Chapter Nine: Practice

It seemed that Sephiroth did not go out in his
younger days. His clothes were consisted mainly
of shirts and boxers (the rest were uniforms).
Yuffie had a hard time finding appropriate
clothes to go to the grocery store. When she
thought she had dressed decently enough,
Sephiroth commanded lazily from his desk
for her to change again. Finally (at her 23rd
outfit), dressed in a black T-shirt and light
grey boxers, Yuffie had enough. "FOR
GOODNESS SAKE! IT'S JUST A SHOPPING
TRIP TO THE GROCERY STORE!" she roared.

Sephiroth arched an eyebrow in surprise and
asked, "And what are you supposed to wear
when you shop in the grocery store?" "THIS!"
Yuffie addressed her attire with a big wave,
"A normal T-shirt and plain shorts! Haven't
you been shopping before!" A short pause and
"No, I have not," he simply stated. With that,
he stood up in his white long sleeved collar
shirt and black pants and walked towards his
old wardrobe while Yuffie kept quiet, taking in
his revelation. Pulling out a brown coat, he
draped it on Yuffie's shoulders and said,
"Now we're ready to go."

"But you're overdressed!" Yuffie whined.
"And you're underdressed," he affirmed,
"It's going to be cold tonight." Silently,
Sephiroth made a note to buy more formal
wear for the girl while Yuffie decided he
needed more casual wear. She was going to
make him buy some with all means.

By the time they had finished preparing for
their trip, the building was generally empty
lest for a few guards and caretakers sweeping
up the corridors. Heads were bowed down
when Sephiroth passed by and his build had
hidden her quite well thus her secret was kept
safe. They proceeded to the front entrance where
a chauffeur was waiting for them patiently.
Sephiroth then directed him to head for the 24/7
grocery store. Throughout the ride, Yuffie was
silently looking out the windows.

Oblivious to her, Sephiroth was keeping watch
on her. She was taking in the environment that
Midgar was. It was in state of ruins; poverty was
obvious among its people. There were children
begging on streets while the elderly slept in rags
for covers. Yuffie felt her heart ache and sat back
from the view. She felt bad; her heart was aching
terribly from guilt. She never stole from the poor
(for they had nothing to steal) but she never gave
anything to them either. And here she was,
sitting in a posh black Jaguar while the world was
out there suffering from hunger and poverty. She
promised herself to be more lenient to the poor
and MAYBE share her loot if she had more than
enough.

Feeling slightly better from her guilt-ridden soul,
she dared to sneak a peek through the window
again, spotting a MATERIA shop. Her eyes lit up
immediately, her body stiffened with happiness.
Her hands gripped the side of the window tightly
as if to stop her from jumping out of the car to
grab those luminous orbs.

Sephiroth noticed the change in body language.
She was easy to read when you pick up the pace
of her body language. Her body tingled with
excitement whenever she saw MATERIA. She
was an emotional creature, it showed significantly
on her body. She wore her expressions so open
and free for the world to see. Somehow, Sephiroth
felt she was too exposed and raw; it made him
believe himself to be stronger and her, weak.
And in just that single moment, he felt the need
to protect her; to keep her safe from the world he
had slain and seen.

As they drove past, her eyes stared after the
shop longingly before it turned into a black spot
in the corner. The streetlamps were lit dimly; it
was almost impossible to make out the roads
and shops but finally they reached their
destination. They walked into it, finding it
generally empty except for a couple of ragged
old men looking for alcohol.

Grabbing a trolley, Yuffie started to make her
move to the candy section and surveyed the
variety the store held. She waited for Sephiroth
to stroll ever slowly and painfully to her side
as he studied his alien surroundings. He was
new to this; grocery shopping was always taken
care of by his subordinates. Everything in the
store was categorized neatly along rows of
shelves.

Noticing the girl eyeing painfully at the highest
shelf, he stood behind her and reached for the
chocolates she was yearning for. He took the whole
box and presented it to Yuffie who stared wide-eyed
at him as though he was strange. Quickly, she
snatched the box from him and put it into the trolley.

Yuffie had hoped for just a bar of dark chocolate
when he presented her with the whole box, she
could not resist holding back. She made a quick
grab of the box greedily, hoping he would not
change his mind about the purchase. It was as
though he had given his silent permission to take
anything she wanted, thus she started putting in
items of desire, occasionally looking to Sephiroth
for permission. The General would sometimes
give a shrug, at times when he felt like it; give a
nod of the head.

Then Yuffie did the unexpected. She hopped into
the empty spot in the trolley, and grinned up at
Sephiroth. "Push me!" She exclaimed. Sephiroth
gripped the handle and pushed down the lane while
Yuffie happily instructed him to put in the items.

With a trolley half-full of junk food and candy bars
(the other half with Yuffie, seated knees in); they
reached the women's section. Yuffie blushed;
embarrassed for her companion however Sephiroth
gave no mind. He walked straight into the rows of
women products and waited for Yuffie to pick her
choice. Yuffie glanced quickly and spotted her usual
brand of tampons, pads and pantyliners. Quickly
leaning over to the side, she grabbed a couple of
each, hugging them tightly to her chest and
asked to make their purchase at the cashier's.

On the way to the cashier, Sephiroth asked, "How
do you use that?" and pointed to the stuff at her chest.
Yuffie sighed, resigned to her fate to explain the
inevitable to this particular alien. She dropped the
necessities into the heap in front of her and started
her explanation.

"This is a pad," she made a rectangular shape with her
fingers; "It's made to absorb blood when you menstruate."
She made a dramatic action pinching air as though the
imaginary pad was soft and squishy. "You stick it on your
panties," (Sephiroth scrunched his nose in distaste) "and
wear it. Finding amusement in Sephiroth's disgust, she
continued her lecture. "It feels as though you have a wedge
between your thighs and if you place it wrongly, you feel
that it would be very uncomfortable to walk with." She
demonstrated taking big steps with legs apart up and
down the lane.

"Tampons are worse! You stick them up your…" She
said happily before drifting away to silence, shying away
her face and mumbled, "…vagina." Sephiroth arched an
eyebrow at the sudden change of expressions, finding
her swift change of amusement to embarrassment weird.
She cleared her throat and continued, "But they're
awfully convenient, you won't really feel it obstructing
your movements thus it's always better to wear them
when you're on the move or battling."

"Is menstruation bad?" Sephiroth asked innocently.
Yuffie rolled her eyes and replied, "It's troublesome!
You get tummy cramps and pains; you're not allowed
to drink cold drinks and feel icky all over. At times like
these, you need a hot water-bag on your tummy, or a rub
on the back. Sometimes I just lie down and wait for the
pain to subside."

Then Sephiroth pulled her out of the trolley, hung her
on his shoulders and rubbed her back while the cashier
bowed his head shyly, furiously grabbing the items from
the trolley and packing them into paper bags. Yuffie laid
there, stunned and finally managed towhimper "Stop it…
I'm not menstruating now."

"I'm practising."
And they made their way to the car quietly.

Notes:
Are you still here with me? (I've been
waiting for reviews :( sadly, there haven't
been any.) I apologize for the late update,
it's been tiring these days. Is the story
getting too draggy for you guys? Hmm,
I hope not. AndHELLO to apakoha, The
Fiercesomest Dragon Ever and MizzLee. :)
Will be waiting for your suggestions!