Hi guys! Dude, I didn't realize how long it had been since I had updated. Long! Yes, I apologize for the delay. Thank you so so much for the reviews. 89 for six chapters is like… the academy awards for me. They make me happy:D

I apologize before hand…this chapter isn't going to be very funny. I'm aiming for a more angry chapter. Rar…

Before I begin, I'd like to start with a short and yet meaningful rant:

In one of my earlier chapters (I believe it was the last one) I made a comment about how I hate the clorith pairing. Okay, so I admit, hate is a strong word. And I really can't say that I completely hate it, and since the time that I actually wrote that chapter, I have become more accustomed to the pairing. Its game cannon, and I really don't feel like fighting that. BUT-

I got a nasty review. Something along the lines of, 'you hate Aeris/Cloud, then I hate you!'. NOW LOOK YOU. I can see clearly that you like that pairing, and you are entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine. But I take insult (rightfully) to being hated for one of the most retarded reasons I have heard. I don't mind flames, so-and-so, but if you're going to throw me some "constructive criticism", have courage enough to sign in. HAVE A GOOD FREAKING DAY. :3

Tetsuya Namora was walking down the street when all of a sudden he was shoved into a dark street corner. No one ever saw him again.

Chapter 7 – Dancing with Disaster

(Apology for cheesy chapter title)

Several days had passed since Riku and Sora's first. Every day they were getting comfortable with the school, but like minigames in Zelda, the days were just a chain of events until the very last final boss. It had seemed that each passing morning, Sephiroth woke up with an attitude worst than the last and Cloud for one reason or another was getting even more anxious. This was kind of bizarre, because neither of them had done anything to upset each other since the shower incident. That morning in particular had been bad. As soon as Cloud's demon alarm clock went off, Sephiroth shot out of bed, about to pull his hair out as a sensitive nerve was struck. Grabbing the "goddamn abomination" (as Sephy liked to call it), he smashed it over his knee, which probably made more noise than the poor clock ever did.

Riku had awoken just in time to spot Sephiroth stalking out, slamming the door so hard it could have broken the windows. Ruffling his white hair sensitively, Riku yawned, finding that once he was awake, he could never fall asleep again. Finding nothing better to do than to get ready for class, he lazily climbed out of bed trying to shake that jelly-like feeling one gets first thing in the morning. Riku supposed the reason for Sephiroth's apparent unhappiness, started a few days earlier.

(Roll the flashback)

The phone had ringed in the middle of Mrs. Jenova's lecture. With a threatening glare, she silenced the entire class while she walked across the length of the class, making cloud clanks with her black heels. She picked the phone from the receiver, entwining the cord around her finger several times as she listened to the voice on the other end. After several mumbled sentences and an occasional raised eyebrow, she balanced the phone on one hand and beckoned one of her students. "Sephiroth, your…father, would like to speak with you…"

"My father, are you sure…?" Sephiroth asked incredulously. Jenova simply shrugged, and Sephiroth left his seat, rather slowly, to pick up the phone. "Hey, Hojo. What do you want?" The class was dead silent. Sephiroth's father was an important man in the world of science, not exactly the most loving person in the world, probably one of the most cruel and ruthless to clarify. The reason that he would call Sephiroth in the middle of the school-day was the question that plagued everyone's minds.

"Yes, I heard," Sephiroth said, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Does it matter…?...why would I? Good for me, pfft, like you've ever given a flying flip what's good for me!" Sephiroth slammed the phone back into the receiver loudly, making several people flinch. Seething, Sephiroth plopped ungracefully back into his chair. Mrs. Jenova remained calm, and continued her lesson like nothing had ever happened.

(fin)

The day went smoothly, as smooth as it could anyway. Everyone was too anxious for the dance to begin. Cloud had a rude awakening, wondering fuzzily why his alarm clock lay in pieces in the floor. The day went pretty much on schedule. They headed off to sparing, where Sora won his first round against Tidus, who needed an icepack for his tender forehead. Riku practiced with Wakka, Barrett's star blitzer, seeing as they were approximately the same age and Wakka was always willing to throw his blitzball at something.

