Chapter Four

I managed to throw him on top of my bunk. "What was that?" I asked, glaring as I crossed my arms. "Because whatever that last part was, you did exactly what you're not supposed to do—give them a reaction." Tanik returned my gaze, completely unfazed. "If you can cool down on your own, great." Inspiration struck. "If not, I'll throw a bucket of water on you."

Tanik looked at me as if waiting for me to say "just kidding"—which I wasn't. At all. Realizing that, he finally nodded.

I sighed in relief and uncrossed my arms. "Good. Now just stay there for a while." I turned heel and stalked back towards the front of the room.

"Hey. Nice handling." I turned to see a teen about my age with black hair.

Wait—is he Wutaian? "Thanks."

The Wutaian grinned. "Not sure where you learned how to handle guys twice your size, but wherever it was, I'm glad you learned it." He stuck out a hand. "Vanni Uslarok."

"Dustin Hynek." We shook hands.

Vanni hooked his thumbs in his belt. "In case you're wondering, Biff and Clay—those two overly-muscled punks—started it."

I nodded. "Figures. No one would want to start anything with those two."

Vanni smiled wryly. "Yeah. As soon as they walked in, Oliver and I cleared out of the way."

"Oliver?"

He nodded. "Yeah—he's off getting something at the moment, though, so—"

"Hey! Who's this?"

"I guess he's back," Vanni commented to me before turning to his friend. "So—" His eyes widened. "Hide that immediately!" he hissed. I glanced down in time to see a fairly long yellow box disappear behind Oliver's back. "This is Oliver, and that is Dustin," Vanni continued nonchalantly.

My eyes narrowed slightly. I only knew of one thing that came in long yellow boxes. "What are you two planning on doing with the Saran-Wrap?" I asked as casually as could be.

Vanni and Oliver exchanged glances. "Nothing," Oliver replied innocently. "Just making sure no one—for example, Biff and Clay—gets into our lockers without us knowing."

I raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"See, we put a bit on the edge so that if anyone opens it, the Saran-Wrap is pulled off of the lid or the box itself. Since they don't know about it, they can't smooth it back down afterwards," Oliver explained.

I wasn't sure if I bought it or not. I suddenly decided that this was something I could do to help make everyone think I was a guy.

I leaned in. "Tell me what you're really going to do with it, and I'll help you."

/

"…Got it?" Oliver asked.

I nodded. "Yep."

Vanni grinned. "Oh yeah. This is gonna be good."

I smirked back. "Oh yes indeed." I glanced back towards my bunk and sighed. "Well, I've got to go and check on something. See you guys later." I started heading back.

"See you."

I mentally braced myself as I passed by a couple bunks before reaching my own.

Tanik had flopped back, and I couldn't tell if he was asleep or just thinking with his eyes closed or what.

I hesitated a second. "Tanik?"

He quickly rose partway up. "Dustin." He sat up all the way. "Is it okay if I leave now?"

Okay. Now or never. "…Could we talk first?"

He didn't look too keen on it, but nodded after a moment.

I gingerly sat down next to him, worrying my bottom lip with my teeth as I quickly gathered and compiled my thoughts into questions. "Was your dad around growing up?"

Tanik's gaze slipped a bit to the side. "No," he finally answered.

"Any sort of father figure?" I gently pressed.

His eyes flashed. "None worth mentioning." He glared darkly at the floor.

I wonder what happened... "But there was one, wasn't there?"

He seemed to start slightly before giving me an icy look. "Why? It's not like it matters."

I sighed impatiently. "Of course it does!" I quickly calmed myself. "Look, whatever happened—"

"Who says anything happened?" he vehemently shot back.

I raised my hands in defense. "Sorry. I shouldn't have pressed it." Hm. He's getting defensive. Something definitely happened that he doesn't want to talk about.

Tanik pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before turning to me. "How about you? Both your parents around?"

I nodded. "Yeah." This was starting to edge onto dangerous ground for me.

"Any siblings?"

I shook my head. "No. You?"

"Not that I'm aware of." He sounded a bit unsure, and after running into someone who looked just like you, I didn't blame him. "How'd your parents take your joining Shinra?"

I winced. I wasn't exactly sure how to answer that, but decided to stick to the truth as much as possible. "They weren't exactly thrilled." I glanced over at Tanik. "How d'you think your mom will take your conscription?"

A rush of emotion flicked across his eyes before he finally answered, "I hope she never knows."

I couldn't help myself. "Why?"

"She'll tell him." He froze, and it dawned on me in that instant that he hadn't meant to say that.

"Tanik…?"

"Hey. Mind if I join the conversation?"

I glanced behind me to see Hayden leaning against a post of the bunk set. "Sure. Tanik, this is Hayden; Hayden, Tanik."

Hayden nodded in greeting, and Tanik did likewise, though I personally thought it was a bit stiff.

