Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Final Fantasy VII. I do own anything else that cannot be identified as belonging to FFVII, anything related to FFVII, or anything that's copyrighted (such as…I dunno, Coke). FFVII and anything related to it is copyrighted to their owners (Squaresoft, Sony), as is anything that's copyrighted already. Anything else (such as Ocs, the plot, and the lyrics to the songs, restaurants, and other things) is copyrighted to me (so no stealing). Etc., ect…
Yay, an update! Haha. Anyways, first, I must say this: 34 REVIEWS SO FAR! My happiness has gone over the boundaries and disrupted my sanity. So, I must blame all my wonderful readers and reviewers for causing my loss of sanity. Thanks very much to LauraLaurent, Charan-Amaya, Lord Makura, whatevergirl, Gaby, Kat, …, Teen Strife, Jaded Crescent, Mythrand, and Kimberly for reviewing last chapter! You guys are the best people in the world.
ANYHOW, er, where was I? Oh yes, a reply to dear "…" because I couldn't contact you in anyway to reply to your review:
Heheheh, yes, it was rather fast. But then, Vincent dumped Elena (nah, he didn't dump, he, ah, "broke up nicely") because he wanted to be with Lucrecia, so yeah. Poor Elena…I'm glad you think that the story's interesting, and don't worry about me not updating, for this story is my number one priority! For fanfictions, that is. XD
FFVII AC WAS AWESOME! Ok, the boring author notes are over. Continue with the story now, please.
Chapter 5 - Welcome to the World
"So," Professor Dennis said to the class on Monday morning, "I expect you all to work diligently these two hours, for we only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You all may talk and move about, but don't stray from the subject of Sociology."
Lucrecia turned around in her seat. "So, what's our play going to be about?" she asked.
"Hm…well, I was thinking that it should be thirty minutes long, like a TV show," Vincent replied. Lucrecia blinked.
"Yeah, I guess so. That's long, though…but what is it going to be about?" she asked again.
"I've been thinking…maybe our play can be on a popular group picking on a…loner. I can act the part of the bully well. All I have to do is copy Reno." Vincent laughed humorlessly.
"Hm…that's a good idea," Lucrecia said. "Who am I going to be? The loner?" Vincent frowned.
"I don't know…how about we write out the script first? Then we can decide on who's going to be who and figure out roles later." Lucrecia nodded.
"Alright," she agreed. "Let's make a diagram, then start the script."
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Reno scowled as he walked into the classroom with Elena and Rude. He sat down in his seat, glaring at Vincent.
"Oh, great, we have to sit near Valentine," he said loudly. Elena looked uncomfortable, and Rude tried to look innocent. "Valentine is such a loser, always trying to look cool," Reno continued. "In reality, he's a sniveling little-"
"Reno…" Vincent turned toward the redhead, looking quite indifferent. "Why don't you…shut up?"
"Alright! Go Vincent!" Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, and Yuffie cheered quietly.
"What? You talking to me!" Reno asked Vincent viciously.
"Seeing as you are the only person in front of me that I can talk to now, I think I am. Of course, your behavior is quite normal for you. I never knew you as the type of person to be smart enough to know when someone's addressing you face to face," Vincent returned calmly. Reno's face turned red with rage. He sprang up.
"YOU BAST-!"
"Strike one, Mr. Terrace," Professor Tseng said as he walked over to Reno. "No fighting or yelling in the classroom. Please take your seat." The whole class watched Reno sit down slowly, quivering with embarrassment and anger.
"Oh no…" Elena groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "Oh, why do you have to cause trouble, Reno?"
"Today, class," the teacher addressed the class, "you will start a project." Everyone groaned. "You will all write a book that will be at least twelve chapters long, sixteen pages per chapter. The requirements are on the handout." Professor Tseng passed out the sheets. The stories were required to be typed out in Times New Roman, 11 point size font. The book was to be the size of an ordinary, paperback novel, which was 7.5 by 5.25 inches (13.5 by 19 centimeters). The projects had to look like actual books, for they were going to be bound and the covers printed. The books could be about anything, but they were forbidden to have inappropriate things, such as swear words and sex. The book was required to have at least a full-page illustration for each chapter. The cover-art and illustrations could be done by someone else as long as credit was given. The projects would be marked on proper grammar structure, spelling, punctuation, story structure, correct usage of words, how interesting the book is, and on writing skills. The whole project was out of 300 points, so it was pretty important.
"Ugh, I hate writing stories," Yuffie moaned after the teacher gave the class permission to discuss their topics. "I never did like reading." Tifa smiled.
"Same here. I never really liked reading either."
"How can you guys not like reading?" Aeris asked them incredulously. "Reading's awesome!"
"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "Reading's cool." Yuffie rolled her eyes. She sighed.
