They stood in front of an office-like building, although it was relatively smaller than the main school construction. Cissnei greeted some people that passed by, some even calling her 'Student Council'. Aerith concluded that Cissnei's role for the school is quite important. Few of those people looked questioningly at Aerith, who ducked in embarrassment. If what Genesis said was true, that Cissnei was a Primadona, then surely Aerith being her cousin would be swamped with her fans. She cringed at the thought, because she isn't used to people crowding around her.

Not that she's sure to be crowded by them, but the fact that there's a possibility made her feel a bit sheepish.

"Over here, Aerith," Cissnei said as they approached a woman sitting behind a rather large desk. The woman looked up and smiled genuinely at Cissnei.

"Why, hello, Cissnei," she said. "Here to drop a few announcements?"

"No, Miss Alde." She gestured Aerith to come forward. "I'm just dropping off my cousin."

Miss Alde examined Aerith from head to toe. "My, what a cute cousin you have here. Your name?" She held out her hand.

"Aerith Gainsborough," She said as she shook the teacher's hand. "Um… uh, nice to meet you, Miss."

Miss Alde smiled warmly at her. "Very polite cousin you have, Cissnei." Right after she said that, the bell rang, indicating the time to go to class. Cissnei jumped in response, and scurried on to the door.

"Ugh, Aerith, I'll have to leave you here. Miss Alde will show you your schedule and class. Good luck! Hope we'll be in the same class." Before Aerith could respond, Cissnei already flew out of the door. Aerith looked at her cousin disbelievingly, but quickly hid it as Miss Alde approached her from her desk.

"Cissnei's an honor student, you know. She's part of the student council, one of its most promising members, and she's incredibly diligent in class and sports. Surely she has told you about her role in school?" Miss Alde told Aerith as she held out a piece of yellow paper, similar to the one Cissnei was examining earlier.

"Um, no, she hasn't," Aerith stammered in response, "But just today, she had a lot of people greeting her."

Miss Alde laughed. "She's apparently also one of the prettiest girls in school." Aerith took the yellow paper from her hands. She looked at it briefly before Miss Alde gestured her to follow her outside.

"Although, she'll quickly get outshined by you, Aerith. You're not looking so bad yourself. I wonder if it runs in the family?" Miss Alde's warm smile made Aerith really feel at ease; it was extremely similar to her mother's. She can't help but feel a bit lonely at the thought.

"Uh, thank you, Miss Alde," Aerith blushed. She followed her out the door, and together they walked towards the main school building. When they entered the hallway, there were lines of lockers on the walls and doors on both sides. Aerith looked at the vast hallway in wonder before she snapped out of it and ran to keep pace with Miss Alde. They arrived at stairs on the end of the hallway, and climbed up.

"First floor's for first years," Miss Alde explained. "Works also with the second and third floor. Since you're 16, you're a second year. Pretty unique, isn't it? Sorting students by floor?" They walked through a few classes; some Aerith could see were packed with students. "Despite this, your classes can be all over the school. Confusing, but it helps you to get to know the school a bit better." They stopped in front of a class whose doors look like they've been taken from the Victorian age. "And here is your class," Miss Alde said as she pushed the door open. Aerith's heart was ramming against her ribcage.

She saw a relatively large classroom – Aerith estimated that there are around 20 students or more – and they were all grouped into different clusters of people. Some were talking to the teacher, some were crowding in the back, and a few people were looking out the window. Aerith's heart skipped a beat when she saw that spiky black-haired man she saw earlier hanging with Genesis and Sephiroth. All of the students were looking in her direction now. Although, what made that worse, was that she didn't see Cissnei at all.

"Mr Valentine," Miss Alde indicated the teacher who was sitting at his desk in the front, "Your new student is here."

The teacher stood up, and Aerith gasped – He was an extremely fine-looking man that looked too young to be teaching; she estimated he was around 20 years old. He had black hair that passed his shoulders, tied behind his back. His suit was black with a red tie. His eyes were a striking scarlet color; he had the aura that he was a strict but caring person. As he was walking their way, Aerith couldn't help but look at his features.

This man is my teacher? Aerith questioned in her head. He stopped in front of Miss Alde and her. As he did so, she realized that the students were still looking at Aerith, especially that guy she met eyes with earlier this morning. She blushed furiously.

Mr Valentine bent over Aerith to see her face clearly – she could hear some female students gasp – and he looked into her eyes. Truth be told, they were fine eyes, but they scared her. The fact that it was red alone made her frightened. Just as she assumed that, he cracked a small smile.

