First of all, I do not own Final Fantasy Type-0. Only ideas for fanfic from it.

Second, YEAH screw you exams, I'm writing fanfiction!

Third, I thank you for everyone who reviewed Above His Logic from the bottom of my heart. To be honest, it was the first fanfiction that I've ever published after a long, long time. Also, I am too lazy to PM everyone for the reply on the reviews on AHL, so have it here.

TigerRaiken: Oh ho, you did not even want to say anything regarding to M-rated work at me. I read them for my breakfast. In fact, I already have some plans for M-rated fiction(s) in this fandom. And yes, Cinque is unexpected, yet expected. LOL.

Mysterious Friend and Ishikawa Akira : Hmm, gotta admit that at first I thought that Trey, Cinque, and TreyxCinque were going to be so damn hard to write. But yeah, maybe because I've dug into Bleach fandom too much that it was easy to do so, since Ishida, Inoue, and IshiHime isn't really that different from TreyxCinque. One is the thinker type, and the other one is an airhead. Well, for those who read/watched Bleach, you got the drill. Or if you prefer a less popular series, HubertxPascal from Tales of Graces definitely resembles them.

Saranghayo and GroundZeroFirework: I proudly say that I ship A2, 35, 84, and MR (You guys could understand what it means, right? :D). I couldn't be that certain yet with 9Q, J7, or K6, although 9Q was growing on me thanks to some fanarts on pixiv and fanfictions here, especially 'Counts of Three' by Reizna (For those who haven't read it btw, READ IT, it's definitely well-written and worth your time). As for K6 and J7, I had this 'seiyuu-joke' related to them as the pairing that I could see myself ship in the future. Go find Tales of Xillia and Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core at Wikipedia and see the revelations for more info, haha.

lexus923 and saturnite: w00t, thank you berry much bby~ I'll try to keep the good works, if not trying to get better. Also, yeah saturnite, I would like to reason about how crappy my tenses and verbs were with something logical, maybe something like English isn't my native or whatnot… But man, we're in the internet, and I posted my fanfiction in the English language, so I am supposed to write something that public accepted, right? All in all, thanks for noticing and pointing errors that I wrote, I hope this one doesn't have THAT many grammatical errors.

Lastly, onward to the story!

FIRST CHAPTER: MISSION GOES WRONG

...

"Class Zero, mission accomplished!"

For one brief moment, Ace's hoarse voice rang over the C.O.M.M. The fiery atmosphere of the area completely obliterated the once peaceful city of Acuvi.

Ace stood his body straight, brushing his bloodstained uniform while at the go. Below his feet, uncountable dead bodies were sprayed all over the cold cobblestone of Acuvi. It was tiring, an arduous task even for the Class Zero.

Remnants of Milites, those who are still hungry for more wars, ambushed towns all over the Rubrum and Togores region. Peristylium Suzaku did not keep their tongue silent; backups and soldiers were sent to help the victims. Of course so did Class Zero, although they were split into groups as there were many areas under attack at the same time. Ace himself was stationed in Acuvi, the nearest town from Suzaku, with Deuce.

"Good work, Ace. You and Deuce are to stay in Acuvi until further instruction." Kurasame's voice replied to his report.

"Roger that."

The communication was cut, his azure eyes drifted to his limp companion and his expression turned into that of a worried one. Without any delay, he ran to Deuce's side, catching her weak body just in time before she fell to the ground.

"Deuce!"

Beneath Ace's grip, Deuce smiled a weak smile at him, as if telling him not to worry over her. Unfortunately, that was hard for Ace to believe, considering all the cuts on her pure skin and tattered clothes that went with it. To make it worse for him even further, her chest was rising and falling weakly, her breaths coming in weak gasps, interrupting the smile she offered at him.

"I'm… okay. Just used… too many magic, that's all…"

Ace was about to say about how reckless she were, but decided not to. He knew that Deuce was assuring him to not to worry too much and believe in her. She did do her job correctly as the rear caster, after all. Seeing the worry in his face faded, the flutist managed another smile.

"That's better." She caressed the fabric of Ace's torso with her least-wounded arm, her left one. "You looked like King just now."