Cloud, being a SeED, was excused to for the day to help prepare for the dance. He had whined and moaned about it at first, then decided it was better than going to class. As for Sephiroth, he was having a good day judging from his apparent change in attitude from the early morning. He had been paired up with a punkish looking girl named Lulu. At first, he was reluctant to fight her at all, something about his 'manly pride' not letting him hit the fragile looking creature. That was until he was struck in the face with a Thundaga spell when her short fuse burned up. Then, of course, he had no regrets. "Don't look so shocked," she commented through blue-painted lips. Sora was quite surprised that later, Sephiroth was talking to her. He couldn't hear their conversation, and really had no idea what was going on. It went as follows:

Sephiroth scratched his head, looking up at the ceiling as he talked. It seemed like an awkward conversation. Lulu bunched her eyebrows together like she was confused. Sephiroth sighed, exaggerating his hand gestured like he was trying to explain something. He pointed in the direction that Riku and Wakka were sparring. Lulu glanced back there several times, smiling fondly a bit while Sephiroth kept on talking. After a moment of what looked like thinking on Lulu's part, she nodded her head curtly, shaking Sephiroth's hand. Sephiroth walked away smirking, with a look of accomplishment on his face that even Riku himself wouldn't have thought to question.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Jenova was an unrelenting teacher. Despite the groans of how it was the night of the dance, she refused to lighten the lesson plan. This left no time for spare conversations while Jenova watched her student squirm in their seats trying to solve rather difficult word problems. Perhaps this was the reason that suddenly after class, Sora was jerked back into the class room as the tidal wave of students crashed into the hall.

"Hey, Sora," Kairi asked. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

Riku who was a couple of rows down, was sliding the last of his binders into place, when he heard the two of them talking. The thought of the two conversing at all annoyed him enough, but he had a deep suspicion that this might be something worth listening in on. And of course, being the king of practical jokes, he was also the king of inconspicuous eavesdropping. Shady: yes. Was he ashamed? Hell no.

"Sure!" Sora said with that cheesy grin of his plastered on his face.

Riku smirked slightly, pulling his pencil box, filled conveniently with 45 different colored pencils out of his bag. He silently thanked his mother for the before-school shopping that she liked to do despite his protests. Then, checking to make sure neither Sora nor Kairi was looking, he opened the lid. The box dropped to the floor, creating a cloud slamming noise that echoed off the tile floor, with each and every one of those pencils making their own miniature effect as they spilled out. Kairi looked over, her eyes narrowed acidly. Riku shrugged innocently as if to say 'Clumsy me!'. He knelt to the floor, to pick up every individual pencil very slowly.

"Anyway," Kairi recovered, then feigning shyness, asked, "I was wondering, well…maybe you'd like… to go to the dance with me…?"

Sora blinked (Riku growled), letting the information process in his mind. "Me? Sure!"

Kairi smiled brightly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Good. I hoped you'd say yes".

"But…I would feel kind of bad, leaving Riku behind," Sora admitted guiltily, glancing back at his friend who was pretending not to be listening (but was growling like a leprechaun without his lucky charms). Kairi frowned a bit, feeling a bit agitated that being asked out didn't quite squelch the friendship issue out of the picture for at least a couple of hours. Riku smiled a little, sadly though. Sora, the git, still thought of him. And he was sure if he told him to, Sora would drop the date in an instant. But couldn't bring himself to do it. What kind of friend ever did that? He shook his head. He'd just have to admit to himself, Kairi took the first win. But he intended to win, next time.

"He'll be okay," Kairi said, the frown slowly dissipating back into a cheery grin. "So, I guess I'll see you tonight?"

Sora nodded. "I guess you will".

By this time, Riku had long since finished his eavesdropping, and was trying to contain the unpleasant feeling that had crawled up his throat from his stomach. He stood up, swinging the bag over his shoulder and headed for the door.

"Riku…?"

Turning around, Riku smiled weakly. "Heh, its okay. I wasn't planning on going anyway. I'll be spending my time elsewhere. Most likely hijacking Sephiroth's Playstation for the night, if you catch my drift".

" I really don't want to go if you're not Riku. Its like, blasphemy or something," Sora laughed nervously, watching Riku's fragile smile slowly crumble.

"No, you should go," Riku insisted. "It will be…fun".

Sora frowned, sensing a bit of a lie deeper within, but shook it away. "If you say so…".

"Oh yeah, it'll be fun," Cloud said, removing the boa constrictor the school chose to call a tie. Throwing it aside to the already cluttered half of the dormitory he proceeded to rummage through every article of clothing that he owned. "Besides, not going is like social suicide".

Riku glanced up from his magazine, clicking his tongue once, then flipped the page of a not-so-interesting article.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Stop biting your tongue. Sora told me that you weren't going. Speaking of Sora, where is he?"

"Washing his hair," Riku replied half-heartedly, "so he can remove all the gel, than re-gel his hair when he is finished. It is an endless cycle if I do say so myself".

"Heh" Cloud flicked one of his own golden spikes that miraculously held itself without the use of hair products. "Go figure".

