Chapter 3: First Encounter
One moment, Lelouch was taking in the gorgeous expanse of the Ashford University campus, the next, he was crashing into some random guy, toppling over and ending up on top of this stranger, staring closely into wide pools of emerald green. There was an awkward moment in which they both remained frozen with surprise, staring into each other's widened eyes.
"I'm so sorry-" they both exclaimed in unison.
"I wasn't watching where I was going," Lelouch rambled.
"No no, it's not your fault! I wasn't paying attention either," the stranger sputtered back quickly.
Not knowing what else to say, Lelouch bit his lip and pushed himself off of the other male. This stranger tried to help him back into his wheelchair, offering his hand for support. When refused by Lelouch, he instead picked up Lelouch's violin case and offered that instead. The boy himself was carrying a clarinet case and appeared to be Lelouch's age; he was probably there for the workshop as well. Lelouch thought he looked like he was of some sort of Asian descent. Korean, perhaps?
Another awkward pause filled the air between them as they both simply stared at one another in silence. Finally, the chestnut brown-haired stranger cleared his throat and extended his hand once again, this time to shake.
"Uh- I'm Suzaku. Suzaku Kururugi."
"Lelouch." Lelouch replied curtly, shaking Suzaku's hand as he thought to himself, 'Ah, a Japanese name. That most likely explains his Asian features.'
"Lelouch," Suzaku parroted with a nod, "Um...judging from the 'Guest' name tag and violin, you must be here for the same orchestra workshop too, right? How about I help you carry your stuff and we can go-"
Lelouch cut him off as he snapped, "Excuse me, but did I look like I was in need of your assistance? I carried my things on my own just fine before now."
Shocked, Suzaku merely blinked in confusion and responded in a meek voice, "No...but I just thought that since you're in a wheelchair-"
Lelouch cut the poor Japanese boy off once again. "Since I'm in a wheelchair, what? That I'm a helpless cripple who requires the arms of someone I've bumped into to carry my belongings for me when my own arms are perfectly functional, even after crashing into you?"
"N-no that's not what I was going to-"
"Does being in a wheelchair make me more helpless and more fragile than you, even though we both collided and fell to the ground at the same speed with the same force of gravity? Am I-"
"OKAY! I GET IT! I'M SORRY!" Suzaku finally interrupted. He sighed, scratching the back of his neck as he absentmindedly dusted off the front of his clarinet case. "Look, I never meant to offend you or make you feel lesser or anything. I was just trying to be nice."
"Well," Lelouch snorted, "you're going to fail miserably at being nice if you make us late to the workshop by rambling any longer than you already have. Let's go."
With that, he began to continue rolling along his way across the campus towards the music and arts department. Unsure of how to react, Suzaku wordlessly followed close behind him.