Kiara winced as Shirley's name was brought up. She gave Lelouch a 'look'.
"You agreed to go on a date with Shirley of all people! What on earth got into you Lelouch Vi Britannia?!" she demanded. He gave her a blank look and she growled. "I'll let Raina explain," she said tiredly. "Be prepared for an earful."

"Shirley Fenette is the single most annoying and useless girl in the entire world," said Raina sweetly.
"I know," said Lelouch. "I thought that if I met up with her tonight, I could get her off my back. And she said last time something about forgiving my faults and knowing what I do at night... what fi she's guessed I'm Zero?"
"Don't worry about that, that's not what she meant," said Raina.

Kiara stifled a laugh at the memory of Shirley's face when Raina mentioned the casual sex. It wa absolutely priceless! She thought about what Lelouch had said and breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had some common sense and didn't actually like the annoying Inoue-like girl.
"And how exactly would you know that?" Lelouch asked suspeciously, giving Raina a look.
'She'll get outta this no problem,' Kiara thought.

"I noticed that she kept annoying you so I thought that maybe if I told her a few lies about you then she'd back off," said Raina apologetically. "So I told her that every night you go out and get drunk."
"You told her that?!"
"She's not the type to spread things around. And I was doing it to help you out."

"Nice cover," Kiara whispered just low enough for Lelouch not to hear. "I'd hate to see his reaction if he found out what you really said." C.C. gave them a look but didn't comment.
"How far is it until we reach the headquarters again?" Kiara asked, louder this time so Lelouch could hear er.

"We should be there soon," said Lelouch. "C.C. , try and make sure you aren't seen when you go to my rooms. I know Nunnally's blind, but there are others..."
"I know that, Lelouch," she said. "Don't take it out on me just because you're nervous because of your date."
"It's not a date!!!"

Kiara smirked at him before the car they were in stopped and they got out. Lelouch had replaced his mask over his head and was once again Zero. Kallen immediately ran over to them.
"I guess we'd better get back," Kiara muttered glumly. SHe glanced at Lelouch/Zero. "Is that alright with you Zero?"

"Yes, today's mission is complete," said Lelouch/Zero in his official tone.
"Let's go, Kiara!" said Raina. She whispered in her friend's ear, "I want to spy on this "date" of theirs!"

"You and me both," Kiara muttered back. The two quickly changed back into their civilian clothes before heading back to the academy with Kallen. They went their seperate ways and the two waited for Lelouch to return to campas so they could follow him and observe what was going on. They could've followed Shirley but following Lelouch would be much better.

It was pouring with rain, and the sky had gone dark. Raina wished she'd brought a coat, because her hair and clothes were now soaked.
"Hey look," she said, pointing at one of the trees on the school grounds. "It's Shirley!"
Shirley was dressed up in a green dress which clashed horribly with her hair, and she was holding a pink handbag. She was standing by a tree, completely drenched.

"Why didn't the idiot bring an umbrella?" Kiara muttered. "I mean, you'd think she'd consider something like that since she wants to look her best for her precious 'Lulu!' She made air quotes when she said Lulu. "Not to mention her outfit. I mean, orange, green and pink? I know nothing of fashion and even I can tell that those colours just don't go together!"

"The dress would be hideous even if it didn't clash so horribly," said Raina. "I'm appalled that such a girl exists. Oh, there's Lelouch!"
Lelouch was leaving the building, now dressed in his normal clothes and holding an umbrella. Raina began to creep closely so that she could listen in on their conversation.

Kiara crept behind Raina as they watched Lelouch and Shirley. At least he'd had the sense to bring an umbrella. A twig snapped and she froze for a moment but neither noticed over the sound of the poaring rain so she continued until she and Raina were only a few feet away from teh 'happy couple'

(This is near the part where Shirley finds out that her dad is dead right?)

*Shirley found out while we were in Kyoto. This is the part where Lelouch finds out*

"Um... sorry I'm late," said Lelouch, holding the umbrella over Shirley.
"Hey, Lulu," said Shirley, her voice only barely audible over the sound of the rain. She looked as though she'd been crying. "Zero's a friend to the weak, sin't he?"
"Yes, that's what he said, at least," said Lelouch.
"then why did he kill my dad?! My dad was so kind! He never laid a hand on me in anger! But he was buried alive, he suffocated! I don't want to believe it!"
Lelouch took an involuntary step back. Raina was too shocked to say anything. Her father ahd died in the landslide at narita?
"Please Lulu!" Shirley dropped ehr handbag and threw herself at him. "Help me..."

