A/N: Hurray for another renga story between Tobi Tortue, anja-chan, and myself! This time it was Code Geass and Italian food. Since we've done these before, I won't explain how they work in depth, but… we sat in a room with separate laptops and started a story with a common theme, then rotated laptops and continued each other's stories without being allowed to read all of what came before our turn. This is the story I started, and the other two should have theirs posted soon too. Please remember to read them!

Tobi and anja, I feel torn this round between congratulating us and freaking out. We've definitely gotten better at rengas, and these stories were quite amusing, but it's like they're TOO good (for renga stories, I mean). You can't even tell where the breaks are! We all have such similar writing styles, and we know each other's work so well that we do a really good job of predicting what the other person must have been thinking…. These stories flow too well! WEIRD! EPIC! KYAH! (is done now) It was buttloads of fun, and I hope we get more chances to do these in the future.

Zino's face hit the clear wall and clung like a suction cup. Kallen was — thank god for bullet proof — on the opposite side of the confining barrier. The Britannian's cheek and half his nose were pressed flat against the surface, and his hands came up beside his head, fingers splayed out as if he'd been thrown by a Knightmare Frame to go splat like a bug on a windshield.

"Look, Kallen! Even when I throw myself at you with all my love, the unseen barrier of Fate gets in my way!" He writhed around a bit until his forehead left a smear on the glass.

Kallen didn't bother to give the whole spectacle more than a sideways glance. She brought her fingers up to rub at her temples and prayed that Zero would rescue her. He had to rescue her, before this… this… weirdo with his face pancaked to her prison wall drove her to madness.

Zino was still making faces. "Kallen," he whined, "For God's sake, pay attention to me. It's bad enough that I can't ask you on a date because you're a Black Knight. Can't you at least—"

"Take your face off the glass and maybe you'll get somewhere," she interrupted flatly.

"Really?" A hopeful widening of blue eyes.

"No." She fisted the ruffles on the yellow dress to keep from punching the wall where his mouth was puckered like a fish. "Just tell me what the hell they want this time, and then get lost so I can wait for Zero in peace."

Zino straightened, and Kallen was surprised to see that he composed himself rather quickly. She sighed and stood up, yanking at the ruffles that tangled round her legs and ankles. She may as well see what he wanted. After all, there was nothing else to do in confinement. "What do you want?"

THUD.

Kallen jumped, then realized that the thing that had been slapped against the glass before her face was a colorful sheet of paper, like a pamphlet, or a—

"It's a menu," Zino said casually, watching her for a response. Kallen moved her skeptical stare from his clear eyes to the page and scanned its contents.

"Okay, it's a menu. Fantastic. What's it for?" Whatever this was, she was sure she'd rather be somewhere else. Like back with the Black Knights.

"We're ordering Italian food," Zino explained, growing excited as he talked. "I told them that it really isn't fair, you being in here all by yourself with a fancy dress and no fancy cuisine to go with it. You can get some pollo, or some linguini, and have a nice glass of—"

"Are you joking?" Kallen interrupted again.

"Why would I bother joking?" the blond replied with a smile that seemed to cover nearly his entire face. "Everyone knows that even a prisoner needs to eat… and if I let you order for yourself, you'll pick something you like and be more likely to eat it. Not only that, but it's because I respect you."

Kallen blinked, his last three words — said so casually — catching her off guard. "O-oh." Realizing she had just given in a bit with her startled response, she folded her arms over her chest and turned away from the glass, affecting a haughty air and speaking loudly. "Fine then. Do as you like. It doesn't matter to me anyway."

Zino's voice echoed through the glass happily. "Okay! But you still have to pick what you want, so I'll hold the menu here until you decide."

Kallen turned and sent a dirty look at Zino's before peering at the menu. It seemed to be a really fancy place — not a single plate of pasta below forty dollars, and even the salads didn't dip below thirty. The whole setup suddenly seemed quite suspicious.

"Why are you buying this kind of food for me anyway? I'm not going to join Britannia, you know," she stated bluntly. It was probably some kind of ploy to give her Stockholm's Syndrome or something, but there was no way she'd fall for it. "I'm Japanese and Zero will definitely come for me."

Her bravado seemed to have no effect on the beaming blond man. "Well, I may disagree with the last part, but why can't I buy dinner for a beautiful girl?"

"Eh?!" Kallen said, stepping back from the window, nearly tripping over her petticoats — damn Britannia! — and forcing herself not to blush. "You're—you're hitting on me?"

Zino laughed and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "No."

"Liar," she deadpanned, suddenly no longer feeling the urge to blush and realizing she was being held hostage by the most ridiculous man she had ever met. She leaned in to the window again, scanning the menu. Just to spite him, she decided to pick the most expensive item: Fettuccine Aragosta, even though she had no idea what it was supposed to be other than only available in the right season, fresh, and with garlic white-wine sauce drizzled over it to create "a perfect harmony of tastes."

"I'll have that one," she said nonchalantly, pointing at the menu. Zino tried to look through the glass at what she was pointing at, but of course he couldn't quite manage, seeing as how he was on the wrong side. He took the menu off the glass and approximated with where her finger had been. A split second too late, Kallen realized he'd probably gotten a good look down the front of her stupid Britannian low-cut dress.