He didn't know whether she's trying to be serious, but in Ace's ears, it entered as a humor instead. Excuse him, looked like King? As if! He was not even come close to the Mr. Frowning. He chuckled and his hand slipping over Deuce's legs and back, capturing her in a princess-style carry.

Deuce yelped, Ace blinked his eyes at her curiously.

Deuce's face turned bright red, Ace got the general idea and flashed his rare, teasing smirk at the girl.

Deuce struggled and pleaded him to put her down, Ace continued keeping her in his arms.

Deuce succumbed and was reaching the most embarrassing moment in her life, Ace commented about how small her body was.

Deuce pulled Ace's hair in anger, and finally Ace put her down, hissing painful 'Ow's.

"Ow… Deuce, that was uncalled for!" He rubbed his head in pain. Much to his dismay, he could feel three or more pieces of his hair exfoliated over. "And here I am, tried to help you out."

She puffed her rosy cheeks aside, refusing to meet his gaze. It was very seldom that one could see Deuce acted like that, and Ace gotta admit… She was adorable. Very adorable that he might even had his heartbeat fastened like he was chased by a Mikazuchi, or an angry Machina, just like when Ace borrowed his Chocobo without any permission. Man, he swore that he would never borrow Machina's Chocobo without a hi first.

And that time, he had just noticed that his fast heartbeats caused his face to flush.

…Dammit Nine, or Jack, or whoever told him too much of romance stories. This is barely the place for his hormones to act weird.

Ace waited and waited, but Deuce came up with no response. No, actually, let alone response, she didn't even budge from her place and still refused to stare at him.

A sigh escaped his lips, his hand nervously scratching his hair. "E-eh, l-look, Deuce. I am sorry if I—"

"I'll search for the refugees."

…She was ignoring his words, cruelly, walking past him like he was a statue, not even acknowledging his existence. It was obvious, she was still mad at him, for a simple joke.

Ace was surprised (amazed, even) at the sight of how the stubborn girl's walks away. One second she was walking like a wounded kitty, and the next second she was walking like nothing had happened. Granted, she was tougher than she looked, but he did not expect this from her. He briefly felt a surge of relief inside him, before took a move to follow her. He'll apologize to her after this.

That, if she was willing to listen to him.

...

Twenty minutes later and their previous objectives were mainly incomplete. The town was left as a barren land, and Deuce couldn't tell from the hundreds of dead bodies, which one was the civilian or which one was the Milites.

She wasn't able to hear any apologies Ace might had in mind yet, but she seemed to have gotten over his tease.

No, 'tease' wasn't the right word. Deuce knew better than that, Ace wasn't the type to pull a -flirty- smirk like back there! Let alone joke about… her height. Well, she was shorter compared to everyone from the Class Zero. T-that was only because she was the youngest, okay! She still has rooms for improvement, maybe she could drink milks, dozens of them a day, and perhaps soon she would be taller than him!

…Perhaps, yeah.

So anyway, what could have triggered Ace to do that? He was supposed to be a sweet, cute but mature boy, instead of a perverted and despicable boy, wasn't he?

Deuce felt her face got warm. Did she just think that? That Ace was cute, sweet, charming, and dependable—

Okay, now she wasn't making any sense. The more she tried to resist those thoughts, the redder her cheeks grew. Forget all of this, Deuce! You must not think all of this! Not while on a—

"Deuce."

"AAAAH!"

Nonchalantly, she swung her hand at the person who sneaked at her with all of her might. How dare this person touched her shoulder like how Ace would touch her, or called her name like he always did!

Oh, wait.

She turned around to see that that Ace was indeed the one to receive the slap on the face and was now groaning in the floor, caressing his poor cheek. She gasped when she realized what she had just done.

"O-Oh, Ace, I-I'm sorry. Please don't sneak on me like that." Crouching, she pulled Ace's hand to help him stand on his feet.

Contrary to the painful feeling on his cheek, Ace seemed mildly amused. "Should I ask what was that for, or are you going to tell me why?"

Fal'cie, she wasn't going to blush in embarrassment more than today, right?

"I-I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you, somehow…"

She fidgeted, tugging her skirt in uneasiness. He might not sound so angry, but what if he was being sarcastic? She didn't quite grasp what the word mean, but Queen once told her that it was no different than lying in general, where you actually felt the opposite of the words you spoke. Ace sounded pretty okay, but what if he was actually angry at her? Or maybe even hated her for this? She wanted neither of it.