There came the noise of a door handle screeching open, and Sephiroth strode across the room with a smug look upon his face. Without even looking in their direction, he sat down in front of his trunk, pulling out random objects: various CDs, a couple of black T-shirts with names of rock bands splashed across them (not to mention a wristband type thing that featured a yellow bunny sticking a fork in an electrical socket). Satisfied, he found a black short sleeve dress shirt, quickly he stripped off his other shirt and replaced it. Cloud blinked, not sure that he'd ever seen Sephiroth that eager to change. He shrugged it off, occupying himself with his own clothing dilemma. By the Cloud had finished changing, Sephiroth had already taken himself hostage in the bathroom, doing God knows what. A couple of seconds later, there came a myriad of noises that erupted from within the tiny cubicle:

"Sepiroth! What the hell – get out!"

"Sora! Eeck. Your shower has just been cut short, if this inconveniences you at all, I really don't care."

They heard several scraping noises and a yell of protest on Sora's behalf, then a rather loud thunking noise that a heavy object, such a human body, would make hitting the floor. The washroom door was pushed open very quickly, and Sora was dropped very unceremoniously on his very nude rear end, on the other side of it. Sora gaped in wide eyed astonishment. He looked back at the door, then at Cloud and Riku. Then it hit him. "H-hey, my clo-." The door opened for less than a nanosecond, allowing Sora's clothing to come tumbling out upon the cinnamon brown hair the was Sora's. He grumbled, removing his jacket from his head.

"Ever wonder what he does in there?" Sora asked, pulling on his cloths, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the water from his now flattened hair dripping down his back. Cloud nodded, staring at his reflection in the mirror, having trouble with one particular strand of hair that seemed to find a way to always fall right in front of his eyes.

"Every day of my life," he replied. Sighing, he gave up on his escapade to make his hair stay in one place. Turning around, he immediately had to stifle his laughter. "Just one question Sora: are you planning on wearing that to the dance?"

Sora pouted, looking down at his usual outfit with a shrug. "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, no," Cloud snorted. "Only I have never seen s guy your age wear a jumper, let along a bright red pair". He began to chuckle uncontrollably. "But I give you points for originality. Ronald McDonald would be so jealous."

Riku turned a burst of laughter into a coughing fit behind his magazine. It was true. He sometimes wished that Sora would grow out of his favorite outfit so that he could have an excuse to make him wear something a little more mature. But maybe Sora just wouldn't be Sora without a red jumper and yellow sneakers several sizes to big.

Sephiroth reemerged from within the bathroom, looking somewhat cleaner and fresher, his hair seeming a bit shiner (if possible) than before. There was a presence about him…that made them all feel as if they were about to be struck by lightening. Sora stared up at Sephiroth from his place on the floor, something making him seem even more dark and J-rocker-ish that usual. Sephiroh raised an eyebrow. "See something you like or are you just lost in your train of thought?"

"Are you…wearing eye-liner…?" Sora asked, rubbing the skin right below his eye as if it would clarify the question. Sephiroth smiled, glancing up sideways.

"I suppose that all depends on what your definition of wearing," he stated coolly. "For example, are you wearing a red jumper?"

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but then decided it was against his better judgment. It was like messing with a force that he had no understanding of. Sephiroth was quite unpredictable it seemed, he had already been thrown out of the shower, he couldn't possibly comprehend what might be next on his to-do list.

Sephiroth chuckled, almost goodheartedly, which made Sora shiver for the mere strangeness in it. "And yes, I am wearing eye-liner".

"Why-"

He rolled his eyes, like it were as obvious as day. "Because only real men can wear eye-liner, no frickin' duh," he snapped, grabbing his jacket.

"No," Sora tried to explain. "I mean, what's the need for?". Obviously he came to the reasoning that a person who was pretty much socially rejected wouldn't find the need to pretty themselves up. Sephiroth didn't so much as spare a glance in his direction as he answered.

"Well obviously, because I have a date, if you don't mind," he said, heading for the door. Cloud lurched forward, snorting.

"You?" Cloud asked incredulously. He gave a weak half-mouthed smile that kind of said in its own: dude, this is a turning point in history. Remind me to take pictures and shake hands with your date.

Turning around, Sephiroth smirked and strategically brushed a stray piece of hair away from his eyes. "Yes" he said nonchalantly. "Where you expecting something else?"

Cloud glared sourly through narrowed eyes. Sephiroth knew he didn't even have to glare back. The look on his face, sly smirk and all was a magnificent replacement for the normal "Ha! Who wins now bi-otch!"

Sinking into a shallow defeat raised his nose into the air and replied. "Good for you…".

