R.D.D.G: Hello peoples. Here is chapter nine. I'm soooooooooo sorry that I took so long to write this chap. My mom basically raped my laptop and took my files off of it. I wasn't able to get them back for about a month…so yeah. And I was really busy with Supply too, we had to get all of our uniforms counted for our AMI (annual military inspection) with Commander Hayes, and that was chaotic. Now that's over with and I got promoted (yay!!). enjoy this chap. ^--^

Vincent sighed as he placed his pencil and composition notebook back into his bag. They had made it to the school, where other cars were parked out front, waiting for the bus to arrive and pick up the students. Leaning over the tops of the back seats, Vincent looked at Rude.

"Thanks for the ride, Rude." He said gratefully. Honestly it was too cold to walk.

Rude turned to face him and nodded. "it is no problem at all Vincent. We had nothing better to do, and it is too cold to walk all the way to school." Vincent nodded in agreement, as another song came on the radio.

"How can you see into my eyes

like open doors

leading you down into my core,

where I've become so numb…"

Reno grinned as he turned to face Vincent. "Hey Vinny, it's your theme song, yo!"

Vincent smirked as he shook his head towards the red-head up front. everyone in their little group, aside from Cid and Rufus, had their own theme song. "Dance With the Devil" was Cloud's; "Smack That" was Reno's; "Lucifer's Angel" was Sephiroth's; "Killing With Kindness" was Reeve's; and "Temptation" was Rude's (1). "yup, it sure is Reno."

"well go ahead and sing it, yo!" Reno urged. "you're the only one in this little group who can pull off singing Evanescence songs."

Vincent nodded, since he had nothing else to do and he really did like this song. Completely forgetting that Rufus was there, Vincent began to sing along, "Without a soul…my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold. Until you find it there and lead it back…home…" Vincent sang, his beautifully,haunting voice nearly matching a male version of Amy Lee (A/N She Rocks!!!)

"Wake me up!…"

"Wake me up inside…"

"I can't wake up!"

"Wake me up inside…"

"Save me!

"Call my name and save me from the dark…"

"Wake me up!"

"Bid my blood to rise…"

"I can't wake up…"

"Before I come undone…"

"Save me!"

"Save me from the nothing I've become!"

Rufus stared at Vincent. He had a beautiful singing voice. One that he had never heard on a male before. but there was something about the younger's tone as he sang. His voice held much sorrow…much agony…why? This question plagued the young Shinra's mind as he stared at the gothic teen near him. his eyes, that were as crimson as life giving blood, were closed. Concealing those beautiful, yet fierce, orbs from the blonde. He turned his gaze towards the others, wondering if they too noticed the sorrow in their friend's voice.

They were sitting there listening to Vincent sing, and they all had a knowing look in their eyes…well they all would, if Rufus could have seen behind Rude's shades. It's like they knew all along about this unknown sorrow. This made Rufus' curiosity grow even more. He wanted to know what was wrong with the black haired boy he began to like. But most of all, he wanted to help him.

"Now that I know what I'm without

you can't just leave me…

Breathe! Into me and make me

Real…

Bring me…

To life…"

"Wake me up!…"

"Wake me up inside…"

"I can't wake up!"

"Wake me up inside…"

"Save me!"

"Call my name and save me from the dark…"

"Wake me up!"

"Bid my blood to rise…"

"I can't wake up…"

"Before I come undone…"

"Save me!"

"Save me from the nothing I've become!

….ohhhh…to life…"

"I've been living a lie!

There's nothing inside!"

"Bring me to life…

Frozen inside without your

Touch without your love

Darling

Only you are the life

Among the dead!"

"(finish up lyrics)"

the song began to die down as the last notes of music swam through the car. Vincent's voice, too, becoming quieter and quieter with the song's end. After the song was over, Vincent looked at the others. "next time…you guys sing." He said as he leaned against the back of the seat in front of him. Rude and Reno nodded in agreement.

In the corner of his eye, Vincent noticed Rufus staring at him…almost as if he was studying him. why the hell was he staring at him. Vincent turned to look at Rufus with a questioning look. What was so interesting about him? Rufus seemed to realize that he was staring and quickly looked away. Vincent quickly made a mental note to ask the older teen about it when they got back to the house.

