid?'
"Hey are you alright?" Gino and Rivalz poked their heads into the room.
"I'm fine," Suzaku turned to them, and tried to compose himself.
"What's been up with you lately, Suzaku? You're acting strange," Rivalz questioned.
"It's just…I was just reminded of something recently…I guess it got the best of me."
"No kidding," Gino replied back concerned. "You know we're always here for you if you need to talk."
"Yeah."
"Any chance you can tell us what's bothering you?" Rivalz continued curiously.
"I was reminded of my first love," Suzaku replied sadly. "My one and only."
"Who?"
"A Britannian, from the Britannia family…"
"Wait a minute, do you mean the Britannia family? As in, the Britannia royal family?" Rivalz cried in shock.
"Wow, who was it?" Gino whistled in amazement. "She must have been beautiful."
Suzaku laughed to himself. 'She? Wouldn't that be perfect? If Lelouch was a girl I wouldn't have nearly as many problems. I guess I could humor them a little.'
"She is beautiful. I screwed up though, and she left me,' Suzaku sighed tiredly. "I'm going to fix it though. I'm not giving up."
His friends smiled, and cheered him on.
"I'm glad to hear that Suzaku," Gino chirped happily. "If there's anyway we could help just let us know alright?"
Suzaku brightened up at his friend's words. He knew they wouldn't be able to help, but he appreciated the thought.
"Hey guys," Rivalz chimed in worriedly. "I've got a few of the mics here, but which guitars are we taking? I know the band, but I really have no clue about their instruments."
Suzaku and Gino turned to see Rivalz pulling a few guitars from the boxes littered around the room. Suzaku noticed that the navy blue guitar previously propped up against the wall was now in the small pile around Rivalz's feet, and walked towards it to remove it. Rivalz shot him a questioning look, but he brushed it off and carefully set it back in the spot he'd seen it in.
"Are you sure that's not one of them?" Rivalz asked sounding unsure.
"Don't worry. I'm positive this isn't one of the ones we should be bringing," Suzaku responded curtly. The prospect of C.C. using something so valuable to Lelouch really irked him.
"He's right," Gino piped in cheerfully. "That blue guitar has six strings, and I've already found Kallen's trademark red guitar. We have to look for a bass guitar now, so try to find one with only four strings."
They quickly set off to find the rest of the equipment they'd need, and headed back to school before Milly murdered them for taking so long.
"Don't you dare do that again," Lelouch hissed, and glared at the green haired witch.
C.C. just smirked and hugged his arm closer to her.
"I really don't know what you're talking about Lelouch," she responded sweetly.
"Really? I didn't think your memory was that horrible," the raven haired boy bit out, and pulled down the the part of his jacked that covered his neck. "Look! Do you see what you did? It looks terrible!" Lelouch shoved C.C. away from him. He wasn't in the mood to deal with her right now.
Kallen and Xingke laughed behind them as they made their way to the auditorium.
"Calm down, Lulu. You can always cover it up. This uniform already does, so you don't have to worry about anyone here seeing it," Kallen replied calmly, but her expression showed she found this situation very amusing.
"I don't care if anyone sees it. The problem is I can see it, and that's bad enough," Lelouch huffed in annoyance.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. If anyone asks you can always tell them your hot girlfriend gave it to you," Xingke winked and smiled at Lelouch who's cheeks turned a light shade of pink.
"Whatever guys. Let's just drop this already," Lulu replied lowly and turned from the others to open the auditorium door. As soon as the door opened they all heard a loud buzzing coming from inside. He quickly shut it, and turned so his back was facing the door. "You've gotta be kidding me," he hissed and rubbed his forehead. "And here I was, thinking we were going to have a standard practice session. I guess it can't be helped."
"Wow, news travels fast."
"No joke," Kallen cried out in astonishment. "I wonder who spread this little rumor around?"
"Well it's not really a rumor now is it?" C.C. hummed. "Since we're actually here and all."
"This almost seems like something C.C. would do." Xingke laughed, and shook his head. "I can't say I mind though. Playing for a bunch of fans that think we're music gods is pretty sweet."
"It's amazing isn't it Xingke? If Lelouch hadn't watched those videos you posted you might still be living in your parent's basement. Doing drum covers of famous songs." C.C. smirked playfully.