"Yeah," Sephiroth said, a little concerned that his natural ability to make his rival fall into a bottomless pit of rage and sorrow might be slipping. Cloud's reaction was less than satisfactory in his eyes. I mean, the least thing he could do was hurt himself in a fruitless attempt to look tough. But good for you ? That's one he'd never heard before. He glanced in Cloud's direction, pursing his lips sourly, then cocking his head to one side. "Whatever…" He turned around and opened the door. Once he had stepped about one halfway out the doorway, he turned back around to face them. "And by the way, Strife, that shirt is the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. It looks like a rainbow got sick and blew chucks on it" Then he finished his fateful journey through the doorway, shutting it behind him.

"Eeck," Cloud murmured, glaring at his own reflection.

"What is it?" Sora asked, hardly amused at all since he was still very kicked out of his shower. But he had to admit, the rainbow barf comment was really a stroke of creative brilliance on Sephiroth's part.

Cloud chuckled, pulling off the shirt. "Heh, he was right". He really hadn't even liked the thing in the first place. It was just something the Aerith squealed at and claimed would look totally hot at him and had quickly purged it from the store with the work of her magical credit card. But really, he hardly thought that even stoned hippies would have accepted him with thing this kind of apparel. Before Sephiroth had mentioned it he was about to submit to Aerith's will and wear the hideous shirt to the dance. But he got his senses smacked into him.

Sora pouted his infamous pout, and got up off the floor, rummaging in his drawers. "You know what? I'm going to…change into some normal pants…"

Sora looked about the room, surprised that in just a few hours, the main hallway could be transformed into a place that was not for learning, but simple for the love of doing something else with their lives. With a little lighting and some brightly colored streamers hanging off the water-spewing gargoyle, it was a bit of an improvement in his opinion.

He had discovered once he had changed into somewhat normal pants, since they were still some weird sort of parachute pants, that he looked almost older and taller. This was good, he figured, because he hardly looked like a thirteen year old, let alone a fourteen year old. Kairi was there as well, wearing this white and violet tank top type thing and a whitish skirt with pink frills. Although it looked casual enough, it was her secret that she had spent several hours trying to get that look down to an art. But hey, she would think. Perfection didn't come without sacrifice. And of course, it was in her opinion that while no one was perfect, she was as close as it got. And of course her posse seemed to think along those lines as well.

If there never was a judgment day when you died, you would certainly come pretty close by stepping into that room. It was like a cat-walk. All eyes were on you. If something went wrong, it would go around the school and within the hour, people who didn't even know who you were would be talking about it. But the entire school knew that Kairi was not the kind to screw this up. It was always her and the rest of her clique that always received the best compliments even by people who stood insignificant against her spotlight, even people who thought she was a snob. They topped the hierarchy of the school, and although there were battles, bloody name-calling and hair-pulling battles, they could never be stripped of their powers. At least not net yet.

Sora had found himself rushed into a crowd of people. After all, he did enter the room with Kairi, self proclaimed princess of Saint Barrett's. No matter how many years that would pass, he would still be considered one of them, because of that one moment in time. Sora had smiled at their comments, nodded on occasion and gave out his opinion like it apparently mattered to them now. While he was glad he was accepted, something else bothered him. It felt kind of strange hanging out with the type of people that might have once snickered at him every time he and Riku would TP the Multipurpose room, or dung-bombed the chem. Lab. Back then he wouldn't have minded being them, sometimes he thought that if Riku had given up his life as the world's greatest trouble maker, they might gain some respect. But somehow…Sora tried to get rid of that feeling in his stomach that he made a horrible mistake…he didn't know how, but somehow…he did. As he laughed with them, it felt like he really wasn't laughing.

As he heard the cloud ruckus dull a little, Sora turned around to see that Cloud and Aerith had made their arrival. Cloud had that whole 'I'm too cool for this, but I am gracing you with my presence' look down, but there still seemed to be what might have been a trace of embarrassment. Aerith giggled a little, adjusting her pink dress and clinging to Cloud's arm like a small child might hold their favorite new teddy bear. Sora had had snorted into a cup of punch (receiving quite a lot of strange looks), genuinely tickled by the fact that Cloud's devil shirt had been resurrected. It seemed that Aerith has unearthed it, and Cloud was struggling inwardly on whether or not he should have refused. But Sora figured since it was Cloud wearing it, in the next few weeks there would be a dozen or so more rainbow-puke colored shirts present throughout the school. Simply because Cloud was a great guy, and Aerith Gainsborough thought it hot.

Cloud noticed Sora's gaze, and his eyes got big and he jerked his head in Aerith's direction several times as if to explain. Sora only snickered, then covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.

