Chapter 4: Hojo

~Irony's P.O.V~

I woke up alone in Rufus' bed the next morning. I looked around confused, wondering if Rufus himself ever slept last night and where he was now. The door slid open and Rufus walked in carrying a tray of food as well as a troubled face.

"Ruffie, what's wrong?" I asked confused. His head snapped up as he looked at me shocked, finally noticing I was awake. "Nothing, Rony," he replied with a smile, albeit forced. "I brought you some breakfast."

He sat the tray on my lap and I saw a plate of French toast with bacon and small hash-browns on the side. There was also a glass of milk to go with it. I was drooling just looking at it. "You missed dinner last night so I'd thought you'd be hungry," he explained.

"Starving. It looks delicious, by the way. Thank you, Ruffie," I said with a smile then looked at the lack of a tray of his own. "Have you already eaten?" I asked absentmindedly as I began calmly eating. He nodded and looked out the windows, frowning as I ate.

I finished quickly and stood up to stretch, speaking to Rufus as I did. "I should go back now. I believe Zack has worried about me enough. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if he has half of SOLDIER looking for me! Bye, Ruffie!" I laughed then practically skipped out of the room back to my own, in the mood for a long bath.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Zack blew up as soon as I took a single step into the room, literally. "With Ruffie," I replied simply, gathering my clothes. "All night? What the hell were you doing?" He shouted. I stopped and slapped him upside his head because he cussed, again, before continuing on my way to the private bathroom in our room.

"We slept together," I answered truthfully, not realizing he might take it differently, and closed the bathroom door behind me.

~Zack's P.O.V~

I stared in shock as my little sister closed the bathroom door behind her, right after she said that. 'My little sister just told me she slept with my boss' son. WHY am I the only one freaking out here? Should I tell someone?' I asked myself, pulling out my cell phone and letting my finger hover over Angeal's number.

The shower turned on and Irony poked her head out the door. I blushed and turned my head away, realizing she was only in her towel. Now I (somewhat) know how she felt when she saw me in only a towel.

"Oh, and we didn't do that together, moron. We literally slept. Rufus wasn't even in the room over half the time," she said and I mentally relaxed. She rolled her eyes at me before locking herself in the bathroom once again.

'Pervert.' I looked up shocked when I heard that echoed in my head. I could have sworn it sounded like Irony. "I need to lay down for a while," I said, flopping on to the bed and falling asleep to clear my mind.

~FF 3 hours, Irony's P.O.V~

"Stupid, immature, moronic jerk," I mumbled to myself as I walked down the hallway, angry that my brother 'grounded' me as my new black dress swung behind me. I mean, what the hell? It's not like I did anything lately! Ok, so I did admit his most embarrassing secret in front of Genesis, Sephiroth, and Angeal while we were hanging out with them but you don't ground people for that!

Maybe it's because you stayed with Rufus Shin-Ra last night and didn't tell Zack that you were going to, Poison told me inside my head. You see, Poison is the demon that has resided inside my head ever since I was a baby, before I was adopted by the Fairs. She always told me she was there to protect me and guide me as I grow up. Sometimes I don't mind her -I mean, she is my best friend- but her always being right really gets on my nerves.

This was one of those times. 'Well, at least he forgot about yesterday,' I told her smugly as I walked towards the cafeteria to get a quick lunch before going to Hojo's for a check-up. Don't know why, it's not like I'm in SOLDIER or anything. I decided to take a shortcut to the lift, deciding my walk was taking too long and I was too bored to wait.

Wait, Sephiroth is- I cut Poison off by opening the door to cut across the training room, only to be met face-to-face with, you guessed it, Sephiroth himself. -in there. You know, you really should listen to me more often, Poison nagged.

'Shut...up,' I seethed inside my head. "Hiya, Sephy!" I say happily, subtly looking for a way around him. I didn't find one. I made a move to walk past him innocently but he blocked the way. 'CRRAAAPPP!' "Hello, now why don't we continue that conversation from yesterday?" He asked with his silky voice, smirking as he left me no choice but to answer.