Deuce could swear her tears were begging to flow out.

Ace stood in silence, watching her as she was once again without any response. He couldn't tell what she had in her mind right now, but he could tell that she looked troubled, alright. Ace—No, everyone knew that Deuce was always the shy one and was always bottling all her thought for herself. Oh, how he wished to ease that burden of her right now, how he could hug her frail body and ease whatever trouble she had in her mind right now.

No, he shouldn't. Who was he to her to do something like that? He was no one but her classmate, he was no one to her to initiate a romantic interaction like that.

But could he bear to watch her struggling against something… Well, something?

…Even so, he couldn't, and wouldn't take this advantage. No, definitely not.

While he was doing his best to resist the alluring seduction of his own hormones, his arms were already extended to reach for her, against his mind. Wait, what did he—

Luckily, things came out better than the worst. His hand ended up giving the flutist's chocolate hair a pat. The moment his hand touched Deuce's head, Ace could see that Deuce's visibly surprised.

"Look, Deuce. I don't know what you were thinking just now…" The blonde smiled. "But do understand that there's absolutely nothing you should make up, okay?" His hand trailed slowly to her face, caressing and wiping the faint tears that was about to drip. "And do tell me what's troubling you after we're done, I will be all ears, I promise."

That came out a bit too cliche and romantic for Ace's taste, but he was served with what he strived; after a moment, Deuce was smiling.

"..Mmm." The number two nodded, another faint blush forming on her pure façade. "You promised!" She exclaimed happily like a child, her tone showed no depressions whatsoever.

Ace smiled at his par before he pulled his hand back. A swift nod from Ace, and Deuce recognized it without any further ado. Or in a literal translation, Ace was indicating that they should return to their job as of now and Deuce confirmed his message. Considering splitting up was faster to search for the victims, they decided to split up and met in this position later.

...

Another twenty minutes passed, and Deuce started to get depressed again. No, nothing related Ace in this one. She wasn't able to find any living creature so far, that's why. They were late arriving here that those Milites remnants were already massacred everyone here, were they not? That wasn't impossible, she admitted. Acuvi might be pretty near to Peristylium Suzaku, but they still need an hour or so to arrive here, even with the fastest Chocobo.

Deuce bitted her lips in regret. Oh god, please let her be wrong on that one. She would hate it if it were to be true.

Out of blue, her wish was granted. For she noticed something's moving in the corner of her eyes just now.

For a second, she thought she was imagining things, but she keep staring at the small alley and she could claim that she wasn't mistaken. Something… Someone was moving, and hopefully still alive.

Then again, that someone could be the Milites. Deuce summoned her flute and cautiously approached the exact spot, a Blizzara BOM was ready to be launched in any time necessary. She made her way slowly, making sure that her steps wasn't noticed by anyone just behind the damp corridor.

She hoped that she did the tricks right. Yet, she was the one who was caught off guard by the said thing, and could only scream on the top of her lungs.

...

On the south section of the town, Ace wasn't progressing much better than Deuce, albeit he didn't know how many person Deuce could find. All of Ace's attempts to find any survivor were fruitless, he found one middle-aged man that was in critical state, but when he approached the dying man and tried to cast a Curaga at him, the man was already letting out his last breath.

He could understand all of Machina's dislike for wars right now. All of these were unnecessary. The people of Acuvi did not deserve any of this.

Furthermore, one simple message from C.O.M.M. had already interrupted all his plans to enter every building and search inside it. The Icy Blade of Death had already issued an order for him and Deuce to go back to the base.

Although, something was dismissing all of his dilemma. That scream… That ever so familiar voice of her was in the air, and not in the most reassuring frequency.

What had happened to Deuce ! ?

Without delaying any second, Ace grabbed his cards and began teleporting to the wherever she was. If he was able to hear her scream from here, so obviously Deuce wasn't that far from him. He could guess what had happened to Deuce, but he didn't go there, he didn't want to go THERE. Ace hoped that Deuce was able to fend anything that attacked her off for a while, at least until he got there. Panics were started to born inside of him.

