A Mentor

It had been four days since Zack had been recommended for SOLDIER, but he'd had no further news. He was beginning to grow anxious and worried that his letter of recommendation had been lost, or worse, that he had been turned down. The teenager sat cross legged on his bed staring into space with a slight frown cloaking his young features. There was a knock at the door, jolting the young man from his musings.

"Who is it?" He mumbled stepping off his bed and hitting the button that would open the door.

"Angeal?"

"Zack," The older man was smiling like an idiot. Zack raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, that's my name. What's up?"

"Guess what?" The smile never faded.

"What?"

"Guess!" Zack gave Angeal the glare that he usually reserved for the president. He really wasn't in the mood for games right now. Angeal frowned for a second but then stood tall. "You've made SOLDIER, Third Class!" Zack blinked, realising what Angeal had just told him. Angeal nodded vigorously. The younger of the two let out a whoop and punched the air.

"Do I get to go on missions? With a sword? And beat the crap out of monsters? Wait. Do I even get a sword? Rhys didn't get one. Awww. Oh well. ANGEAL I MADE SOLDIER! Oh hey Kunsel! I made SOLDIER third! Isn't that great?!" Before anyone could say another word, the now hyperactive teenager had taken off.

He ran into the cadet's lounge and flung himself onto a couch. Three cadets groaned in protest.

"Ugh. Zack!"
"Zack…"

"ZACK!!"

"Oh hey guys, guess what?" Zack grinned relaxing further into his friend's laps. They shoved him off and onto the floor. "Oww… that wasn't very nice!" He grumbled rubbing his elbow.

"What is it, Zack?" They asked him, sitting back down.

"Oh! So now you wanna know!"

"Zack, your point?"

"Oh yeah! I made SOLDIER!" He grinned up at them. Their expressions changed from slight annoyance to shock, wonderment and happiness.

"Well done, Zack!" Said one, holding out a hand to pull him up.

"Are you serious?"

"Hey that's great, man." Zack laughed at them, taking his friend's hand and standing up.

"Thanks guys. It's so cool I was just—"

"Liar!" There was an accusing voice behind him: An accusing voice full of envy. Zack spun around to face the owner of the offending comment.

Kaden Michaels was standing with his arms folded and his eyebrows furrowed. Zack had never liked this kid. He'd always been the nerdy one. Kaden's feelings for Zack were mutual. Where as Zack had always been flirtatious, popular, friendly, and funny, Kaden was quiet, known for being a loner and had very few friends. When Zack and his friends went out all night to meet girls and new friends, Kaden stayed in his room and spent his time studying and practicing new techniques. However hard he tried in class, Zack had always been just that much better than him. And Kaden loathed him for it. He felt he didn't deserve the high marks that he was given.

Zack's happy grin had instantly turned into an icy one. "What was that Michaels?" He sneered.

"You heard me, you're lying." Kaden growled, clenching his fists.

"Why would he lie about something like that…?" One of Zack's cadet friends asked, as if what Kaden was saying was the most stupid thing on earth… which it was.

"I'm not lying, Michaels." Zack glared at him.

"You hardly turn up to training, you go out, and you don't complete written tasks…" Kaden was livid.

"Well excuse me for having a life, Michaels."

"You start fights! You don't work nearly as hard as the rest of us do. You're hardly worthy of the title of SOLDIER!"

"And I suppose you are?" Glare.

"Yeah!" Glare.

They stood there for about a minute in silence, glaring at each other. Then, suddenly they lashed out at each other. Zack's friends watched in awe at their speed. They were the best in the combat classes; always had been. Kaden was swinging his fists viciously. Zack simply moved to the side every time. He laughed loudly as Kaden stepped back, catching his breath. The raven haired teenager turned around and flashed a smile at his friends. It was only for a second, but that second was all that Kaden needed. He lunged across the room and slammed into Zack.

Zack hadn't thrown one punch up until now, but the sudden force had angered him.
"You little bastard!" Zack snarled. He grabbed a fistful of the other boy's shirt and threw his fist across Kaden's jaw, just as Angeal and Kunsel were walking through the door. Kaden yelped when he noticed the First Class SOLDIER. Zack raised his fist again. He was bout to strike Kaden again and he would have done if Angeal hadn't wrapped his arms over Zack's own. The blue eyed teenager growled in frustration.

"I'll beat the mother fricken crap out of you one day Fair!" Kaden yelled, apparently Kunsel had taken a hold of him, breaking up the fight. Angeal dragged Zack out of the room.

"What did you do that for?!" Zack spat.

"I was about to ask you the same question." Angeal stated. "Take a few deep breaths, calm down." Zack nodded obediently and inhaled deeply. Once Angeal was sure he'd calmed down a little bit, he continued. "What did Michaels say to you?" The teenager flung himself into a chair and rubbed his forehead. "What did Michaels do to make you angry?" Angeal asked again gently, kneeling beside him.

"He called me a liar."

"Why'd he call you a liar?" Angeal smiled but furrowed his brow.

"Cuz I told my friends I made third."

"But that's true, you did make third…"

"Yeah but he doesn't believe it for shit because apparently I don't work hard enough for it. Apparently I'm not worthy of the title of SOLDIER." Zack felt his skin heat up and he slowed down.

"Ah, Zack that kid's just jealous!" Angeal chuckled placing a hand around the back of the boy's neck. "If you weren't I would never have recommended you!"

"You… you recommended me?" Zack glanced up. Angeal nodded "Thanks."

"And Lazard thinks you deserved the title, so that's why you got it." Angeal's voice was full of encouragement. Zack smiled a little bit, but he was still clearly pissed off. "Hey, Zack, don't frown, it'll give you wrinkles!" Angeal joked.

"Hah. Yeah…" Zack smiled more. He tilted his head a little, lost in thought, but Angeal's PHS beeping snapped him out of it.

"Well, I gotta go meet a friend. Keep out of trouble, okay Zack? I mean that." He smiled, but there was a certain sternness in his eyes. Zack nodded and thanked him as Angeal strolled down the hallway.

Zack stayed in his chair until curfew, and then made his way back to his room. Kunsel high fived him when he entered the dorm room.

"So, Fair. What happened?"

"Nothing, I just talked to him."

"Talked to or yelled at?" Zack smirked at this remark.

"A bit of both," He admitted. "What about Michaels?"

"What about him? He's fucked up for starting a fight with you. No one's that impressed with him to be honest."

"Hah! Deserves it." Zack smirked.

"And everyone knows you were telling the truth." Kunsel added.

"Good."

"And they also know you're being mentored, but they think it's kinda cool, no body's judging you for it." Kunsel smiled hurriedly, seeing Zack's look of dismay. He'd wanted to keep the whole mentor thing quiet.

"Oh."

"Besides, they know you'd hit them if they did judge you." Kunsel laughed out loud. Zack attacked him with a cushion.

"PILLOW RAPE!" He yelled chuckling. The rest of the night went as it usually did, plus Zack received a few messages congratulating him on making SOLDIER. Things were starting to look up.

END OF CHAPTER TWO! NOTES:

This chapter is sort of based on something that happened with me in school. I've always wanted Zack to pillow rape me. DON'T ASK . Thanks so much for the reviews, they're what inspired me to write this next chapter. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with this story, but I did. Any who! I hope you enjoy this one :D.