XI

Kairi's POV

I woke up this morning not feeling too well. I had a headache and was coughing a lot. I could barely stand without falling over; I felt really lightheaded.

"Take some Tylenol." Namine said. She rinsed a wet rag for me and put it on my forehead. "This might help some."

"Thanks…" I got back underneath my covers. Namine left the room and went downstairs to do her chores. She was going to tell Sephiroth that I was sick; hopefully he'd understand.

o.o.o

Namine's POV

Sephiroth didn't seem to mind that Kairi couldn't do her work today, in fact he was caught up in a completely different issue.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAMISAMA!"

Sora pranced around the room singing the happy birthday song. Sephiroth's eye twitched.

"You little—"

"It-it-it's your… birthday?" A very in love Genesis asked as he kneeled down before him with bubbly eyes. "Why didn't you say so?"

Sephiroth mumbled something to himself and then said clearly, "Sora only knows because—because…" He couldn't seem to finish.

"Because that one time when you were with that one guy he said it was your birthday and then—"

Sora was smacked across the head. "We will not speak of that time, you hear?!"

"Yes sir…" Sora's eyes watered.

"Since it's already out there, yes, it's my birthday."

"How old are you?" Sora asked. He was ignored.

"Ohh! In celebration we should treat our master to a night out!" Marluxia said happily. "Where would you like to go?"

"Nowhere." Sephiroth said. "I don't do anything for my birthday."

"NONSENSE!" Sora jumped up and ran over to Marluxia. "What did you have in mind??" He asked eagerly.

Sometimes I wonder how Sephiroth doesn't even seem to scare Sora one bit…

"I know… let's go out to eat!" Marluxia proposed. "As a family!"

"No." Sephiroth turned around.

"Oh, come on! You're always telling us to be nice and bond with each other yet you don't want to be around us?" Sora said.

"I have my reasons."

"Come on, sir… let's go out for a change. We can all dress up and go out to dinner."

"Who's paying?" Sephiroth asked.

It was quiet.

Riku, whom I didn't know was there until now, spoke up. "We'll all pitch in."

After a long awaited response, Sephiroth finally accepted. "Get back to work." He left.

I was left to clean the hallways and the kitchen. Riku decided to hang around me for a bit just to keep me company. There were plenty of silent moments, making me feel really awkward.

"So um… what are you planning on doing in life?" I asked.

"I want to be a rock star." He said.

"I… see."

"I'll move out of here eventually… the only reason I've been staying lately was… well… because of Sora… and you."

"Me?" I looked up at him. Riku stepped towards me, staring directly into my eyes. I started to blink a lot out of nervousness. I couldn't go anywhere; I was backed up against the wall. "R-Riku…" He was nearly five inches from my face and then…

He moved away and sighed.

"I can see it in your eyes. You're in love with someone else."

"Ehh?"

He smiled. "That's alright. You weren't my type, anyway."

So straightforward of him…

Riku walked towards the kitchen door stretching his arms out. "Ahh… Sora's a trip, isn't he?"

I was still kind of focused on what just happened. "Uh… oh, yeah."

He left the room. I returned to scrubbing the floors. The door opened again.

Oh, it was just Genesis.

…wait, why was he crying?

He noticed I was in the room and quickly wiped his eyes, trying to cover it up. "What… what are you doing here?"

"I'm… doing my job. Is there something wrong?"

He didn't say anything; instead he just broke down and cried. I ran over to him and tried to comfort him. Strangely, he let me.

"He just doesn't understand…"

Oh dear… not this

"Sephiroth took me in when I was a boy… ever since then I've looked up to him and wanted to be just like him… I would do anything for that man… every day I make sure to polish his shoes, wash his clothes, bring him meals and how does he treat me? Like… like…"

"Maybe… you just come across in the wrong way…" I said.

"Huh?"

"You pretty much just throw yourself at him… from what I can tell, Sephiroth doesn't seem to like affection, despite being a psychiatrist or whatever." I paused. "Is he really a psychiatrist?"

"Of course he is!" Genesis sobbed some more.

I couldn't believe I was listening to a grown man's problems in the middle of the kitchen floor.

"I want him to at least show me the least bit of care…"

"Doesn't he do that already?"

"Huh?"

"He's letting you live here. He gave you a nice place to live along with clothes and food. I think that's his way of showing you he cares… because if he didn't you wouldn't be here, right?" I wasn't sure what I was saying.

"I… I guess so…"

"So even though it's not the way you think affection is, that's just Sephiroth's own way of—"

"Don't call him that!"

