CG, "Underestimated"
After regaining his memories, Lelouch prepares to go back to a death trap anyway. Someone is not pleased.
Fleeting Lulu/Kallen. Written for misaoshiru who had a bad morning and an angsty Turn 25. :3
.underestimated.
"To-- Ashford?"
Slow to catch on, Lelouch thought, without heat or a sense of superiority. He said simply, "I have to go back. If I don't keep up the pretense of being brainwashed, Nunnally will pay the price."
Kallen's expression shifted, a variety of emotions flickering across her features: concern, distress, some sort of anger that he couldn't even begin to fathom. Honestly, and rarely for him, Lelouch had no expectations of her reaction. It still impressed him that she was willing to accept him so readily as Lelouch instead of Zero, but then, she had spent a year digesting that information, reconciling it, and he had only had half a day in which to realize that the revelation didn't seem to matter to her.
He would have sworn that as much as she admired Zero, she had loathed Lelouch just as much. But it seemed that he had underestimated her, and he was going to avoid making that mistake again.
"But that assassin is just waiting for you to come back," she protested, finally. "Any idiot with half a brain would be suspicious after what happened last night!"
"I have an alibi prepared. Rolo won't be a problem," he said, keeping his voice calm and smooth. He pulled on his uniform blazer and started buttoning it closed. Just any Ashford student, ready to stroll into class like he belonged there.
Kallen insisted, "An alibi doesn't mean he won't be suspicious! It just means maybe he won't kill you. You said yourself they have the whole place bugged--"
Lelouch smiled at her, a twist of his lips. "I'm very good at pretending to be something I'm not. I had you fooled, and I slipped up twice around you."
He watched her recoil as if struck, jaw tightening at the reminder, and he was impressed again that she managed to shake past it. "None of this means that he won't kill you. And none of us can be there to protect you -- you'll be all alone!"
It was actually a surprise to hear, and he turned around to face the mirror again, reconciling that. For the first time, he wouldn't have one of his allies in arms' reach.
Kallen couldn't come back to Ashford. Her identity was known. If she were seen there, she would be arrested within the hour. But it was strange, now, to think of the student council without her.
"Then I'll just have to make the assassin one of us," Lelouch mulled to himself. If he couldn't have his ace by his side, he would just have to compensate -- find, entice, and blackmail new allies. Sayoko could be trusted; the mysterious new gym teacher who no one realized was new would be a good target; and, of course, his darling younger brother.
Who had to have a few weaknesses somewhere.
"You'll make the--" she echoed, and her hands clenched into fists at his side. She stared at him, almost impotent in her frustration, although Lelouch was nowhere near fool enough to think that those fists weren't capable of expressing her frustration perfectly well. "You are an idiot."
He had said the same thing to Suzaku so many times. Lelouch silently threaded a belt over his blazer, trying not to think of the last encounter he'd had with his best friend. It felt, very suddenly, like he'd lost Nunnally, lost Suzaku, and even lost Kallen -- a loss he had for some reason never expected.
He really would be alone, when he returned to Ashford.
"Your collar is crooked," Kallen snapped, and she hovered for a long, silent second before turning and storming out of the room.
Funny, he thought, briefly shaken from his melancholy. For a moment he'd almost felt like she would step forward and fix it herself.
Fleeting Lulu/Kallen. Written for misaoshiru who had a bad morning and an angsty Turn 25. :3
.underestimated.
"To-- Ashford?"
Slow to catch on, Lelouch thought, without heat or a sense of superiority. He said simply, "I have to go back. If I don't keep up the pretense of being brainwashed, Nunnally will pay the price."
Kallen's expression shifted, a variety of emotions flickering across her features: concern, distress, some sort of anger that he couldn't even begin to fathom. Honestly, and rarely for him, Lelouch had no expectations of her reaction. It still impressed him that she was willing to accept him so readily as Lelouch instead of Zero, but then, she had spent a year digesting that information, reconciling it, and he had only had half a day in which to realize that the revelation didn't seem to matter to her.
He would have sworn that as much as she admired Zero, she had loathed Lelouch just as much. But it seemed that he had underestimated her, and he was going to avoid making that mistake again.
"But that assassin is just waiting for you to come back," she protested, finally. "Any idiot with half a brain would be suspicious after what happened last night!"
"I have an alibi prepared. Rolo won't be a problem," he said, keeping his voice calm and smooth. He pulled on his uniform blazer and started buttoning it closed. Just any Ashford student, ready to stroll into class like he belonged there.
Kallen insisted, "An alibi doesn't mean he won't be suspicious! It just means maybe he won't kill you. You said yourself they have the whole place bugged--"
Lelouch smiled at her, a twist of his lips. "I'm very good at pretending to be something I'm not. I had you fooled, and I slipped up twice around you."
He watched her recoil as if struck, jaw tightening at the reminder, and he was impressed again that she managed to shake past it. "None of this means that he won't kill you. And none of us can be there to protect you -- you'll be all alone!"
It was actually a surprise to hear, and he turned around to face the mirror again, reconciling that. For the first time, he wouldn't have one of his allies in arms' reach.
Kallen couldn't come back to Ashford. Her identity was known. If she were seen there, she would be arrested within the hour. But it was strange, now, to think of the student council without her.
"Then I'll just have to make the assassin one of us," Lelouch mulled to himself. If he couldn't have his ace by his side, he would just have to compensate -- find, entice, and blackmail new allies. Sayoko could be trusted; the mysterious new gym teacher who no one realized was new would be a good target; and, of course, his darling younger brother.
Who had to have a few weaknesses somewhere.
"You'll make the--" she echoed, and her hands clenched into fists at his side. She stared at him, almost impotent in her frustration, although Lelouch was nowhere near fool enough to think that those fists weren't capable of expressing her frustration perfectly well. "You are an idiot."
He had said the same thing to Suzaku so many times. Lelouch silently threaded a belt over his blazer, trying not to think of the last encounter he'd had with his best friend. It felt, very suddenly, like he'd lost Nunnally, lost Suzaku, and even lost Kallen -- a loss he had for some reason never expected.
He really would be alone, when he returned to Ashford.
"Your collar is crooked," Kallen snapped, and she hovered for a long, silent second before turning and storming out of the room.
Funny, he thought, briefly shaken from his melancholy. For a moment he'd almost felt like she would step forward and fix it herself.