"Welcome to the class. I'm sure you'll feel right at home here. I'll take it from here, Miss Alde." Said person nodded and patted Aerith's back.

"Good luck!" she smiled and walked away. Aerith wished that she'd come back to accompany her here.

Mr Valentine gestured Aerith to follow him to the front of the class. She did so, as she felt pairs of eyes staring at her and some whispering among the students.

"She's cute! And so small…"

"How lucky, to have Mr Valentine look into her eyes."

"She looks a bit different than other girls. I have never seen her around Sector 8 before."

"I saw her running this morning with Cissnei! Wonder why that was though…"

"Ah yeah, me too, she was fast to be able to catch up with that Cissnei…"

"I totally want her hair…"

"Who wears leg warmers in the end of summer?" Aerith cursed Cissnei silently for that.

Mr Valentine stood in front of the blackboard, Aerith beside him, and he shushed the students. Aerith saw the spiky-haired man walk to his table at the back just before he met her eyes once more. Again, she blushed silently and turned her head away.

"Write your name on the board." Mr Valentine suddenly whispered into her ear that she jumped. She heard a few small shrieks coming from few of the girls.

Aerith nodded slightly after recovering, and wrote her name on the board. After she finished, she heard someone whisper "what a unique name" just in front of her. Aerith was aware that the person was talking to her, and she smiled sheepishly. The person, a girl with long black hair and brown eyes, grinned and waved back at her.

Mr Valentine started to speak. "Well, as you all can see, she's a new student here at Finale Academy. I'm Mr Vincent Valentine, but you can just call me Mr Valentine. I hope you find your experience at this school enjoyable, Aerith. It's nice to have you in this class." He tilted his head slightly, and gave her the same small smile. Aerith nodded furiously in return. She still can't get used to his scarlet eyes.

"Thank you, um… Mr Valentine." He nodded, and the class started to chatter amongst themselves again. He gestured her to go to a seat.

"Your seat is just behind Yuffie over there. Third column, third row." He pointed at a desk that could possibly be at the middle of the class, if it weren't for a sixth row at the back where the spiky man was sitting. Aerith started walking towards it, and saw that the girl in front of her – Yuffie – beamed at her. She smiled sheepishly once again, and sat down, ignoring the stares of other students on her way.

Mr Valentine walked back to his desk, and some students started talking to him again, occasionally giving glances to the new girl. Mostly girls, Aerith realized, as she looked down when one student looked her way. Why are there so many handsome men in this school? She thought, before suddenly, Yuffie in front of her turned her chair so that she was face-to-face with Aerith.

"Hi! My name's Yuffie Kisaragi. Nice to have ya here, Aerith!" She held out her hand while grinning broadly. Aerith had the feeling that Yuffie would become a really great friend to her.

"Um… hello, Yuffie," Aerith held her hand. Yuffie shook her hand repeatedly before letting go – it made Aerith chuckle a little. When she did, Yuffie gave her the biggest smile she had ever seen.

"Waa! You laughed! That's great!" She continued to beam. "I was afraid that you were those types of girls that wouldn't be easily amused, but I guess I was wrong."

Aerith shook her head. "No, I just… I'm a bit shy. You're a lot like my cousin, both of you are very talkative. She made me feel welcome here." Yuffie scratched her head.

"Cousin? Who is she?"

"Um… Cissnei."

Aerith felt pairs of eyes land on her again; she shuddered slightly before Yuffie gave her an honest expression – she was apparently shocked by the revelation.

"You cousin is Cissnei? That Cissnei? Wow!" Yuffie clapped her hands playfully. "She's like the prettiest girl in school. Lots of guys in this class are her fans. Ah, except for Zack, of course." Yuffie rolled her eyes sarcastically. Aerith scrunched her forehead.

"Zack? Who's Zack?"

"That guy sitting in the back there, the one with spiky black hair." Yuffie pointed behind her, and sure enough, Aerith was looking at the spiky-haired man she locked eyes briefly with just now. He was talking animatedly with his friends. "Zack Fair. He's very popular. He's part of SOLDIER."

"SOLDIER?"

"A group of handsome popular guys from around the school." Since it wasn't Yuffie's voice answering her question, she turned around to see the girl with the long black hair that said her name was unique. Now that she was standing, Aerith could see clearly her hourglass body figure.