"Ugh, the words. Seriously, my head spins when I read."
"I start daydreaming when I read," Tifa confessed.
"Aw Tifa, who do you daydream about?" Aeris teased. Tifa smiled.
"Mmm…Vincent."
"WHAT!" Cloud yelped. Tifa giggled. "You're not…serious?"
"Of course not!" Tifa exclaimed between giggles. "I only said that to annoy you. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."
"Is that saying that you do daydream about Vincent?" Aeris smirked.
"What! I-" Tifa broke off when she realized that Vincent was looking at her. "Uh…" Cloud, Aeris, and Yuffie turned in their seats. Aeris started giggling at the sight of Tifa's red, mortified face. Vincent continued staring weirdly at them, especially at Tifa. He raised an eyebrow.
"You…daydream about me?" Cloud and Yuffie also started laughing at Tifa, who was looking more embarrassed than ever.
"No! It was a joke!" Tifa said frantically. "Of course I don't daydream about you!" Vincent looked relieved.
"Ok. That's good." He returned to his work.
"Guys, stop laughing!" Tifa told her friends, looking annoyed.
"You should've seen the look on your face, Tifa!" Cloud exclaimed, still snickering. Tifa narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, so who do you daydream about? Aeris?" Cloud suddenly stopped laughing. He looked at Tifa.
"What! No, why!"
"Um…" Tifa blinked in confusion at Cloud's sudden change of mood. "Well…you're always flirting with her." Aeris and Yuffie were now watching them curiously.
"You know that the flirting's just joking around!" Cloud said, almost panicking.
"Whoa, whoa, I know. I'm not accusing you of anything; keep your hat on." Cloud calmed down. "Anyways," Tifa continued. "Why are you so alarmed?"
"I'm not," Cloud mumbled. Tifa gave him a weird look, but dropped the subject.
"So, whacha guys gonna write about?" Yuffie asked.
"A love story," Aeris replied.
"Fighting," Cloud said.
"Um…I think I'll make a love story too," Tifa said.
"Oh. I'm going to write a story about a thief, a Great Materia Hunter, called Yuffie!" Yuffie declared.
"Putting yourself as the great, main character into your story, huh?" Cloud rolled his eyes.
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Vincent walked into the music classroom. He saw Rufus waving at him. Vincent walked over and sat down.
"Hey Vince," Rufus said. "Seems that Reno and you are enemies now, eh?" Vincent shrugged.
"I suppose that you could put it that way. I couldn't care less."
"Yeah. Oh look, here comes Rude." Rude walked over and sat down. There was an awkward pause.
"Hi Vincent, Rufus," he said softly.
"Hey Rude," Rufus said.
"Hello Rude," Vincent returned neutrally. There was another pause. Rude hesitated, then spoke.
"You know Vincent, Reno's the only one mad at you. Although you don't hang out with us anymore, Elena and I are still your friends. The bad feelings are only between you and Reno."
"Elena?" Vincent asked, frowning as he turned to look at Rude. "Elena wants to be friends?"
"Yeah," Rude answered. "Although she's sad about the breakup, she still wants to be friends."
"…oh." Vincent's frowned disappeared.
"I think Reno was stupid to get mad at you like that," Rude confessed. Rufus smiled.
"I'd say that he overreacted a bit, but you can't blame a guy for being overprotective of the girl he loves," He remarked. "Anyway Vince, I heard that you were going out with a Lucrecia girl."
"How did you hear?" Vincent asked, looking surprised.
"Oh, there were rumors," Rude said. "I heard them too."
"But…from who?"
"People who've seen you two together. Nathan Josey in our literature told me that you two are working together for the sociology project," Rufus remarked. Vincent nodded.
"Word gets around fast," he commented.
"Alright!" Professor Shimiro said suddenly, and loudly. "Who wants to sing?" Everybody fell silent.
"Right now?" someone asked incredulously.
"Yup," the teacher said, nodding. "Any volunteers?" No one raised their hand. "No? Well, I'm going to assign you all the same presentation as last week. New song."
"Oh no!" Rufus groaned.
"I also have a little project for everyone," the professor continued. She smiled. "But I won't say anything about it now. It's to be given tomorrow." Everyone grumbled.
"First a project in sociology, then literature, and now this class!" someone complained. Professor Shimiro smiled.
"That's university, I'm afraid. Don't worry, music is always fun," she said. "Today, you can work on your presentations."
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"So many projects," Bernette groaned. "Oh." She looked up. "Hey, Aeris? I heard that Vincent broke up with Elena."
"Yeah, he did," Aeris said. "Don't get any ideas though; he broke up with Elena for another girl, so he already has another girlfriend." Bernette looked disappointed.
"Oh." Aeris was struck by a sudden thought.
"Oh my…Bernette?"
