Title: Chase
Category: Anime/Manga » Code Geass
Author: Angel-wing2
Language: English, Rating: Fiction Rated: T
Genre: Romance/Humor

Disclaimer: Sunrise owns Code Geass.

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Chapter 3

Lelouch stood patiently as the royal tailor took his measurements. He had forgotten that the ball was on Saturday. The scheduled date of "the date/battle".

He sighed. No backing out now. The two girls would be there anyway, so, perhaps at night, after the party? Geez, such a tight schedule. It would be a bother to return to C.C.'s manor to reschedule. And very suspicious too, Lady Cecile would think that he actually liked the green-haired girl or other such nonsense. Plus C.C., would scoff at him. He could just imagine her mocking, What, you need more time to prepare, Lelouch?

"Darn her." Lelouch muttered.

"Excuse me?" the puzzled tailor asked.

Suzaku was walking to the Japanese Consul Building when a flash of red a few meters away caught his eye. It was Kallen. She was in disguise, wearing a black trench coat, large hat and sunglasses, but he still managed to tell that it was her.

"Kallen!" he shouted.

Either she didn't hear him or deliberately ignored him, the redhead continued walking. Suzaku followed.

The girl got on a delivery van, but Suzaku had caught up with her and got on the passenger seat, as the door was unlocked.

She removed her glasses and stared at him. "What do you want?" she huffed, "You were causing a scene back there."

"So you did hear me?" Suzaku asked "And you didn't even stop?"

Kallen glared at him. "Well, who says I have to, Kururugi?" She started the van and zoomed off.

Suzaku said nothing but grasped tightly on the handrail as Kallen wove through the traffic like it was nothing.

"Uhm. That was a red light, you know?" Suzaku said with poorly concealed alarm.

He just had to reschedule the fight. Lelouch looked at clock on the wall. Half-past nine in the morning. There was still time.

Lelouch announced his visit to C.C. this time. Lady Cecile was beside herself with glee.

"Oh, he was here just yesterday! Now he just has to see dear C.C. so much that he had to come again today!" Lady Cecile remarked happily. "I'm sure Prince Lelouch has made his choice already!"

C.C.'s guardian allowed them to go on the "date" two days early, unchaperoned, on account of her niece's "exceptionally good conduct."

Lelouch scoffed. What a joke. That C.C. was just about as well-behaved as a particularly ill-tempered buffalo.

C.C. looked delighted to see him. "Perfect timing Lelouch! I was just about to sneak out, but now I have the perfect excuse." She latched onto the Prince's arm before he could protest and half-dragged him into the waiting stretch limousine.

Lelouch looked down at his companion and marveled at how nice she looked with her strange green hair in a loose bun, peaches and cream complexion and amber eyes. She wore a light frilly cream-colored dress embroidered with tiny pink rosebuds. So dainty. She looked so slender, almost waif-like.

Even he would have been fooled had he not seen her take his Knightmare Frame and subsequently make him risk his best friend's life, fighting, against an even more violent Kallen. Who knew what she was doing this for anyway? He wouldn't have been surprised if she was a terrorist on the side.

Before long, he was staring at her.

"See anything you like?" C.C. whispered.

Lelouch jerked away almost violently. C.C. laughed heartily. Lelouch was so amusing. She decided that she liked him.

"You're, overspeeding, Kallen. Just a reminder." Suzaku wondered why they hadn't been arrested yet. "Just where are we going anyway?"

"Officially, it's violin lessons today." Kallen replied.

Suzaku looked at her quizzically. "Out here?" They were in the outskirts of the city, near the mountains. Even the road wasn't paved anymore. It looked like the middle of nowhere.

Suzaku looked at the girl beside him curiously, taking care not to look like he was observing her. She was gruff and didn't converse much, but he felt drawn to her somehow. That she wasn't trying to kill him was saying something.

Truth be told, she wasn't his type. Or maybe that was just what he thought. He admired her strength, he supposed. And he found her very attractive. Just a crush. Maybe.

Kallen wondered what he was thinking. Just going off with someone who was supposedly his enemy. Kururugi was naive, she decided. She also noticed that she was being watched, by this guy, who so obviously looked like he was staring out the window.

"Uhm, Kururugi. Sorry about..." Kallen said and pointed to her jawline and smiled weakly, but never took her eyes off the road.

"Hey, apology accepted." Suzaku grinned. "We were in the way. And, oh, you can call me Suzaku."

Kallen frowned. Were they all buddy-buddy now? Pah. He was really so nice it got on her nerves.

"I won't go easy on you when I'm on Guren." Kallen replied. "And neither should you, if you want Gawain back." She added.

"But your Knightmare Frame's not here." Suzaku shot back. "We're not fighting right now."

"Riiight." Kallen replied. He was so strange.

"Look, C.C. I just wanted to tell you that the fight between Guren and Lancelot has to be rescheduled. The ball..." Lelouch trailed off when he saw that the annoying green-haired witch wasn't listening to him at all.

He twitched. "Am I paying for all this?" C.C. had raided all the expensive shops and had been paying no attention to Lelouch for the last two hours.

C.C. smiled at him and Lelouch almost melted. Almost. "Yes, as a matter of fact, you are paying."

"C.C.! This is not a date." Lelouch said weakly.

"Because you've been good, we're going for pizza after this." C.C. said, smiling. "What were you saying again?"

"Nothing." Lelouch sighed.

"Is that...Prince Lelouch?" A brown-haired girl gushed. "Dear me, you're right!" another squealed. "But who is that with him?"

C.C. eyed them discreetly. Even though the two of them were dressed in commoners clothing, Lelouch was still too recognizable to go unnoticed. "You're quite popular, Lelouch." She said.

"..."

The girls eyed him. It was so obvious that they were staring that he became uncomfortable. "Are you done here, C.—"

Lelouch and C.C. walked out of the shop. One was red like a tomato and the other had a smug look on her face.

The girls who were left in the store were quiet with shock. Then the delayed *squee!* reaction set in. "Did you see?! They kissed!" And proceeded to talk about it for the rest of the day.

"C.C.—what on earth was that for?" a blushing Lelouch asked.

"What is this place?" Suzaku asked as the delivery van skidded to a halt in front of a large imposing building.

"You'll see." Kallen paused. "May I have your word that none of this reaches Lelouch?"

They stared at each other silently. Suzaku nodded. "You have my word."

"No, 'why'?" Kallen said. "You are strange," she stopped a bit before saying "Suzaku."

"You must have your reasons." He replied.

Lelouch stood on the manor threshold as C.C.'s servants unloaded her things. What a tiring day.

"About what I've been trying to say all day..." Lelouch tried again. Was she still not listening?

"Saturday morning." C.C. said, not even looking up from her pizza. She was still eating? It was take out from the Pizza Hut where they had eaten. "Ball's in the evening, right? Then battle in the morning."

"Are you crazy?" Lelouch stopped himself from shrieking. All his hard work today for nothing. It was enough to make a grown man weep.

"Take it or leave it Prince." She looked at him more seriously. "If you insist then Gawain's ours."

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A/N: Hope you liked. Just curious, what do people think of the Kallen x Suzaku pairing? I think it's kind of cool. Thanks for the reviews! You people are wonderful. ^__^