"so who's going to BLT?" Rude asked, at random. "I know for a fact Reno's going. How about you two?"

Rufus nodded. "yeah, I'm hoping to make DI (drill instructor) this year."

Rude nodded in understanding. He was in the unit last year, before he quit so he could continue the HST. He turned his gaze (at least they thought he did) towards Vincent through the rear view mirror. "what about you Vincent? Are you going?"

Vincent shrugged. "I don't think Grimore will let me…" he answered.

Rufus smiled. "maybe I can talk him into it." he said. "BLT is not something you want to miss out on. particularly if you're starting out."

Vincent gave him confused stare, before Reno turned to look at the young Shinra. "don't you forget the rules, Shinra." He snarled.

"I wasn't planning on it." Rufus snarled back. slightly taken aback by the freshman's statement. Why would they think that he would break the rules? Though granted, he was still curious about them…but he wasn't going to ask questions now. Not until they trusted him enough. "I was just going to mention it like I had just heard about it in school. I wasn't going to mention you guys."

"good." Reno grunted, before turning towards the front again. Obviously content with the answer that Rufus gave him. Vincent and Rude chuckled slightly at their friend's behavior.

"apparently Rude, Reno didn't have as much fun as usual over at your place." Vincent stated a smirk making its way on his pale face. Rude shrugged.

"seems like it." he agreed making Reno glare at both him and Vincent.

"oh go fuck yourselves, yo."

"how is that even possible?" Vincent questioned the red-head. Humor written in his voice. "honestly Reno, is that the only comeback you can come up with?"

Rufus chuckled at how red Reno's face became. It almost matched his hair.

"no." Reno said quietly crossing his arms over his chest like a young child, who didn't get what they want. The other three chuckled before they noticed head lights behind them. the SOA bus was there.

"I've got to go." Vincent said as he grabbed his bag and walked out of the back of the car.

"Later Vinny!" Reno said his usual demeanor back in place.

Vincent placed his bag over his shoulder and walked over to the bus where he saw Cid waiting for him. giving his trademark grin as the young Goth walked towards him.

"Mornin' there Vince." Cid greeted, as both he and Vincent boarded the waiting school bus. Noticing that the other cars have already left.

"morning Cid." Vincent answered as they made their way to the back of the bus, where they usually sat. Vincent sitting in the very last seat that could fit one person while Cid sat in the seat across from him. or occasionally in front of him, depending on the blonde's mood that day. "did you do your actor's journals?" he asked offhandedly as they took their seats. Bearing in mind to ignore the noise that the other student's made. Their school was always the first one to be picked up followed by Edge. The other schools were picked up by their own darn busses.

Cid nodded. "yeah, did mine last night…you?"

Vincent made a so-so motion with his hand. "I couldn't do it during the weekend and I did a little of it this morning." He said shrugging. he was tired and he desperately wanted to back to bed. Apparently whatever Grimore had given to him at the labs on Friday were still a bit potent right now. Just what in the name of the Gods and Goddesses was that stuff?

Cid noticed his friend's discomfort and cocked his head towards him. "ya al'right there bud?" he asked. Vincent could only nod before he leaned against the window of the bus and fell asleep. Head proped up between the side of the bus and the back of his own seat.

Cid noticed Vincent fall asleep and decided to listen to his CD player. Poor boy must have been tired from that weekend. Cid had heard from Cloud and Reno, after the two left, that they were going over to the Shinra company during the weekends to train with their fathers. Apparently, considering how tired his new friend was, the training was tough. Shrugging his shoulders he turned up his music a bit and leaned against the window of his own seat and watched the sunrise out of the window as they drove towards Kalm.

Vincent was walking through a small cave. He was unsure of how he got there but that didn't really help matters much. He was there regardless of how. It was a pretty big cave, that had a small lake inside of it and large gems all around the lake's banks. It was acutally quite a stunning sight to behold. Vincent walked over to the edge of the bank and sat down, for some reason he felf at peace, he felt safe. He had not felt this way for many, many years.

"what is this place?" Vincent wondered aloud. Not really expecting anyone to hear him, much less for anyone to answer him.

"this is our little home." A deep voice said from behind Vincent.

The young goth quickly turned around to see who was talking to him but found no one there.

