He wasn't the best in the class.
He wasn't even average.
He was dead last.
Who knew missing a week's worth of material in a cadet class could make him so far behind, especially when he had gone through this course once before? True, he couldn't remember almost all of it, and half of that was seen through Zack's eyes, but still, he should be excelling. He should've picked up facts during the rest of his life, even on such a dull topic.
But really, who knew Shinra's first president's birth date?
Apparently all the cadets did. Even though half of them didn't seem to pay any attention at all during the hour they spent learning about Shinra History, they still ended up knowing it somehow. There was probably a parade or something in Midgar on the day, but that wasn't the point. Why oh why did he have to come back on the day of a test?
They probably would've been easy questions if he had been here for the past week, but apparently his mind had been off relaxing 300 years into the future instead of learning how tall the Shinra Tower was planned to be. He couldn't even remember what Rufus's father's name was.
In the Shinra History class, it turns out that they take and correct tests on the same day. So after he was done scrapping his mind trying to figure out how many square miles Midgar was, he was publicly humiliated by the fellow recruit who had graded his test sharing with the whole room how badly he had done.
But hey, at least he had gotten one right, right? Even if it was only because when he read the question he could almost see the 4 and the 9 on the grey door splitting apart before prancing in. Obviously, it was Zack's memory. Cloud didn't prance.
Luckily History of Shinra was over, and now he was drifting with the crowd to his next class, whatever that might be. Hopefully it was something a little more useful. I mean, Shinra information is all well and good, statistics like how many are in Wutai, guard rotations, all the different Shinra outposts, and even how much Mako it takes to power one sector of Midgar, but when in their career in the military would they ever need to know what year the Shinra company was created?
"Hey Spiky!"
Zack? Cloud turned around quickly just in time to see his black-haired friend hurtling towards him at near mach speeds. He let out a quiet "oof" as he was thrown to the floor, the other cadets moving out of the way. "Zack," he groaned, "what was that?"
The weight pressing on his body lifted as the SOLDIER got to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Spike. I just saw you then got so exited, but then I tripped, and why would anyone keep a boot in the middle of a hallway?"
A boot? Cloud looked back the way he came, and sure enough there was a black, SOLDIER-issue boot sitting in up against the wall. It probably actually had been in the middle of the hallway, but Zack tripping on it had probably flung it away. Speaking of boots, why in the world was Zack running around in his socks? "Zack, is this your boot?"
He glanced down at his feet before throwing another huge grin Cloud's way. "Angeal said I should work on my agility, so I figured if I can dodge and stuff in my socks, I'll have no problem in the simulator!" he explained, "But no, I don't think that is my boot. It looks too small." He stared at the boot in consternation before straightening and running off back down the hall. "Sorry, gotta go, I left my shoes in Kunsel's room and I don't want Genny to light them on fire!" he called over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.
Cloud stood there for a few moments before turning with a sigh and hurrying to catch up with his classmates, boot in hand. Was Zack always this crazy? He vaguely remembered an incident involving one of his friends toenail clippers and one of the Firsts, so he probably had been. What he couldn't figure out was who Jenny was, and why she would light his boots on fire if they were Kunsel's room.
Shrugging internally, he followed the second-to-last person into the room and chose a seat at the back. Inexplicably, this year's group seemed to be smaller than normal, which didn't make any sense at all because he had thought Shinra propaganda and hero worship of Sephiroth was at its peak, what with the war in Wutai starting. Then again, there might be so many cadets that they had to be split into groups. Either way, there was no lack of open seats, so he was somewhat surprised when a certain red head came over to sit by him.
"This is the Mechanics, yo, so pay 'tention. This's one class you don't want to sleep in. Punyard's crazy, yo."
The corners of Cloud's mouth lifted a little. Of course Reno would like the Mechanics class. After everything was over he and Cid had made a new airship, which had been the fastest on the market for a whole decade before it had been overtaken by one designed by the next generation of grease monkeys. He had been a little surprised that they got along so well, Reno having been a Turk and all. But apparently flying was more important than old grudges.
As the class carried on, however, Cloud found out that Reno's love of machines wasn't the reason he was warned not to fall asleep. Mr. Punyard did seem crazy, constantly flailing about with his pointer and yelling at kids who weren't paying attention. Cloud was suddenly very glad he had sat in the back.
Suddenly the door opened and someone with familiar black hair skidded in. The whole room was absolutely silent as the person froze a few feet in. Mr. Punyard had turned a bright orange, while all the blood had drained from Zack's face. "Sorry," he squeaked, holding his boots in front of his face as a shield, but unfortunately for Zack that seemed to be the thing that set Punyard off. The man exploded, screaming and lunging for the SOLDIER who had bolted for the door. Zack fled the room, but maybe it was a bit too quickly because soon something hit the wall of the classroom with a thump before Punyard's yelling grew more distant and eventually disappeared.