Not long after that, he reached Deuce's side, his cards were set in offensive fighting stance.

Unfortunately, there was something worse than he was expecting. The cards in his fingers were dropping to the ground like falling leaves, and instead, Ace could only let his scream echoes all over the raging wasteland.

...

Giant door of the Class Zero was opened as Kurasame walked to the room in his ever-so-enigmatic pace, his little Tonberry trailed not far from him. The young teacher stepped the small stairways of the class, slow and careful enough to not show any sign of rush from his part. His steps were put to an end when he arrived right just before the blackboard, just before the little 'Mogurin'. As he turned around, his blue eyes darted over his students, scanning and noting every presence he could see there.

There were Jack, Eight, Seven, Cinque, Cater, Nine, Sice, Queen, Trey, and King, sitting on their respective seat.

"So only Team Acuvi and Team Arwen who are yet to arrive." He stated calmly. "Very well, we'll start the briefing for the next mission. All of you are to launch with the airship V44 Pandemonium in five days from now. We are going to—"

His sentences were left unfinished when someone's hand was in the air, calling his name repetitively for an attention. Kurasame narrowed his eyes at the said person, who was none other but the class representative.

"Forgive me for intruding, sir. But in my opinion I don't think we should start the briefing without four of us present." Queen said before lowering her slender arm again. To be honest, she knew that this was not the wisest of move, for she noticed that Kurasame was staring at her in a rather annoyed look. She could tell that he's going to scold her for interrupting his lecture in any second now.

"Ace and Deuce were not granted the permission to use any of the airship as they were stationed in Acuvi. However, they were given a pair of Kamikaze Chocobos to go back and forth. And if we are to assume they weren't having any problem, they should arrive in about thirty more minutes." The masked teacher rested his hand on his right hip, gazing intently at the asker. "As for Team Arwen's case, their airship got a slight problem on its' fuel. Once again, if we are to assume that both Machina and Rem did not encounter any problem, they would arrive in Rubrum region in five hours from now." He finished his explanations, his eyes trailing to the rest of the member of the class sans Queen. "Anyone else have a question that needs an immediate answer?"

From the way Kurasame spoke, all of the Class Zero acknowledged it already. He wasn't offering to answer any question his students might had in mind, he was asking whether they were going to interrupt him again and would love to have their head separated from their neck instead.

Yeah, they knew better than to reply at a displeased Kurasame.

"Good." He chanted in his usual, calm demeanor. Kurasame then grabbed a chalk from the side and started to draw the general blueprint of his class' next target. As if on cue, the moment the blue haired teacher started to scribble on the blackboard, everyone took note of it. Some of them even copied what their teacher wrote to their own book.

Although, their concentration were put into a pregnant pause when the door of the class was opened once again.

"S-Sorry we are late."

Kurasame didn't even need to look to know who it was. He noticed that that voice belonged to Deuce. Honestly, he wasn't expecting Deuce to arrive faster than the assumed time. It's not like it was a bad thing, though, so he couldn't tell her to perform things better. By her word 'we', he could conclude that she was coming with Ace. Okay, only Machina and Rem left and they were a complete pact again.

However, an unfamiliar cry echoed in the air and everyone's attentions were piqued.

Trey and Queen pinned their pencil on their own book too hard that they accidentally ripped a paper or two.

Cinque and Cater gasped so loud that even Kurasame could hear it clearly from the front of the class.

Jack and Nine fell from their seats, stumbling on the floor with their butt.

Sice's and Eight's jaws dropped.

King and Seven did not react. Or more like, they were simply too surprised to even react.

Even Kurasame and his Tonberry dropped his chalk and lampion respectively.

Every pair of eyes was staring at the incoming members in shock.

Deuce was carrying a baby in her arms, with Ace right behind her.

…Okay, first chapter might comes out a bit too humorless, especially in the earlier parts, but believe me, I have a reason why I put this story in the categories of 'Romance' and 'Humor'. I will update this story every 1-3 weeks, if I have no trouble defeating horrible monsters called exams.

Review, I dare you. REVIEW. Like, RIGHT NOW. Leave anything in it, be it comments, critics, love confessions, flames, all of them nonsense, COME AT ME BRO.