She continued on, "They're the icons of the school. Each member has a particular trait that specialize them – for example, Zack there, he does Kendo." The girl smiled, and Aerith waved slightly to her. "Hi, I'm Tifa Lockhart. Nice to meet you, Aerith."

Aerith grinned. "Nice meeting you too, Tifa. Thanks for the kind remark you gave me earlier," She said as she blushed. Tifa and Yuffie chuckled at her expression. Because of that, she blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"So, your cousin is Cissnei, huh? No wonder you look cute." Tifa took the empty seat beside Aerith.

Aerith's train of thought landed back on Zack. "Um, can I ask… why is the gang called SOLDIER?"

Yuffie and Tifa looked at each other briefly before Tifa said, "Each of the members can do some sort of self-defense. It's like a small army, you know? Every one of them can take out the mafia on their own, and can still be alive and well the next day."

Aerith gapped at the two girls. "They're that strong?"

"Yep, just like a real soldier on the battlefield," Yuffie remarked.

"So Sephiroth and Genesis are strong too?"

Yuffie and Tifa looked surprised that she knew two of the member's names.

"They're the strongest. Sephiroth's like the leader," Tifa said, "But, funny thing is, he's also an honor student. They're both third years, other than Angeal." Aerith concluded that the mysterious other black-haired person she saw this morning was none other than Angeal. He looked fit as a third year.

"Hmm…" Aerith turned around to look at Zack. He was laughing around with his friends, and some of the girls were obviously trying to get his attention. Then, suddenly, he looked at Aerith – their eyes met again, and she realized that his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. They looked at each other longer than usual, before Aerith turned back to Yuffie and Tifa after realizing what she had just done. She blushed once more, her hands curling into harmless fists.

The two girls didn't realize what she did just now because they were chatting animatedly with each other. Then, quite suddenly, Yuffie asked Aerith, "How come you know Genesis? I can understand why you know Sephiroth, but Genesis…"

"Huh? Ah… this morning, Cissnei was telling Genesis off because he looked like he was annoying a first-year." Aerith gazed at the two girls, who nodded in response. "But he really wasn't, which made me puzzled because Cissnei still kept telling him off even after she found out." Yuffie and Tifa laughed this time, making Aerith confused.

Tifa started explaining, "Genesis and Cissnei are like fire and ice. They don't click. They constantly bicker day by day. I should guess that's why Cissnei didn't stop scolding Genesis."

"But Genesis is fond of Cissnei," Yuffie interrupted, "because he keeps trying to ask her out. Although, he does that with every pretty girl he meets. He tried Tifa out once, but she gently declined." Aerith could see why; Tifa's body is seriously no joke. Tifa just sneered at Yuffie's remark.

"Oh, by the way," Tifa clapped her hands, "What's your next class after homeroom?"

Aerith suddenly remembered the yellow sheet Miss Alde gave her earlier this morning. "Uh, I have History," She said while she took out the sheet and examined it.

"Ah, you're in the same class as me. Perfect timing!" Tifa grinned. Aerith, deep down inside, was truly relieved that she had someone she knew in her next class.

Yuffie scowled. "Huh, I have Math!" She rummaged her bag and got out another yellow sheet. "You're lucky, Tifa. I wanna talk more with Aerith." Aerith couldn't help but smile at her comment.

Right on cue, the bell rang, indicating that homeroom has ended. Mr Valentine stood up and yelled, "Good luck on your first day of school, class! I'll see you all tomorrow, or in my Chemistry lessons." Students grabbed their bags and filed out the Victorian door. Yuffie was no exception.

"I'll see you later, Aerith!" She ran out the door, knocking a few students on the way. Tifa suppressed a laugh.

"Let's go, Aerith. History's not that far." She grabbed her bag and walked out, Aerith following suit. Before she exited class, she could see that Zack was surely taking his time getting out. His friend beside him urged him to hurry up. Zack looked up, and their eyes met again – this time, he showed something close to a smile. Aerith turned unconsciously while blushing. She followed Tifa through the whole way, face red as a lobster.

Aerith realized the reason why she's been blushing so much today. Was it because of a guy named Zack Fair?

A/N: I'd like to point out that the system in their school is the British system.
I imagined Vincent's classroom a bit like a Shinra laboratory, or for those who have played Crisis Core, a bit like the SOLDIER common room where Lazard likes to sit before missions. Sans the very high-tech door, of course.
I'm very happy with the reviews I got for my first chapter; thanks guys!