"But… you did."

Genesis blinked a few times and then stood up. "This conversation never happened."

o.o.o

I went upstairs around noon to check on Kairi. She had given me her key, so I could just walk in. She was sleeping soundly in her bed when I got there, so I just left her alone.

"I've got a lovely bunch of…" Sora was walking down the hall when he spotted me. "Oh, hey!"

"Hello…"

"What's going on?" Roxas appeared. "Is Kairi alright?"

"She's sick." I told him, blushing. Roxas was wearing a red, unbuttoned shirt and his hair was wet. I looked away.

"Kairi's sick?!" Sora repeated. "Aww…"

Surprisingly he didn't try to bother her.

o.o.o

Sephiroth's POV

Ahh, finally some quiet time.

The children went crazy when they learned it was my day of birth. I've kept it a secret for the past ten years or so; it was going to have to come up eventually, I suppose. That little brat just didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. Anyway, I had other things to take care of today. Zack had finally returned and was waiting for me outside.

"Sir, the Mayor is waiting for you." Zack bowed and opened the door for me.

I'm glad Tidus found this guy. Zack has been an undercover investigator for some time now overseas. I heard about him through the underground society. However, he's not known to many people here and Japan and can change his appearance however he wants to.

We arrived into town. Huge gates opened as we drove in; the officer standing there checked us first and made sure we had nothing life-threatening. We got out of the car and were escorted inside, up the stairs and to a very extravagant hallway. We came up to a door.

"Mr. Mayor, he's here."

o.o.o

Genesis's POV

"What are you doing?" Marluxia asked. I jumped at the gay man's presence.

"None of your beeswax!" I tried to hide the picture I was drawing.

"Is that a present for the master? Let me see!" Marluxia grabbed it from me. "Ohh!"

"Hey! You bastard! Give that back!"

"I think you need to make his hair a little darker… you went a little too light on the gray. Plus, I'm loving the field of flowers! So colorful!"

"Those aren't flowers…"

"Hmm?" He looked at it closer. "Than what are they?"

"They're children, okay?!" I snatched it back. So I couldn't draw… so what?

Marluxia sighed and just sat there for a moment looking a bit disappointed. He stared at me, making me feel extremely uncomfortable.

"What?" I said finally.

"You really need to work out more, sweetie. Afraid you're getting fat. You might have to start throwing up again."

"WHAT?!" I lifted my shirt and looked at my gut, pinching the fat and wiggling it around. "OH MY GOD!"

"Yup!" Marluxia stood up. "No cake for you tonight; I'll be sure to let the master know. Bye bye!"

I need to hire a hit man.

o.o.o

Sephiroth's POV

Cloud sat lazily with his feet up on the desk. He was obviously not happy to see me; but why should he be? I expected nothing less from my worst adversary.

"Well?"

"So I guess you've heard… I told everyone what you did. The whole town will soon know who you really are, Mr. Psychiatrist." Cloud said.

"Same to you." I said.

Cloud shot up, enraged. "You bastard!" He stomped over to me and grabbed my collar. "You… you took her from me! She was all I had!"

"Sounds like a personal problem."

"ARGH!" He pushed me back against the wall. I remained calm. This little pipsqueak couldn't hurt me. "This isn't over… I will kill you!"

"Is that a threat?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You'd better bet it is..."

"You're one dirty mayor."

Okay, so that came out wrong, but oh well.

"For eleven years…" Cloud drifted off.

"How are your daughters doing?" I asked, knowing it would piss him off more.

"My…" he looked up at me, astonished. "What did you do to them?!"

"Why would you care if I had any business with them or not? Didn't you abandon them after Aerith died?"

He couldn't answer me.

Cloud was a really unstable man. I wasn't worried one bit.

"If you do anything to them…"

"Just thought I'd let you know, they're currently living with me. They hate you."

I could rip this guy to pieces if I wanted to. I think I'll let him suffer for a little while longer. I was at least going to wait until everyone moved out of the house and was off to a good start before finishing him off. Unlike him, my children came first.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?!"

"Oh? Do I sense some jealousy? You should really watch your temper. At this rate, you could lose your money, your credentials… imagine if the entire town knew the truth."

Cloud charged at me, but Zack got in between us just in time, holding him back.

"It's not worth it, man!"

"Hold your tongue, Sephiroth…" Cloud glared at me. "I will send a warrant for your arrest."

"With what evidence?" I scoffed.

He had nothing to say. Just then, my phone rang. It was from the house. I sighed and answered it.