"Hi Kairi, Sora," Aerith greeted them warmly. "Look who I managed to drag up…?" The rest of them laughed politely, even Sora, thought he thought it was a line that his own mother might have used in her day. Even Cloud rolled his eyes, not to be funny, but because simply it wasn't the best line they'd heard. "You're looking nice."

"Thanks, you too?" Sora replied, wondering if his choice of words was adequate.

Aerith giggled into Cloud's sleeve. "You think so…? Is that right Cloudy-kun?"

"Huh…right…," Cloud replied, breaking out of a different trail of thoughts that had nothing to do with how good his girlfriend looked. His mind had been wandering on to other subjects.

"A little distracted?" Tidus asked, his own arm dominated by the yellow clad Selphie thing, or so Sora liked to call it.

Cloud blinked, grinning and snapping his fingers. "Yeah," he said. "I'm a bit puzzled, and it's bugging the hell out of me that I can't find the answer anywhere".

"Let me guess. You are still trying to figure out who Sephiroth got to go with?" Sora asked, as his guess was as good as anyone else's.

"YES!" Cloud said exasperatedly, flailing his arms about. 'Exactly!"

Kairi chewed her lip, and tapped her chin with her index finger repetitively. She seemed stumped and her inside connections seemed to be getting her nowhere. If a computer had a face when it couldn't process information properly, it might have resembled her expression. "Well, gosh, I don't know. I haven't heard of anyone who liked him in particular. I mean, I don't blame them, cause he's one mean little goblin who doesn't like billygoats crossing over his bridge."

Sora raised an eyebrow at Kairi's choice of expressions. It was random, but it did make sense. Sephiroth was protecting something he never wanted anyone to see, and thus became the monster that no one wanted to hang around with. Then no one would be able to get close enough to see what there was to see.

"I've met Sephiroth…," Aerith said quietly. "he doesn't seem that b."

"He's that bad," Kairi cut her off.

Someone tapped Sora on the shoulder, and found himself staring into the face of a girl with one blue eye and one green eye with brown hair that was cropped short. She smiled. "Hey, Sora?"

"Yes?...Yuna, right?" Sora asked, a bit confused as to what she wanted with him.

"Right," she replied, smiling. "I was wondering…Sephiroth is your roommate right?"

Sora nodded.

"That's what I thought," Yuna said. "My friend, is looking for him actually, and I haven't seen her for a while. Do you know where Sephiroth is by any chance?"

"No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen him for a couple of hours," Sora said rubbing the back of his head. "Who's looking for him?" he asked.

Yuna looked a bit crestfallen and murmured, "Oh. Well, my friend Lulu was the one who wanted to know where he was. It was kind of strange…Lulu actually kind of looked happy. And I know for a fact that she really likes this other guy and since other men kind of repulse her," she giggled warmheartedly, "Well, I was just wondering what made her change her mind".

"Oh, that makes total sense!" Kairi exclaimed, clapping her hands together joyously. "You know since their both so-.".

"So what," Cloud said, unusually serious. Kairi glanced over at cloud and raised an eyebrow. Crinkling her nose, she shrugged it off and looked in the other direction. Yuna too, had a curiously displeased look. Obviously she was waiting to hear whatever Kairi had to say about her friend.

Kairi diverted her eyes in a different direction. "Never mind…" Kairi murmured, cocking her head to the side.

"No, actually I wanted to hear what you were trying to say about me," came a mocking voice from behind her. It sounded friendly at first, but the more clever of the group could sense the dark undertone in it. Kairi didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. "No, really I do," Sephiroth said a little more seriously. "And I'm sure she would love you know too," he said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. Lulu crossed her arms over her black dress, smiling irritably and shifting what side her head laid. Such a combination was famous for the saying 'People like you make me sick'.

Sora was a bit relieved actually. That someone had put a stop to it. Kairi looked like she could have exploded, the way the tables had turned so fast. She huffed, turning the color of black cherry ice-cream right under her eyes, grabbing Sora by the sleeve of his shirt and spinning around. "We're going to go get some punch!" she exclaimed, not even trying to hide how angry she was. Sora stumbled after her.

"Great job," Cloud said, nodding. "She's going to hate you forever now. She won't forget". Sephiroth shrugged, looking unconcerned.

"Wonderful, now I have an excuse," Lulu commented acidly. She seemed a bit uninterested in the conversation as a whole, as perhaps her attention was elsewhere. Yuna approached her, and they began talking rapidly in hushed voices.