"Don't worry, your brother is training with Angeal inside, so if you want me to get him..." he trailed off, staring to turn around to get Zack. "NO!" I yelled quickly reaching out a hand to stop him. I bit my tongue and silently cussed under my breath.

"I mean, what conversation?" I asked, trying to maintain what dignity I had left. "Now, if you'll excuse me, since I don't think I have time for a quick snack anymore, Professor Hojo wanted to speak with me." He tensed up at the name and blocked me again. Something in his burning eyes made me think that this time, the block was for a totally different reason.

"No, please do not go to Hojo. Any other scientist but him. I would not want you to be subjected to his type of torture. I could not live with myself if you were hurt by him," he said. I don't think he meant for me to hear his last sentence though, since he whispered it. I blinked and nodded dumbly, his last sentence still whirling around my head, causing chaos as I tried to figure out what it meant. Did he like me? Why would he blame himself? What's wrong with Hojo?

He sighed in relief and released my shoulders, which he had been holding on to. He ran his hand through his hair as he composed himself again. I watched him walk away with a slight frown tugging at my lips before shrugging and going back to my room. Maybe I could find something in there to eat.

A knock sounded on my door 15 minutes after I had got there. I still hadn't found anything to eat so I was just going to go down Wall Market to visit my old friend Aerith who has a church down in the slums, hoping we could go together and get a bite to eat somewhere and then go to the park. Yeah, I've been to Midgar a lot in my 22 years.

I quickly opened the door and was surprised to see it was Hojo himself who had come. I stepped back shocked, remembering Sephy's warning before composing myself and deciding to act polite. "I couldn't help but realize, Miss Fair, that you didn't show up for our scheduled meeting. Did something happen to come up?" He asked in a squeaky and slightly girly voice. I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing.

"Oh, I'm sorry Professor. Something happened and I forgot all about it!" I told him with my hands clasped, feeling no guilt for lying to him. "Alright, then. If you would please come with me, I will give you your checkup now," he said pleasantly, letting his hand latch on to my wrist as he started to drag me with him.

Poison growled inside my mind and she lent me her strength to get free. Her anger made my eyes turn her sliver and my canine teeth come to a point for a moment. Hojo smirked and nodded to himself, backing off, saying, "Perhaps tomorrow then," before walking away.

Sephy, Genny, Angeal, and Zack walked around the corner then, watching Hojo walk off in a stony silence. "So, what was he doing here?" Zack asked confused. "He was insistent on giving my a checkup, so I promised I would go tomorrow to get him off my back. At least he won't drag me there like he tried to do today," I replied, rubbing my wrist and shrugged it off. I didn't see Angeal, Sephiroth, and Zack share a look or Genesis looking at me and my wrist worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm bored so I'm gonna go walk around the slums for a bit and visit a friend," I say then start walking past them in the direction of the lift then turned back to Zack, knowing what he was going to ask. "And yes Zack, I do have my souba, as well as a gun in case I loose said souba so no, I do not need anyone to come with me. I'm grown up now and can beat Sephiroth, I believe I can handle myself for at least a few hours," I told him exasperated.

"She's got you pinned," Genesis told him with a chuckle. Zack glared at him before turning back to me saying, "Alright, you can go."

"I don't need your permission. Oh yeah! I never did tell you three what his nickname when he was a kid was, did I?" I asked the three 1st Class SOLDIERS, they shook their heads. "It's Zackie-poo." I snickered then ran off, hearing the three's laughter and Zack calling angrily after me. Yeah, I'm dead tomorrow. Eh, at least I might be able to spend the night with Aerith!

A/N: Well...at least we know Hojo isn't OOC. Anyway, yes, Zack does know what happens to Sephy every time he goes to Hojo and Zack helps him along with Angeal. We are soon coming to CC (by the way, while Sephy was talking to Irony, Zack was doing the stimulation thingy at the beginning of CC)