"Yeah?"
"Um…last time, when you told me that you had a crush on someone…it wasn't Vincent, was it?" Bernette blinked.
"Oh, no," she replied. "Much as I like Vincent, he'll never notice me, so I've given up." Aeris looked relieved.
"Ok," she said. "Good. Cause he's pretty into his new girlfriend." Bernette giggled.
"So, Aeris…who do you like?" Aeris flushed, and Cloud suddenly popped into her mind. Aeris panicked and wiped away the thought.
"Um, nobody," she answered. Bernette looked disappointed.
"Oh, come on, somebody?" Aeris shook her head.
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Vincent entered the cafeteria after Art, at 5:20 pm. Lucrecia had went back to her dorm, so Vincent was alone. There was nobody in the cafeteria that he could recognize. Vincent ordered a meal and sat down at one of the many empty tables to wait. He propped his feet on the table and closed his eyes, leaning back on his chair with his hands behind his head.
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"Oh, look, there's Vincent," Aeris said as the group went into the cafeteria. It was pretty empty, except for a few people lingering around.
"Let's go talk to him!" Yuffie said enthusiastically.
"Still objecting Cloud?" Tifa asked the blonde, looking at him. Cloud shrugged.
"Well, I would've been objecting before literature, but the way Vincent flattened Reno changed my mind."
"Well, let's go then," Aeris said, and they walked over to the teen, sitting alone at his table.
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"You really shouldn't put your feet on the table. It's bad you know," someone said to Vincent's right. Vincent's eyes snapped open and he straightened, turning around, feet still on the table. Cloud was grinning at him, Yuffie was standing next to Cloud, smirking at Vincent. Aeris and Tifa were standing around the table, smiling.
"…" Vincent stared at the group.
"It's very unsanitary to put your feet on the table," Aeris added. It took Vincent half a second to take everything in.
"Oh…sorry, Reno used to…do that. I kind of picked up the habit," he apologized hesitantly, taking his feet off the table. Cloud, Aeris, Yuffie, and Tifa sat down around Vincent. The latter stared at them all, blinking slowly.
"So, waiting for your dinner?" Yuffie asked. Vincent nodded, still staring at them. Cloud cleared his throat.
"Well…lots of homework?" he questioned. Vincent nodded again, now raising an eyebrow.
"Excuse my asking, but, I thought that you all hated me…?" The others looked at each other.
"Any enemy of Reno's is our friend," Cloud proclaimed.
"…really," Vincent said, sounding slightly sarcastic.
"Yeah," Tifa said. "And you're not such a bad guy. Reno's the actual one we hate." Vincent blinked.
"If you say so," he said, shrugging.
"So, what are you and Lucrecia doing fro the project?" Aeris asked.
"A play," Vincent replied. "You guys?"
"Nathan and I are going to do a song," Aeris said.
"A puppet show," Cloud answered, looking at Aeris as though he was jealous.
"Cody and I are doing a sort of game," Tifa explained. "You have to roll dices and draw cards to answer questions. Depending on your answers, you'll end up as certain stereotypes in certain situations."
"Cool!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Me and Sebastian are doing a kind of humorous documentary."
"Sounds interesting," Vincent said, nodding.
"What's your play going to be about?" Tifa asked him.
"Uh…this popular group picking on a loner," Vincent answered.
"More details?" Yuffie prompted.
"Don't have any. Lucrecia and I haven't planned it out that much."
"Will you guys be needing help?" Aeris questioned, eyes twinkling.
"…"Vincent stared at her. "I…suppose so."
"Great! We'll help you," Tifa told him.
"W-wh-what!" Cloud exclaimed. "Wh-ow!" Aeris had elbowed Cloud in the ribs. "Uh, I mean…cool."
"Yeah!" Yuffie agreed. "I love acting; it's so cool."
"Well…um…thank you," Vincent said, looking rather bewildered.
"No problem," Cloud said airily.
"Look, they're coming," Yuffie hissed suddenly. Everybody looked around. Reno, Elena, and Rude were making their way toward Cloud, Vincent, Yuffie, Aeris, and Tifa. Reno stopped in front of Vincent, sneering.
"My my my, you've sunk so low as to hang out with Strife the loser and the pimp. Without us, you're nothing." Vincent remained silent. Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, and Aeris looked outraged. Elena was close to tears, and Rude had narrowed his eyes at Reno's back. Tifa spoke up angrily.
"Hey you, blockhead, listen up. We came to Vincent. I can't really believe how Vincent would've considered such a low piece of dirt his friend. You're the loser Terrace, not us. You'd be nothing without your friends to back you up. You depend on them, just as you depended on Vincent. Look, your little group isn't even as popular as it was before, when Vincent was in it." Reno looked absolutely furious.