"You like lobster? That's great! I love seafood too!" Zino broke into another helpless smile, and pulled out a cell phone presumably to dial the restaurant.

"Uh, yeah," Kallen hedged, hoping that the expensive dish really had been lobster. She didn't know any Italian. Taking several steps back, she sat into her chair as Zino chatted happily with whoever was on the other end.

She eyed the outrageous blond as he laughed that silly laugh of his and gestured as if the restaurant could see his movements. What was he doing? Giving directions? She shook her head slightly and exhaled sharply. This whole captured-by-Britannia thing was really turning into a farce. She prayed that Zero would come rescue her soon. Or else she would probably die — not from any torture Britannia sent her way, but by her own hands. Unless of course, implications of a romantic date with Zino Weinberg was the torture that Britannia had signed up for her. How could someone so… absurd be the Knight of Three?

He hung up a few moments later, and gave her a rather cheeky and silly wink. She rolled her eyes and leaned back into the chair as he walked up to the glass and pressed his palms against it. "Dinner will arrive in about half an hour," he announced. The bastard was still smiling. "However, our appetizers will be here shortly." She gave him a flat stare as he pretended to appraise her as if she were a delicious appetizer.

"Can you not do that?" she said suddenly, her tone making it more of a demand than a request.

Zino raised his blond eyebrows innocently. "Do what?" He leaned his forehead onto the glass, but he must have done it too quickly, because a moment later, he pulled back with a cringe and an "ow!" He rubbed his forehead underneath his bangs, looking to the side. Kallen could not resist a smile. She didn't often laugh at others' pain, but in this case….

Zino coughed and attempted to look dignified as he turned back to face his bemused prisoner.

"Are all the Knights of the Rounds this amazing?" she called out coolly, sitting in her chair as if it were a throne, each hand resting gently on the armrests. Zino looked completely unaffected by her taunt.

"I suppose I'm something special, even among the Knights," Zino replied in a slightly deeper voice, a cocky smirk taking over his face. Kallen swore he even puffed up his chest a little bit.

This time, she laughed outright, hanging her head in front of her, her hands gripping the armrests. She looked back up at him. "You know I can't take you seriously, right?" she asked, bursting into another fit of laughter.

Zino looked crestfallen. "Wha… what do you mean?" Kallen blinked as he stared at her with incredible blue, puppy-dog eyes. She steeled her will, and her gaze, resolving not to be drawn into feeling sympathy for the pathetic, but grudgingly adorable man in front of her.

Neither noticed the appetizers until a man dressed as a waiter coughed from behind Zino. A man with pink hair, dressed as an aide to Prince Schneizel stood next to the waiter. Zino jumped back, and Schneizel's aide stepped past him with a queer smile, unlocking Kallen's glass doors. She stood as the waiter set down a folding table with a smooth motion from one hand and then set the tray of appetizers neatly on top of it. The waiter retreated, shaking his head, as the aide gave Kallen a small smile and turned to Zino.

"Be careful, Lord Weinberg," the aide said in surprisingly feminine tones. "I heard she gave Lord Kururugi quite the beating."

"You bet I did," she muttered, and she wasn't sure whether either of the two men heard her. She didn't much care. Suzaku Kururugi had deserved it.

"I think I can handle it," Zino said confidently, and Kallen picked at a piece of fried calamari. Oh, she'd give him something to handle, all right. She looked up from her appetizers and opened her mouth to tell him so, only to find that he was looking at her with one eyebrow raised — almost as if he had read her mind. The bastard.

"How's the food?" he asked.

Kallen sniffed, intending to shoot the food down, but in all honesty, she couldn't. It was… tasty.

"That's what I thought," Zino said, leaning back in satisfaction, and Kallen swore to herself that she'd squash him with her Gurren once she was free if he didn't quit being so smug.

She crammed another piece of calamari into her mouth. "Mm, delicious. Want one?" Then she pulled the proffered squid back in mock realization. "Oh wait — you can't take one from out there, can you? Barrier of Fate, right? Tough break." She ate his piece with relish.

"That's all right with me," Zino replied, smiling easily. "It's yours anyway, remember?"

"Huhn," Kallen grunted, still chewing the savory bits of batter around the calamari piece. "I guess it is." She swallowed and gave the Knight of Three a scrutinizing once-over. "You're really not as bad as I thought, you know."

Zino looked shocked for a moment, and then he surged forward in enthusiasm. "R-really?" He pressed himself up against the glass eagerly.

Kallen made a noise of disgust and tried the antipasto next, letting the question hang. Maybe it wasn't so bad, wearing ruffled dresses and eating fine Italian cuisine at the expense of an overeager Britannian soldier. She'd have stories to tell Tamaki, at least. Maybe she could get used to living like this for a while. She liked Italian. Pizza Hut had nothing on Britannian chow.

"Kallen?"

"What."

"I really think I do want one of those calamari." The statement was nearly a whimper.

"Too bad," Kallen retorted. She heard Zino sigh. She continued eating, and he stood by on the other side of the wall, guarding, observing, providing company.

It really wasn't so bad.