"Really?" Yuna said rather loudly. Her gaze flickered over to Cloud suspiciously, then at Sephiroth, and then to Cloud again. She turned her eyes back toward her friend and clasped her hand over her mouth to stifle an onset of high-pitched giggles. Cloud raised an eyebrow, somehow getting the unsettling feeling that he was being whispered about.

Yuna left the group, but not before smacking Sephiroth on the arm playfully (which was strange because most people would be afraid to smack Sephiroth in any kind of way) giving him a well humored "Good Luck". Sephiroth felt like smacking himself in the forehead, shaking his head

Cloud frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. His mood had dropped dismally since earlier in the evening for no apparent reason. "So…," he sighed. "You did get a date after all. Good for you".

'Leviathan, what is with the hell is up with the good for you again?' Sephiroth thought. "Yes. I believe I told you that before, maybe you weren't listening," he responded crossly.

Cloud nodded, shifting uncomfortably. There was a rather awkward silence that followed. Aerith blinked slowly, adjusting her grip on her boyfriend's arm, which seemed to spring Cloud into saying something.

"So…you like Lulu?" Cloud asked. He really didn't consider that a possibility before. He's never really noticed anything…special going on between them. It barely seemed that Sephiroth conversed with her at all before today.

Sephiroth shrugged, closing his eyes indifferently. "She's cool…" he smiled thinly almost creating a pensive expression. "I suppose she knows…how I feel".

Cloud shifted uncomfortably once again. Aerith blinked. The conversation seemed to be buzzing with nervous energy, she noticed. There must have been something that she wasn't aware of. Whatever it was, it was pissing the living hell out of Cloud. He really wanted to say something, but he refrained. Like a living stick of dynamite, he was bound to explode at any given moment. One thing was for sure, Sephiroth was the reason, and the fact that he had found someone he really liked.

Like an anvil falling from the sky, it hit her. 'Okay…interesting,' Aerith mused. Smiling, she unhooked her arm from Cloud's. "Sephiroth, may I speak with you privately for a moment?"

He paused, considering any possible negative effects this might cause. Although he really couldn't think of any, one never really could tell with these sweet quiet types. It reminded him creepily of his step-mom. His real mother was a crazy bitch with an unnerving fetish for puppets…But whatever it was, the inserted 'privately' part of the question, here meant "There is unpleasantness in your near future. Possibly within the next few seconds".

"Now?" Aerith added quickly.

"Alright…" Sephiroth said hesitantly, following behind the pink-clad one. They passed Sora, who was busy filling Kairi's fifth glass of punch. From the looks of things, Kairi's facial color had returned to almost normal, and she would be able to enjoy the dance again. Sephiroth chuckled when she shot him a most intense death glare.

"Sit," Aerith commanded, not bothering to sugarcoat it.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, then did as instructed. Who did this woman think she was dealing with? He snorted. "Yes Ma'am."

She took the seat next to him and began with a dazzling smile. "Well…"

"Miss Gainsborough, you really creep me out".

Aerith took a breath, her grin dimming a tiny bit. "Now, why is that?"

"No reason, besides how you're constantly smiling about something," Sephiroth answered, leaning back in his chair. "You're not always happy, that's for sure. I don't see why you bother wasting your time."

Pressing her eyebrows together, Aerith waited for him to speak again.

"For example," he continued, noticing her silence. "Right now, you aren't exactly pleased with me, for whatever reason. No excuses, because I can already tell," he commented, as Aerith opened her mouth to protest. "So, I'd prefer if you didn't beat around the bush as you tell me the exact reason why."

"Why…that's very perceptive of you," Aerith stuttered, a tiny bit surprised. "Well, Sephiroth…" she started, twisting the material of her dress out of unconscious habit. She seemed to be loosing the boldness that she was graced with a few moments before. "I-I know what you're trying to do…"

Raising an eyebrow, his lips formed a slim, almost smirk-like smile. "You do, do you?" Sephiroth's eyes darkened. "So, what do you care of it?"

"It won't work…it won't work!" she repeated raising her voice. "By some slim chance, you thought that things would suddenly go back to the way they were, you're wrong."

The smile immediately faded from Sephiroth's face. What replaced it was a complete grimness, one that suited his character so well that Aerith Gainsborough paused her incessant ranting. "Don't pretend…like you know everything. You know nothing," he hissed venomously.

"So wrong!" she repeated.

He was about to loose his patience.

Shaking like a small mouse eyed by a hawk, Aerith stated, "Y-you cannot have him. He won't forgive you…You can't have him! I won't let you!"