"who's there?!" Vincent asked as he stood up, he was beginning to get a little freaked out. though he was trying his best to hide it. "show your self!"

the voice laughed. "it's good to finally talk with you in person, Vincent."

Vincent stood there dumbfounded. This voice knew who he was? How was that possible? Was he finally going crazy? These thoughts flooded through his mind as Vincent stared at the space of rocks where the voice had sounded from.

"who are you?" he shouted towards the darkened cave.

"you shall see in do time, Vincent." The voice said before it faded away. leaving the young goth standing there near the banks of the lake. Extremely shaken by the unknown presince.

"Vincent!" Vincent stirred as he felt his shoulder being shaken by a gruff, calloused hand. Slowly willing his eyes to open, he saw Cid standing beside and and in his peripheral vision he could slightly see the other kids standing up and preparing to leave. Apparently they were at the school.

Understanding that he now had to get up, Vincent sat up making the blonde move back to his seat, and picked up his bag. He was still troubled by the dream he had just had but he placed his normal, emotionless façade up and waited for the busdriver to let them off the bus.

They were let off the bus after another five or so minutes, and as the two boys walked off, they were greeted by a voice that Vincent didn't particularly want to hear.

"Vinny!!" with that Yuffie ran over to the two and tried to wrap her arms around Vincent in a hug, which Vincent dodged with skilled ease. He had to deal with her advances all through middle school.

"…" was the only response from the gothic teen as they continued to walk away.

but Yuffie was persistant to win the young teen's heart and ran to catch up with him. "how was your weekend Vincent?" she asked, but continued before Vincent could answer. Not that he would have though. "did you do your drama homework? Aren't those actors journals a pain in the tuckus? I heard you had my dad for Chinese 1 I didn't know that, we could have hung out in the class together. Is a shame huh?"

"…" no it wasn't.

"sheesh cat got your tongue this morning, Vinny?" Cid threw Vincent a sympathetic look.

Noticing the look, Vincent shrugged off as they walked away from the annoying girl and towards entrance to SOA's side of Kalm High School. Oh how Vincent detested that girl annoying him. he probably wouldn't have minded her to much if she was less annoying, but for now…hell no.

They got into their class just before the bell rang to signal the beginning of class.

Cid and Vincent placed their Actors journals in their appropriate folders, Vincent having number 66, while Cid had number 64. the other members of their class were sitting in their usual seats which were placed in the usual semi-circle around the board. Placing their backpacks down near the folders and taking out what they needed, the two boys made their way over to their usual chairs and sat down.

The rest of the day passed by as it did every Red day. They learned about different styles of drama, in Theatre, and different ways to create trust between all the actors. Which resulted in games that required everyone to trust each other. Which then resulted in Vincent falling on the back first onto the floor when they were doing the pass along excersize. Yeah, Vincent wasn't so sure he was going to be trusting Yuffie or another girl in his class, Jessica, any time soon.

Needless to say, Cid was laughing all the way back to Midgar High. Which did nothing to aleeve Vincent of his headache; and the fact Yuffie wouldn't shut up about how sorry she was wasn't helping much either.

Seventh Period was okay, they had just spent the class period discussing the chain of command, and current events. Vincent could already tell that he wasn't going to get along with some of his fellow cadets. Fredricks, though while he usually sleeps in class, also has a bit of an attitude towards the rest of the class, except Collens. Vincent was beginning to think that the two were going out. everytime Vincent was called on to answer something, which he quietly did, he would see Fredricks glare at him. he didn't really have an particular idea as to why…but oh well…the kid had issues he needed to work out.

Algebra was a pain. unfortunately Vincent couldn't concentrate on the notes that Mr. Cerulean wrote on the dry-erase board, and the fact that he was scolded for not completeing his homework. It got to the point that he fell asleep in class, noting that Sephiroth did the same thing before hand. Oddly enough the dream didn't come back.

Then came History. Surprisingly Ms. Crimson took his excuse a whole lot better than Mr. Cerulean did. She just told him to get his homework completed earlier from now on, and continued with the lesson.

