A/N: Woah, okay, this is probably one of the longer chapters I'll be writing. I just got really into it and didn't want to stop. Strange how time flies when you're writing. Anyway, this chapter finally gets some action in, and you know what that means…people actually talk! Sorry, it's just that I'm really pleased with how this chapter turned out. But enough of my babbling, please, read on.

Disclaimer: Again, Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz, and everything else that was in the Final Fantasy VII game belongs to Square-Enix. Everything else, such as original characters, belongs to me.

It was another one of those "slow days" at Jiro's Book, a comfortable name that fit the worn building on the side of Sable Avenue, somewhere in the middle of the old Sector 2. All of the buildings on that street had some amount of damage to them. The Midgarians around the area hadn't spent too much time trying to rebuild that part of town. Most of the repair efforts in the city had been concentrated towards the "more important" parts of town, namely the business areas near Midgar's center. No one had given a second thought to the more rustic portions, leaving the old and mostly abandoned buildings to slowly waste away. What few people lived on the street sought shelter under makeshift roofs over their balconies; their homes too broken down to even harbor the thought of holding life again.

That was the reason why Tori wondered what on the planet had possessed Jiro and his wife to keep their store on that street. The people in the sector obviously had no need for books, but when questioned, Jiro would always defend his location by claiming that if there was at least one person who still had a flicker of intelligence that was in need of a good read that came to their store, then all the long hours of waiting would be worth.

And what long hours they are, thought Tori as she lay her head down on the counter. The musty smell of books combined with the warmth that had seeped in from the late summer day was beginning to make her feel sleepy. During the long hours when she had first begun to work at the store, she would usually pick out a book from one of the shelves and read. Not that Jiro minded this, though. To him, it was just a good way of advertisement. Tori didn't care as long as she had something to help pass the time.

Miya had gone out with Jiro's wife, Emiko, to do some shopping, and Tori had no idea where Jiro had run off to. Most likely in his room doing…whatever old people do when they've got some time to kill, she thought. Come to think of it, what do old people do when they had time to kill? Look at old pictures? Read some of the thousands of books or magazines they'd collected over the decades that they'd been alive? Check out young people of the opposite gender? The latter made her shudder and she chuckled, her forehead shaking against the cool top of the counter. Now that she thought about it, this wasn't too uncomfortable a position, really.

Folding up her arms on the counter surface, she laid down her head and drifted off into darkness. It wasn't like anyone would need her today from the looks of things.

Four miles away on a plain nearly covered completely with rocks and ashes, a young man sat smirking on a motor bike, leering down at the ruined city with two, cat-like green eyes. A portion of his silver, shoulder-length hair fell gently over his right eye, giving him a calm but lethal look. He was clad in a black, leather suit that was zipped down slightly to show a portion of smooth neck. There was no doubt that he would have been very handsome if the look on his face hadn't been so forbidding.

On either side of him, two more men who bore a striking resemblance to the young man were also perched on top of motor bikes. The man on his left had much shorter hair that was curled up slightly at the very end and looked considerably older and burlier. He also wore black leather, but his was zipped down much farther, revealing not only his neck, but a great deal of chest. His expression was smug, and he looked a great deal impatient.

The young man paid this man's restlessness no mind. He didn't have the time to worry over trivial matters, never mind that both of these men were his brothers. At the moment, they had to prepare for revenge.

The city cast a great silhouette against the mountain behind it, emphasizing every skyscraper that had once stood proudly over the landscape. The young man, named Kadaj to be exact, could only imagine what the city must have looked like before their eldest brother, the exalted one, had brought judgment upon the concrete jungle. Kadaj hadn't been awakened yet when that had happened. He had still been shut up in that accursed cell where he had been spawned. The only thing that he was proud of when he thought about that dismal beginning was that he had been cloned from the cells that had once existed with his powerful older brother.

And it wasn't just him that shared that fate. All three brothers had been the only successful clones out of many failed attempts to produce more of the promised one. Of course, he knew the name of his older brother, but to refer to such a proud figure as just "Sephiroth" seemed improper. Especially when that name had been given to him by humans, the most pitiful life forms on the planet, in his opinion. He was glad that so many could have been destroyed when their brother summoned Meteor. They didn't deserve dominion over the planet.

At this train of thought, Kadaj chuckled lowly to himself, drawing the attention of his shorter-haired brother, Loz.

"What are you laughing at," He said in a deep voice.

Kadaj's smile faded slightly. He really hated it when people had to ruin his fun with their stupidity.

"Nothing," He replied at first, not bothering to turn to Loz for a moment before he finally turned, the smirk returning to his lips. "I was just thinking that it's such a shame that we didn't stop for an opportunity to clean up a bit before we left the laboratory. You certainly look as though you could have used it."

Having said this, he turned back forward and laughed, a heartless laugh, just as a look of anger passed across his brother's face. After breaking free of their home laboratory once and rejoining with their master, the one who had invested in their creation, they had had to return in order to get the instruments that were fundamental in their plans. Just considering those plans would send Kadaj into a flurry of excited shivers if he wasn't careful. Best not to think about that now.