"Yeah, and you would still be homeless," he replied back in good-nature, but paused in contemplation. "Hmm. C.C., how did you learn how to play bass so bad ass if you didn't even have a house?"
She frowned, and tensed up a bit.
"That doesn't matter," Lelouch quickly countered. The others didn't know it, but C.C. only auditioned as a means to escape her past. He really didn't want her stirring up bad memories before a concert. Even if it was only a small unofficial concert. "C'mon. We have ourselves some fans to impress." He smiled up at the other band members, and caught C.C.'s low thank you as she passed him on her way to the stage.
There were lots of whispers coming from the other side of the curtain.
"Omg, are they really going to be here?"
"I think so," a young guy called out.
"I heard they enrolled in this school," a perky female voice spoke up.
"No way!"
Lelouch smiled, and motioned all of them to make sure everything was set up correctly. It seems the people Milly had sent got everything right. They even set up four microphone stands for all of them. Normally only Lelouch sang, but it gave him an idea for which song to perform.
Once they were all ready, Xingke pulled the string at the right side of the stage and the curtains opened. The loud roar that erupted was enough to make this whole thing worth it. Lelouch tapped his mic and spoke up calmly.
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
The crowd roared loudly again. Chants of 'We love you!' and 'Omg it's Zero!' engulfed the whole room.
"We were planning on having a simple practice session, but since you've all shown up we've decided to do something special."
He turned, and motioned the band to start up the song. It started off quiet, but after a short while everything picked up.
You can feel the pounding
Wrapped around your chest
Nothing's too excessive
When you've got nothing left
Everyone leaned towards their mics and sang the chorus.
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
If we all should die tonight
We will have no regrets
If we all should die tonight
We will have no regrets
Lelouch stared out at the mass of bodies before him. He spotted the two young girls from the other day, and winked at them. They both looked at each other, and jumped in excitement.
If this night should take my life
(We cant go back we cant go)
If we all should die tonight
(we cant go back we cant go)
The crowds swung to the rhythm, trying to fall in sync with Lelouch, not daring to sing a long for fear of blocking out his voice
You can see the plastic
Dripping off your face
We may not all be pretty
But we feel pretty fake
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
We're all here 'cos we've lost control
Lelouch scanned the audience again, and frowned when he noticed none of the student council members were present. He could have sworn Milly would've had something to do with this.
If we all should die tonight
We will have no regrets
If we all should die tonight
We will have no regrets
If this night should take my life
(We cant go back we cant go)
If we all should die tonight
(we cant go back we cant go)
If this night should take my life
(We cant go back we cant go)
If we all should die tonight
(we've got nothing left)
The song finished after the chorus repeated a little more, and they cheered for an encore. They started up another song shortly after.
C.C. smiled at the fans cheering them on. Xingke was right. Pleasing their fans was very fulfilling.
Soon that song ended as well, and Lelouch found himself having to break the news to their enthralled fans.
"Well, it's been fun guys, but we've really got to go."
Several whines filled the auditorium, and Lelouch flashed his fans a cheerful smile.
"I know. I wish we could stay longer too, but it's getting late. Perhaps we can do this again sometime?" With that closing statement, Lelouch unhooked his mic and retreated to the back stage.
The disappointed fans wandered to the exists, and the band started packing up their instruments.
"Here."
Lelouch's eyes widened when C.C. tossed her guitar at him. "Wait. Why do I have to carry your guitar C.C.?"
"Because I'm carrying the mics," she responded coolly and placed all the mics into a nearby box.
Lelouch frowned, and was about to answer her but was interrupted with his phone ringing. He checked the number, and answered it.
"Hello? Yeah, What's up Rakshata?...Someone wants to do a project with us?" Lelouch sighed and started to head out.
"Who is it this time? Anyone interesting?" Lelouch replied sounding bored, but gasped and froze mid-step at Rakshata's answer.
Everyone turned to face him in curiosity.
"Are you serious? Agent Orange?"
The others stared at him in awe, eyes opened wide. Agent Orange, their favorite band, was requesting their partnership in something?
Author's note: Alright guys, I hope you liked this. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. The next update will not take so long.
Review if you have time.
Thank you for reading :)