"This conversation, is over," spat Sephiroth, standing up. Pure waves of vehement must have been rolling off of him, because everyone magically knew to avoid him. The feeling that his insides were turning to ash was enough to drive him crazy. Why was it that everyone made it their business to irritate him? Even that meek, friendly girl was a stupid jealous cow on the inside. She was going to have to watch out if she didn't want to wake up one day with a sword stuck in her back. The pleasant thought would have made him smile if he weren't so pissed off.

As he was passing the refreshment table in his volcanic rendition of manic depression, he paused taking a cup of something-o-other, and downed half of it. Though it was fruit punch, he noticed that there was something wrong with it. It burned his nose and tasted something akin to hairspray. 'Ugh," he thought. Someone had spiked it with cheap corner store alcohol. That would be so great if he weren't underage.

He drained the remaining contents of his paper cup, then crushing it easily in his hands, tossed it behind his head. A small portion of his anger had just melted away. Maybe it wasn't worth it. All his efforts seemed to be creating more problems for himself. He exited the main hall, and sat on one of the benches that all the wallflowers chose. Unfortunately, he failed to recognize that the bench was already occupied.

Sora looked up from his conversation. Kairi was leaning on his shoulder. She wrinkled her nose in Sephiroth's direction, but he noticed that her glare was lacking. "You should take her to her room," Sephiroth told Sora, without any emotion really.

"Go to hell," she mumbled, making a pathetic attempt to look badass.

He rolled his eyes. She definitely wasn't any more pleasant while drunk. There were a thousand intelligent comebacks to that one, none of which he cared to voice. It was pick on Sephiroth day for everyone.

"What the hell did you say to her!"

Sephiroth glanced up, noticing for the first time that Cloud Strife and what would be the rest of the posse had entered to the room. This wasn't a good sign.

"I'm talking to you!" Cloud growled. "What did you say to Aerith?"

"I didn't say anything to her," Sephiroth replied, sitting up.

"That's bullshit, and you know it!" the blonde said, looking angry and strangely disappointed. "You said something to upset her!"

Sephiroth scoffed, his eyes darkening. "I don't pick on little girls, Strife. She did all the talking". Grabbing his arm, Cloud forced Sephiroth to his feet. For once, the silver-haired one didn't smirk, or even display his amusement.

"Go ahead…hit me," he said, barely even blinking. Cloud let go, his eyebrows drawn together.

"What?"

"Hit me. I'm sure it would make your girlfriend feel a great deal better". He sighed, not wasting a look of contempt for the pink-clad girl who had attached herself to Cloud's arm once again. "But…would it make you feel any better?"

For a moment all remained silent. Cloud looked uncomfortable, his expression almost pensive as he opened his mouth, then closed it again and his gaze drifted to different places in the hall, but mostly the floor.

Aerith chewed her lip, becoming uneasy. "Cloud…common. Let's dance…". She dragged him by his forearm, out into the main room. The rest of the posse followed after grumbling, annoyed that there hadn't been a fight. Lulu remained behind as an exception.

"So…I guess things didn't go as you planned them…did they?" her voice wasn't dripping with sarcasm this time. She seemed sympathetic. "It's a shame…that neither of us can get what we desire…but that doesn't mean we have to surrender". She smiled sadly. "There's still some time left. Do you want to dance or something?".

Sephiroth shook his head. "I think I'll just sit down. You should ask Wakka to dance with you," he said as they walked out into the main hall as well. He too smiled just a tiny bit. "I can guarantee he'll say yes. You should just tell him."

"Alright," she answered, leaving him to sit in a cheap plastic chair. "But I'm only going to say this once so, listen up. I think, you're a good person beneath all the grunge. So, do me a favor and practice what you preach. No one would suspect how timid you are," she laughed, a rare sight for anyone. She spotted Wakka, and like an eagle, descended upon him. But not before "accidentally" shoving her way roughly between Cloud and Aerith. He laughed despite himself, watching the punk-rocker approach him, turning only slightly pink, before mumbling something, which in turn turned the Hawaiian an unnatural cherry color. It was almost encouraging. Almost.

"How sentimental…" said a deep voice of a person who could have been a used care salesman. Sephiroth shuddered visibly. It was no use pretending like he didn't hear it. "Doesn't it just give you the warm-fuzzies?"

Sephiroth closed his eyes, aware of the presence that had not been right next to him a few moments before. "What are you doing here Hades? Don't you have lives to destroy or something?"

The blue humanoid grinned, showing of a row of pointed teeth. "Naw, kiddo. Had a sit-down with that headmaster of yours, and I came down especially to see you. Don't that make you feel ever so special?" The god of the underworld snorted, waving a pointed hand as he spoke.