I cleared my throat. "Anyway, we were debating about whether materia, guns, or swords would be most effective against the enemy." I saw Tanik visibly relax some out of the corner of my eye. "I think guns would be overall most effective."

"No way. Swords by far," Tanik objected.

"Materia," Hayden interjected causally.

Tanik frowned. "What is materia exactly?"

I barely kept my mouth from dropping open but kept it together enough to answer, "Magic orbs. They do all sorts of attacks and can cure you."

Tanik thought for a moment. "…I'd have to stick with swords since I've never used materia."

Hayden shrugged. "Fair enough." He turned to me. "Why guns, though, Dustin?"

"Easy. Long-, mid-, and short-range attacks alike, and you can also block with them if need be," I told them. I thought it was obvious.

"But you have to reload."

I waved my hand at Tanik. "Technicalities. What do swords got that guns don't?"

"The ability to change direction in the middle of an attack, dual-wielding capabilities, no ammunition to worry about—"

"Cadets! Lunch!" the man in charge yelled.

Tanik didn't miss a beat as we started following the others in our barracks. "—easier care and storage, nothing to worry about if it gets wet, can deflect bullets, can be easily swapped from hand to hand, feels more natural, and looks cooler."

My face fell. "Um."

Hayden snickered. "He has a point on the either-handedness, lefty."

"You're left-handed?" Tanik asked.

I straightened up to my full height. "Just like Sephiroth. Jealous?"

Tanik smirked. "Not really."

"Well, you should be, because I can do stuff with my left hand and you can't!" I shot back.

"Who says I'm incompetent with my left hand?"

"Well, you're obviously a righty after watching you for a bit, and most righties can't do much of anything with their—!"

"I think materia is the best because you can cast attacks, cures, defensive mechanisms like barriers, and can summon monsters to do the fighting for you," Hayden quickly interjected. We stared at him, having completely forgotten that he was there as we got into our heated handedness debate. "And it works from any range," he finished before pushing the door to the mess hall—which we'd somehow reached in the middle of all of this—open and leading us inside.

/

After we got various suspicious-looking objects from the line, we sat down at a table with some others that were also in Barracks 5.

"What is this?" Jake Bausman had confusion written all over his face as he used his fork to prod a particular suspicious object.

Darien Hedley looked at the object Jake was referring to. "Semi-solid coffee? I don't know." He returned to his "meal". "Someone try it and tell me what it tastes like."

Ramsay Cordell elbowed Cody Fraser. "What kind of meat is this, mate?"

Cody shrugged. "Don't look at me."

"Hey, has anyone tried the soup yet?" Trent Kristijan asked, looking up.

Vanni had begun to poke at the contents of his bowl suspiciously, holding his spoon as close to the end as he could. "If you want to call it soup or try it, be my guest. Tell me how it tastes."

I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it. I'd tried my fair share of weird stuff on dares and such, but…there was something about the soup that just sent warning signals into my brain….

I decided that if anyone else tried it first and didn't keel over dead, I'd try it next.

"Um…" someone managed out. I glanced over in the direction they were staring and did a double-take.

Tanik was eating the soup.

And didn't look too bothered by it.

The spoon was halfway to his mouth when he stopped and looked up to see the entire group staring at him.

I watched him closely for another second, waiting for belated instant death, and when it didn't happen, contemplated my own bowl for a second before shrugging, scooping out a glob, and sticking it in my mouth before the thought could fully form in my mind that maybe Tanik's was the only un-poisoned bowl.

The nearly gelatin-like substance hit my tongue, and I immediately felt ill. My stomach lurched warningly, and I quickly covered my mouth before escaping from the table and nearly falling into the garbage can as my stomach promptly emptied any and all contents. I was nauseated, felt as if my intestines were going to come up next, and was plain miserable for the eternity of 45 seconds that ensued.

I clutched the rim of the can, my head spinning as I tried to figure out how on the Planet Tanik had managed to eat just one bite of the—no, don't think of that specifically, I warned myself as my insides wrenched suggestively—let alone nearly the whole bowl.

After a little bit of letting my stomach settle, I pushed myself upright and walked back towards the group. I'm not going to look at it, I'm not going to look at it... Tanik's face was completely red, and he wasn't really looking at anyone.

I personally didn't blame him.

I took my seat, making sure to keep breathing and to not look at the offensive thing.

"So," Vanni broke the silence, a smirk growing on his face. "How'd it taste?"


And so we have the first introduction to Shinra food! XD I have way too much fun with the food...

btw, make sure to vote on what I should title the one-shot I finished last night! (The working title is "Angels". Details are on the poll.) I may rewrite at least parts of it because it's a bit short/isn't a real scene from any of the games/movies, but...meh. We'll have to wait and see. :) It's basically a fight scene with descriptions and lines drawing on the song (like How Could This Happen To Me? did). The inpiring song's "Angels" by Within Temptation this time. (It's intense.)

Remeber: Reviews make Happy Kat! No reviews make "Oh" & Sad Kat. So review! :D