"Yes?"

"Sir!" It was Axel. "Sora set the kitchen on fire, Zexion and Squall are fighting, Squall broke his foot again, Kairi's on her death bed, Roxas drowned in the pool and Reno locked me in my room!"

I hung up on him. "Sorry about that. Looks like I need to be a father, unlike you."

"THIS ISN'T OVER!"

o.o.o

Axel's POV

I tried busting my door open a million times but I just didn't have the strength.

…Maybe fire will work…

"KYAA!"

Just then, the door opened. I saw my precious little Roxas get hit with the flame right in front of my very eyes.

"ROXXEL!" I rushed to his side, holding him in my arms. "Are you okay, baby?!"

"Don't…" he coughed, "call me baby…" He had 3rd degree burns on his arm.

"CALL AN AMBULANCE! Don't worry my love, I will save you!" I picked him up against his will and rushed down the stairs. All of a sudden, I tripped and Roxas flew out of my arms and we tumbled down the stairs together. I landed on top of him—our lips touching.

Sephiroth busted open the door. "IS THE KITCHEN ON FIRE?!" He looked down and noticed us there. His eyes widened.

"It's NOT what it looks like! OUCH!" Roxas pushed me off of him with his good arm and screamed.

Sephiroth blinked a few times. "I saw nothing!" He hurried off.

Roxas lay there crying and yelling out every curse word he would think of. Above us, Genesis was walking around and noticed what I tripped on.

"SORA, what did I TELL you about taking Sephiroth's Power Rangers out of his room and leaving in the middle of the floor?!"

"You tripped over the blue ranger?! How dare you!" Was heard in the distance.

I suddenly had the urge to kill that little boy, but there were more important matters at hand. The love of my life was screaming at the top of his lungs in pain. I had to get him to the hospital no matter what it took!

"What happened?" Genesis came down the stairs.

"HE TOOK MY KISSING VIRGINITY!"

"Shut up, you liked it!" I yelled, carrying him once again out the door.

o.o.o

Marluxia's POV

So with Roxas and Kairi in the hospital for different reasons, we still decided to celebrate the master's birthday. We all decided to go to Olive Garden, my favorite place in the whole wide world!

We got a huge table. Sephiroth made sure we minded our manners as we got situated.

"Sora, get your feet off the table, Seifer take your hat off, Zexion, don't read while you're eating—"

"My food hasn't come yet." He said as he peeked over his book.

"Don't get smart with me!" Sephiroth looked beside him and saw Genesis' hand on the table. He picked up a fork and stabbed it as hard as he could, making Genesis squeal like a little girl. "You all need to learn better table manners!"

A waitress came over to us. Sora immediately stood up and said, "Today's Master Sephiroth's birthday!"

"SORA!" Sephiroth yelled.

"Would you… like us to sing to him?"

"YES!" Sora exclaimed.

Sephiroth's eye twitched. The waitress took our orders and left.

"Axel, are you alright?" I asked.

"My little Roxxel is hurt… I wanted to be there with him."

"So go. No one's stopping you." Sephiroth said.

"Really?!" His face lit up.

"No one's going to pick you up." Seifer said.

Sephiroth picked up a knife and chucked it at him, missing by an inch.

"OKAY, OKAY! I'll pick you up! Just call me!"

"Sephiroth is so violent!" Sora said happily.

"ANYWAY," I started, "Sir, Genesis has gained some weight. I'm afraid for his health. We should reduce his rations."

"Is that so?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. Genesis got up and ran off crying. We could hear vomiting in the background.

"I'll go hold his hair for him." As I got up to run for him, I heard Sephiroth loudly clearing his throat, telling me to stay. "Or… I'll just sit back down…"

So our food came and we all ate quietly; it wasn't really as fun as I had imagined it. So Sora and I went towards the back to get all the presents we had stashed there earlier that all of us got for Sephiroth. We carried them back.

"Present time!" I said happily.

"Aww, you guys shouldn't have." Sephiroth said sarcastically. "No, really, you shouldn't have."

I ignored him. "The first present is from Terra." I handed him the medium sized rectangular box. He opened it, seeing it was a butcher knife.

"So you took a knife from the kitchen and put it in a box?" Sephiroth said to him. "How thoughtful. Either way, it's useful." He gave us all the death glare.

"You're welcome."

"The next one is from…" Sora pulled a small pink bag out of a bigger bag. "Hmm, there's no name… oh well. Here!"

Sephiroth opened the bag and pulled out a pink bunny with a red bow around its neck. He says nothing.