Vincent sighed as he kicked a stone he saw on the ground. That day had been a bummer. Though he had to admitt it was getting a bit easier now that he didn't have to worry about Grimore or Hojo having surprise visits to the school again. He was tired. He was thinking about calling in sick for work, but he didn't want the others to worry much about him. they were already worried enough as it was and they showed that concern during lunch. It seemed like they were dying to play 20 questions. Well all except Rufus anyway.

As much as he cared about his friends, he was grateful for the silence he got from Rufus. He could tell by the look in the older teen's eyes that he was curious, and a bit concerned by how lethargic he was that day; but he refrained from asking those questions. Vincent would have smirked a bit if it wasn't for the fact his headache was driving him nuts.

Lost within his own thoughts, Vincent didn't notice a jut in the sidewalk and tripped over it. barely noticing that Rufus caught him before he landed onto the concrete below them.

"are you okay?" the question stirred Vincent from his thoughts and noticed that Rufus was holding him steady. Did he trip or something?

Vincent nodded as he moved from the young Shinra's grip and continued to walk. This time making sure that he was aware of his surroundings. He didn't want another repeat any time soon.

Rufus watched the young Valentine continue to walk towards his house. Something was wrong with the boy, he had been acting like this almost the entire day. He may not have known Vincent for very long. But according to how worried his friends had been, he had easily come to the concluision that this was different than his usual behavior. He didn't look like he was feeling too good. "Vincent, do you want me to call in sick for you today to the boss?" Rufus asked. the boy really should not be up and about if he was not feeling well.

Vincent shook his head. "no. there is no need to. I feel fine." Major Lie reporting for duty. Why does he care? Vincent wondered to himself as he shifted the straps of his bag on his shoulders.

Rufus stopped and stared at the younger teen's back with a skeptical look in his eyes before he decided to ignore it and continued to follow Vincent. Just in case there were anymore cracks or rises in the sidwalks.

It didn't take long to get back to the house, and much to Vincent's distaste Grimore was already home. He was hoping that the older Valentine would be working late in the labs again. walking quickly, Vincent and Rufus walked towards the entrance towards Vincent's "cave" and descended the stairs.

Once they were inside the room, with the door locked, Vincent sat down at his desk and pulled out his homework for that night. Taking off his shoes, his combo and his jacket, Rufus placed them in his side of the closet before making his way to the bed. Setting his back pack next to him, Rufus sat on the bed with his back leaning against a nearby wall.

"so how was your day?" Vincent asked off-handedly as he opened his Algebra text book and began to work on the problems Mr. Cerulean assigned them.

Rufus shrugged. "it was fine." He said as he pulled out his trigonometry text book. They worked on homework for about an hour, before Vincent stood up catching Rufus by surprise for a moment.

"we've got to get ready for work." Vincent explained as he walk over to his side of the closet and grabbed his sweatshirt from one of the black hangers. Nodding, Rufus walked over to his half and grabbed a pair of levis and long sleeved, blue shirt, before he made his way to the bathroom to change.

After hearing the door lock, Vincent sat down on the bed as he placed his hoodie over his head. His mind thinking up theme songs for the group's new friends. That was usually his job, for some unknown reason.

"Cold" seems to match Rufus a bit. Vincent thought to himself as he tied the laces of his boots. He doesn't seem to want to act cold towards others at all. It's all a façade that his father made him put up…wait why the hell do I care? Vincent shook his head. 'kay, now for Cid…hmm…maybe "Hero" would be good…

"Vincent." Vincent looked up to see Rufus kneeling in front of him, and what's more he was holding the back of his hand to his forhead. When the hell did he put that there? "are you sure you want to go to work today? You're getting a bit of a temperature…" Vincent stood and moved the older teen's hand away.

"I said I'm fine, Rufus." Vincent said as he grabbed his wallet, his cell phone and his key. "I appreciate the concern, but there is no need for you to be worried about me." With that Vincent said no more as he walked over towards his door and waited for Rufus to put on his shoes.

R.D.D.G: Finally! At long last! Chapter nine is Finite!!! I'm sooooooo sorry that it took me so long to finish this…after having a month break from the story, I guess it took my mind longer to come up with new ideas. And school's not helping…yeah… and I didn't finish the lyrics for "Bring me to Life." I'll try to get the edited one up later.

Well I hoped you enjoyed it ^-^ please review I would love any input you guys have. See ya in chap. 10 ^-^