"I'm really not in the mood for this," Sephiroth growled, turning his head the other way.

"Hey hey!" Hades said quickly, reappearing in front of the silver-haired boy as not to lose the conversation. "What's got your goat, eh? Everyone's having a ball, except you. Still angsting over that spike-head?" Sephiroth sunk lower into his chair, rolling his eyes. Hades raised a non-existent eyebrow, chuckling loudly. Out of all the things he could be doing, nothing seemed more appealing at the time then causing a depressive fit for Hojo's finest specimen. It was a hobby. He glanced about the dance, unnoticed by the other teens. "Hey look, if it isn't Strife and the flower girl now."

Reluctantly, Sephiroth looked up from his lowly place. They were dancing slowly and Aerith was smiling brightly at him. She leaned forward, placing a kiss on Cloud's lips before resting her head on his shoulder.

There was a loud clattering sound and a chair was completely tipped over. Aerith's head snapped up, barely missing Cloud's jaw. Lulu turned her head from her conversation with Wakka, watching as Sephiroth left the room briskly. "Oh Yevon…" she murmured. "Excuse me one moment…" she said to Wakka. He nodded.

At speeds unexpected from a girl in such a constrictive dress, she walked at Cloud. She had half a mind to slap him across the face, but she held back. "You…!" she weezed, prodding him in the forehead with her index finger. "I thought Sephiroth was an idiot, but you…you just take the cake! Do you have any idea what you have been doing? Do you have any idea why he does those things?"

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked (quite fearfully).

Lulu glared at him, wanting very much to cause him the most extreme pain. "Despite how you taunt him, treat him like dirt…I can't believe you! How is it that you two were best friends and you still can't understand. Why do you THINK, you dumb blonde, that he might possibly be upset with you? One of these days, he'll just get fed up playing. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, go ask him yourself!"

Cloud swallowed, his gaze turning towards the ground. For a moment he remained that way, trying to understand. Lifting his face from the floor, he ran for the exit.

Still in his little corner of the room, Hades chuckled to himself. "Thought so".


And thank you very much to all of my reviewers!

AkaiUsagi ( really tho. Im not found of Aeris pairings. Aeris/Zax maybe, mostly because it says so in the game, Thanx for your input) addmoose2004 (Thank you. Your penname is teh sex! XD) SuGaR aNiMe FrEaK (woot. You're still my most enthusiastic reviewer! Someone's had a little to much ramune. Thank you for your super review. Those always mean so much to me! ) DragonRose13 (hehehe) Unknown Mystery (um…okay OO that's nice. Good for you…) Wolfboy245 (sorry. I just don't think that Yuffie/Tifa is that great of a yuri pairing…Yuffie's kinda…not like that? Try Rikku/Paine. Actually, that's really the only one that I really like.) vash-lover323 (lol. Better sharpen that masamune eh?) greyspark (thank you!) ChaosSora99 (hmm. Well, it will seem like it. Thanks for your imput, that's really interesting) Kikay671 (ha. Actually, I've seen that doujinshi. I luv that. hehe) Somethingorother (stop advertising in my reviews, mari-chan ; no one really reads them besides myself) silentchill (domo arigato) Riley Cat (flaming marshmallows…catches one and eats it yuuuum) evilriku-54321 (im not even going to attempt to respond to all of your reviews. Yes…there is "gayness" in this fic. Thanks for your uber reviewiness!) BagginAlong (whee, thank you for your review! That means a lot!) RikkuYuffielover88 (blink no. but Im trying to add a little something special for the guys who read my fic) DisturbedDucky (kudos! Thank you) Annabella the Lost (no problem! I don't review unless I like the story! ) dimonyo-anghel (hehe. Good job with the pairings. You hit the nail right on the head) TrisDa bluegayle () kodoku no ookami (ha, the irony) camigril4k3 (whee. Long review. Dude, you're like…an ecchi like me. Whooo. Its the yaoi rapeishness. Yeah, I have kh:com. But my gameboy got smashed. Damn fate and its evil twists. Yeah, well, welcome to my world, where most everything I right it yaoi. Some het, not so much. Whee for jealous gay peeps. Woot!) Squirrelgurl (thanku) TotalREfan (ahh, thanks for the DS piccu. Very creative. Yeah. Oh, the SeED thing? I ripped it off from the Coliseum, which is like…you know Seed 10 – Hercules…blah blah blah. If I remember, which I often don't its also in FF8, or something. I dunno. I could be way off. I just used it for the hall monitor thing. Bwt, AU stands for "Alternate Universe", meaning the setting is different from the original game) demon of strife (look up hun, that beginning rant was made specially for you :3)