(Ah, now I remember!)

Kiara stared at Shirley in shock. Her father had been one of the people at Kyoto? She'd blocked out the fact that they'd killed people and not just machines in that attack but now...she pushed it away as violently as she could. She'd think about it later. She gritted her teeth as she stared at the orangette., her eyes narrowing as Shirley clung helplessly to Lelouch. She thought about what Shirley had said and snorted. Just because he'd never laid a hand on his own daughter didn't mean he was a kind man. A person could act completely different around their families but in reality they could be a cold hearted bastard.

Shirley raised her head from Lelouch's shoulder and raised it towards his face. Raina saw what was coming and winced.
Shirley pressed her lips to his, and he all but jumped back in surprise.
Raina ran back towards the school a bit, and then began to run forwards towards them. "Lelouch!!!! Didn't we have plans tonight?!"
Lelouch didn't deserve this. She accepted that Shirley was miserable because of her father's death, but that didn't mean he had to suffer like this.

Kiara looked at Raina in confusion as she backed away but then her eyes widened in understanding as she saw Raina run towards them. A good plan. She looked at Shirley and saw that the annoying orrangette had turned to face Raina with wide eyes before facing Lelouch again. Kiara winced as she saw the look on Shirley's face. She decided to stay where she was for the moment. The trees gave her a little shelter and she wanted to watch the drama that was bound to unfold.

"What... why are you here?!" Shirley shrieked. She was still holding onto Lelouch. She had knocked the umbrella out of hsi hand when she threw herself at him, so he was starting to get wet. She didn't seem to notice.
"Well, sorry, but..."
"You pretend to be nice but you're so horrible to me!!!"
"What?" asked Raina innocently. Inside she was seething. She wasn't exactly delighted that Shirley's father was dead, but she didn't like being talked to like that.
"You're always throwing yourself at Lulu! Why don't you just go away?!?!"

Right now Kiara wished that she had a bucket of popcorn or something. This was getting good. She glanced at Raina and winced. This could get ugly very quickly. She just hoped that Raina was able to keep a control of her Geass or they'd all be in deep shit.

"Throwing myself at him?" asked Raina, still speaking innocently. "Sorry, but from my point of view, it seems like you're the one doing that."
"You know what I mean!" Shirley shrieked, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "Before you came all he did was skip class and gamble but now you've turned him into a... a.."
"Shirley?" gasped Lelouch, completely and utterly confused now. And he too was now soaked by the rain. He was standing awkwardly, as though he were trying to escape Shirley's grip desperately but she hung on to the front of his shirt.
"Why didn't you tell me about you and her?!" Shirley turned on Lelouch.
"I think you've got the wrong end of -"
"All right so I know the two of you aren't dating! But why are the two of you..."
"The two of us...?"

'Oh boy...' Kiara thought. 'This isn't good...He's gunna be SO pissed off...'
She glanced at Raina. Should she interfere? She tried to catch Raina's eyes to ask her that.

Raina gave Kiara the feel free to chime in look. But she wasn't panicking. Everything was under control.
A fake tear came to her eye. "Shirley," she said. "I'm very sorry you feel that way about me. I - I just wanted to be friends." She started to sob softly. Lelouch looked at her, surprised, since he'd heard her insult Shirley earlier.

Kiara thought about it.
'What to do, what to do...' Weighing her options she decided to join in, there wasn't any harm in it as far as she could tell. She carefully crept away from her hiding place back towards the school before jogging towards Raina.
"There you are!" she called to Raina. "Hey Shirley, Lelouch, didn't see you there. Am I interupting anything?"
She sounded as innocent as can be to her own ears and she grinned inwardly at her acting skills. She wasn't nearly as good as Raina, she was definitely the best, but she was good enough to fool most people if she tried hard enough.

"Um..." was all Lelouch could say. Shirley's grip on his shirt loosened and she ran away, back inside. Raina could still hear her crying. As soon as she was out of sight, she stopped her fake crying at once.
"Let's get inside, I'm soaked."

"I'll second that," Kiara said. Her coat didn't have a hood after all and as much as she liked watching the rain she preferred not to be caught in a downpour. Her element was fire after all.
As the three started walking back to the school Kiara complimented Raina on her acting skills.
"That reminds me," Lelouch said, giving Raina a long suspecious look. "What exactly were you telling Shirley? I know you said that you told erh I was drunk but what's the real answer?"
This wasn't good...