"Who the hell got him a stuffed rabbit?" Seifer asked, disgusted. Zexion's eyes darted around the room as he covered his face with the book and blushed.

"It's name is Kumagoro…" he mumbled.

"Okay…"

Axel got him a lighter, I gave him a calligraphy set, Namine knitted a scarf for him, Riku gave him some cologne noting that it was for his next date with Tifa, and Tidus brought him some band aids from Bologna.

"My present is really awesome." Sora said, holding something behind his back. "Actually, I have two presents. Here's the first one." Sora handed him a stick. "I found this in the backyard this morning. I hope you like it."

"This is the best present ever." Sephiroth said dryly.

"REALLY?" Sora jumped up and down like a child, then proceeded to give him a big hug.

"MY BUBBLE! GET OUT OF MY BUBBLE!" Sephiroth yelled.

"That was my second present. I love you, daddy!"

"Awww!" I said. "How sweet! How can you turn that down, sir?"

Genesis finally came back. "I just lost three pounds!" He said proudly as he sat down.

"You're still fat." Seifer said.

"Genesis, don't you want to give Sephiroth his present?" I asked.

"It's… not finished."

"Good, I finished it for you!" I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to Sephiroth. Genesis' eyes shot wide.

"What's this?" Sephiroth looked at the picture and sighed. "Genesis, let me tell you something right now…"

"Y-Yes?"

"Stop pursuing me. You need to find a woman around your own age that will love you and cherish you the way you should be loved and cherished."

Genesis merely cried.

"There, there… you'll find her… or him… someday." I patted his back.

"Seifer, how about your present?" Axel asked.

"I didn't get him anything."

"Thank you." Sephiroth said quickly. "You're smart."

"I didn't either. Sorry, sir." Reno bowed. Sephiroth noticed the alcohol bottle in his hand.

"Reno, you have a drinking problem."

"I do not!"

"The sooner you accept it the sooner we can fix it."

"Yes sir…"

So after we were done with all the presents, we waited for our to-go boxes in silence. Sora suddenly felt like he had to be the center of attention once more.

"Hey, guess what, guys!"

"What?" Namine answered.

Sora paused for a moment. "You all just lost the game."

o.o.o

Zexion decided to drive us all back. I was sitting in the passenger's seat next to him.

"Zexy, dear… you should really slow down…"

"Who is this creep? He's right on my ass!" Zexion yelled. I didn't know he had road rage. It's kind of sexy. Zexion sped up. "If you want to pass me then do it already!"

Blue lights suddenly shined on top the car behind us. "SHIT!" Zexion yelled as he slammed on the brakes and pulled over.

"Zexion!" Sephiroth yelled from the back of the limo.

The officer walked up to the front of the limo and knocked on the window. Zexion rolled it down. "Is there… a problem?"

"Sir, do you know how fast you were going?"

"About eighty five. Why?"

"License and registration, please."

We gave it to him and he walked back to the car. Once he was out of earshot I said, "Zexy, would you flirt with a cop to get out of a ticket?"

"Hell no. Why?"

"Because I'm pretty sure that cop is gay."

"Why don't you hit on him?!"

"You're the one that was pulled over, hun." I smiled.

After a few very uncomfortable moments for Zexion, the cop comes back. "So this is your first offense so—"

Zexion tilted his head and batted his eyes flirtatiously at the officer. "Could you please let me off, Mr. Officer? I promise it will never happen again…"

"Zexion, what are you—" Sephiroth yelled from the back.

The officer smiled at him. "Oh hell, you're cute… I'll let you off… if…" he trailed off. "Wait a minute!"

Zexion acted quickly. He clutched his chest with both hands and spoke in the most dramatic feminine voice he could, "Ohh… I've never gotten a ticket before… I don't want to go to court… I don't have the money… I'm soo scared…"

I tried my hardest to hold back from laughter.

"What do you mean you don't have the money?" The officer checked out the limo we were in.

"Please, Mr. Officer… I'll do…" he paused, "anything…"

The officer actually looked like he was going to sympathize with him for a moment, but said, "Uhh… no."

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Zexion reached for his book and the officer disappeared in a flash.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST DID THAT!" I screamed in the passenger's seat, moving as closely to the door and away from him as I could.

"Zexion, is everything alright up there?" Sephiroth asked.

"Everything's fine!" Zexion raced off.

That was the scariest shit I've ever seen…

o.o.o

A/N: If anyone finds the Gravitation reference I'll give them a cookie. Review! (The 200th reviewer will get something awesome)