He turned around to his other brother, Yazoo, the one seated on a bike to his right, expecting to see the same glee that he had, resulting from his comment to Loz. What he found deadened his spirits a bit and almost made him scowl with annoyance.

His brother was staring straight forward, as if he hadn't heard the conversation at all. The same, indifferent look that always plastered his features hadn't changed the slightest bit. Kadaj didn't know why Yazoo couldn't even show a slight bit of amusement once in a while. That concept surely wouldn't kill him, but it was as though Yazoo thought of himself as being higher than common emotions, because every time Kadaj saw him, Yazoo had that same expressionless face that made it impossible to tell whose side he was on sometimes.

The thing that frustrated Kadaj the most was that although Yazoo was almost always void of any emotion, it didn't do a thing to dull his good looks, which even he had to admit Yazoo possessed. His older brother had long hair, which was silver just like Kadaj and Loz's, and although he had the same turquoise eyes that Kadaj had, they weren't as menacing, with normal pupils instead of thin, pointed ones. His face also had an overall, much more gentle appeal to it, making him look what people would probably think of as more "beautiful" than handsome. Like Loz and Kadaj, Yazoo was wearing black leather that was tight enough to show that his body was lither than that of his brothers, but instead of flaunting as much skin as his brothers. Yazoo kept his suit zipped up to the middle of his neck. It was as if he was always afraid that someone might see his pale skin as a disgrace. Kadaj couldn't think of any reason for his brother to think that. Yazoo could probably have anyone he wanted if he tried, and even then he wouldn't have had to try very hard. No doubt whatever girl he was trying to pick up would be too mesmerized by his face to think coherently, let alone reject him.

At long last, Kadaj finally did scowl and turned back to look forward.

"Well, never mind about that. We'll have plenty of time to clean up after we get back to our master," He said, putting his hands on the controls of his bike, indicating it was time to leave.

His brothers followed suit, Loz now with an even more smug and somewhat more disgruntled look and Yazoo with that never-changing, serene gaze.

Forcing all negative thoughts to the back of his mind, Kadaj tried to focus on the joyous occasion that would soon come to pass when they presented their master with their gifts, and with that, they began to approach the ruined city.

A sudden noise of something wooden cracking against the counter woke Tori with a mighty start and she quickly jumped to sit upright, finding herself face-to-face with a very unamused Jiro. Tori gulped. She knew Jiro didn't like it when he caught people slacking off. Heck, he sometimes reprimanded himself when he was being lazy during the times when he was required.

"Well, well, well. I see that somebody has finally decided to come back to their work," Jiro scolded, the tone not fitting in with his normally kind and benevolent tone of voice. Jiro wasn't at all a cruel man; it's just that if you happened to tick him off, you'd better get ready for a telling off.

Truth be told, Tori had to suppress a giggle at seeing Jiro so somber. Jiro looked like the stereotypical old man, the kind with a long beard and thick, white eyebrows that nearly covered his eyes. At first glance, it would seem impossible that he could be upset, but, of course, nobody had perfect patience, and Tori knew it would be unwise to laugh while Jiro was acting like this.

"I'm sorry, Jiro. It's just that we haven't had many customers today and I haven't gotten much sleep these past few days," Tori said, rubbing her eyes with one hand to prove her point.

"Hm," Jiro hummed disapprovingly, "And whose fault is that I wonder?"

Tori avoided his gaze at that, quickly looking down guiltily. The real reason why she hadn't been getting too much sleep was because Miya and herself had developed the worst habit of spying on their neighbors, especially now that a few shady-looking characters had been seen around, some of which didn't look too bad at all. Spying wasn't a hard task in Sector 2 really. Because most of the people didn't actually live too far into their houses and spent most of their time on their front porches, it made the task fairly easy. Still, Tori hated the thought that she may be turning into a creep. She made a mental note to stop as soon as possible. Or, at least until those dang hot young men stopped hanging around the alleyways at night. Whereas she was content just to watch them, Miya was a little more cautious. Just days before Miya had confided in Tori that she thought she had seen men that looked a lot like Turks on the streets. Tori had believed that after Meteor had hit, the Turks would dissipate, but if Miya's intuition was correct, then what would retired Turks possibly want with them? That there might be something illegal going on so near to their home scared Tori to death. Yes, really ought to stop spying, as it only made her more nervous every day.

"Just as I thought," Jiro said, startling Tori out of her revery. Odd, did he sound a little proud of his success? Whether or not he knew about Miya and Tori's midnight vigils, Tori didn't know, but part of her wasn't desperate to find out, either.

Jiro looked around the store before saying, "Well, I suppose your right. Business hasn't exactly been chaotic today."

Has it ever been chaotic? Tori couldn't help but think, and she had to hold back another giggle.

Hearing the muffled laughter, Jiro looked back at her suspiciously before saying, "Well, I'll tell you what. I'll let you off this time if you do a real quick errand for me. At least the exercise may be able to keep you awake."

Tori sighed a little with relief. As long as the errand wasn't long or embarrassing, she was getting off pretty easily this time. Not that she'd ever done anything before to tick Jiro off, mind you.