Reno got up and left after a moment of silence, smirking at the rest of the class over his shoulder as he went through the doorway. It was almost the end of class anyway, so Cloud followed a bit later, boot in tow. He actually didn't know why he was still bringing the boot along with him, but he didn't really care, as he'd probably just throw it away later. He heard a shuffle of feet behind him and figured everyone else was coming too.
Suddenly a weight pressed down on his and he jerked away. He spun around, and was mildly surprised not to see one of the three who he had encountered at dinner last night. The boy had medium length, light brown hair and pale gray eyes. Unsurprisingly he was a taller than Cloud, and holding his hands in the air to show his 'innocence.'
"Sorry, kid. Don't know what you were expecting, but I guess it's none of my business either. Cloud, right?" The boy sounded apologetic, and Cloud supposed most people don't freak out when you touch them.
Cloud studied him for a bit longer before nodding his acceptance. "Yeah, Cloud. You?"
The brown haired boy smiled. "Ian. I would say nice to meet you, but we've already met. Heard you got amnesia, was going to offer to show you around."
Cloud shook his head. "Reno gave me a tour," he said, following on the left of the other cadet to their next class.
Ian glanced at him with a worried expression on his face. "You should stay away from him, Reno, I mean. He's no good for you." When Cloud made a neutral humming noise he continued. "Seriously, he's bad news. He doesn't really hangout with anyone for more than a few days before moving on, like he's looking for something. Word is he's trying to find drugs." Ian shuddered. "I think he's from the slums. I mean, just look at that ratty hair, no respectable person would grow it that long. He doesn't even talk right, with all of his yos and gonnas and ain'ts. He'd probably kill you if he got paid for it."
Now Cloud was struggling to keep from laughing. Sure, the cadet probably meant well, but really? "Look, Ian. What do you think we signed up for with this whole SOLDIER thing? The whole point of an army is a group of people killing other people and getting paid for it. And he's not going to get into anything, you can be sure of that. Even if I have to rip a needle out of his arm. Goodbye."
What was that all about? Reno wondered in shock. It's not like the kid to give a speech-thing, even a short one. That was probably the most he had said since I met him. And why would Cloudy-boy care so much what he did? Sure, he was probably the only person here that the kid knew, but what did he have against drugs? Sure, everyone knew they were bad for you, but that kid hated them with a vengeance. Maybe, revengeance? That was probably it. Someone the kid knew got messed up on something addictive, maybe even Mako-laced, and now he thought Reno was looking for the same thing. That could be a problem.
One of the better things that came out of that little eavesdropping session was that word had gotten out he was looking for a chemical substance. Sure, they probably didn't know what kind, but something was better than nothing, even if that something was invisible and by word of mouth. One thing Reno had learned in training was that despite there often being a nut of truth in rumors, people were inconsistent and stories always changed. That was also a reason they wrote reports.
But the real question was why Cloud was carrying a boot.
After Cloud distanced himself from the Ian guy Reno slipped up beside him. "Tear a needle out of my arm, yo?" he asked, chuckling. "What's with boot, anyways?
Cloud turned to him, not at all surprised he had heard the conversation. That was something to note for later. "I'm not actually sure," he replied, looking at the boot in confusion. "But you're not going to inject random substances into your bloodstream. I won't let you this ti-." Cloud froze in the middle of the word, horror spreading across his face.
This time? Reno asked silently, smirking at the kid smugly. Point for revenge. "So who was it, yo?" he questioned quietly, not wanting his answers being shouted out for everyone to hear. "Mom? Dad? Sister? Brother?" After a pause Reno thought of another one, having seen no reaction from the kid. "Close friend?"
Cloud jerked away from him, growing pale and dropping the boot, and Reno grinned triumphantly "Yes! I knew it!" he yelled, drawing everyone's attention. "Don't worry Cloudy, I'm not gonna go and die on you. I'm just finding out who has what for," he hesitated racking his brain for an excuse. "A friend down under, if ya know what I mean," he whispered, and the kid nodded numbly, off in his own little world again.
Reno set off again, to take only a few steps before noticing his tag-along was not tagging along. He strode back and grabbed the cadets' arm to drag him off to Tactics and Strategy. Seriously, the kid would be late to everything without him.
Dreams of the Morrow, Chapter Seven: Boots. Updated July 4th, 2011. 2,050 words.
Yeah, I think this one's a bit short, but I really couldn't think of anything to add. It was fun to write though, with all the silliness. There was a connection to how the PHS got sent back in this chapter, but I'm not going to tell you what and how because that would spoil something! Anyway, updates might be a little slower because I have to write an original story for something, so I'll be writing this every odd day and the other story every even day. I know today is an even day, but I had this finished in my notebook and didn't have time to type it up last night, so I figured I wouldn't make you wait. On a side note, I'm learning French!