"Shut the hell up you b#$! You and your maggot friends will always be sh&$, at the bottom of the food chain. Always! You're all $/#&ers who suck like sh&$!" he snapped. Vincent suddenly stood up.
"Elena," he said, looking directly at the blond girl.
"W-wh-yes?" she asked, startled.
"Are you going out with Reno now?" Vincent questioned.
"Um…no," Elena said, looking confused.
"Where are you going with this, Valentine!" Reno spat. Vincent straightened up to his full six feet. He stood a good five inches taller than Reno, who was as tall as Cloud.
"You know what, Terrace? I feel sorry for you. You're such a sore loser that the girl you love won't even go out with you. How sad." Elena gasped. Rude looked shocked. Reno's eyes flashed with wild rage.
"YOU $#&/ER!" Reno threw a punch at Vincent. Vincent, who was undoubtedly much stronger than he looked, blocked it.
"I don't want to fight, Reno," he said calmly. Reno completely ignored this and continued punching. Vincent dodged sideways and hit Reno's left eye. Reno kicked at Vincent, but the latter dodged again and aimed a punch at Reno's face. Reno got out of the way just in time and managed to hit Vincent's jaw. Vincent punched Reno hard in the nose. It started bleeding.
"REALLY!" Everybody turned around, including Vincent and Reno. Professor Dennis was striding towards them. She had evidently came to the cafeteria to buy dinner. Now, the sociology teacher stood in front of the two teens, glaring. "Fighting! Right here, in the cafeteria! What are you two, nuts!" Reno had a swollen, purple eye and a bloody nose. Vincent's right hand was covered in bluish-black splotches and his jaw was heavily bruised. A bit of blood trickled out of his mouth and down his chin. Vincent wiped it away with the sleeve of the large, black overcoat he was wearing. Professor Dennis continued to glare at them. "I expected more out of you," she said furiously. "You both were acting like stupid, immature idiots!" Reno and Vincent said nothing. "You two will receive detentions," the professor said. "You both will report to me at 5:30 pm tomorrow." She walked away. Reno, still holding his bloody nose, left, with Elena and Rude following.
"Come on," Cloud said quietly. "Let's go back to Vincent's and my dorm."
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Cloud and Yuffie sat on Cloud's bed, eating dinner while Tifa and Aeris bandaged Vincent's hand up.
"You sure pack a punch, Vincent," Cloud remarked. "Reno's eye was all purple and the size of a tennis ball."
"You sure do," Tifa told Vincent grimly. "Your hand's in bad shape from punching him."
"I'll heal," Vincent said quietly, then winced.
"Don't talk," Aeris said to him. "Reno hits really hard too. Your jaw's almost as bad as your hand."
"Go brush your teeth," Tifa said. Vincent blinked.
"Why?" he asked, then winced again.
"I said not to talk!" Aeris chided sternly. "Just do it." Vincent got up and went into the bathroom.
"His jaw must hurt like hell," Yuffie commented. "It was all bluish-green. How are you guys gonna bandage that up?" Aeris and Tifa looked at each other.
"You'll see," Tifa said. "Vincent's not going to like it, though. Don't talk to him when he comes out."
"Reno's gonna look like a mess tomorrow," Cloud crowed.
"No doubt about that," Aeris replied, smiling slightly. Just then, Vincent came out of the bathroom.
"Um, Vincent? Aeris and I are going to bandage your jaw up now," Tifa told him. Vincent raised an eyebrow.
"How are you going to do that?" he asked, trying not to move his jaw. Aeris glared.
"Don't. Talk!" she snapped. Vincent recoiled and shut up.
"Sit down," Tifa instructed. She put medicine on the colored blotches which covered Vincent's jaw and extended to the lower part of the right side of his face.
"Now," Aeris said, holding up a roll of bandages. Vincent realized what they were going to do in a split second. A look of alarm spread over his face as he tried to get away.
"No!" he shouted, then cringed in pain. Tifa took this chance to grab Vincent's head while Cloud pinned down his arms. Aeris wound the bandages around Vincent's head, over his jaw and mouth, stopping right below his nose. She glued the ends together at the back as Yuffie watched. Cloud and Tifa released Vincent, who sat up and glared at them, plus Aeris.
"Sorry Vince. Had to do it," Cloud said, shrugging. He returned to his dinner.
"Heehee, now Vinnie's really 'rendered speechless'," Yuffie giggled. A muffled sound came out of Vincent as he tried to speak, but couldn't. Yuffie grinned. "What was that, Vinnie?" Vincent wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Yuffie. She read it out loud. "Don't call me Vinnie." Yuffie continued grinning cheekily. "Sure thing, Vinnie." Vincent stood up, still glaring. "You might've looked scary, Vinnie, if your mouth wasn't all wrapped up like that," Yuffie drawled.
"Yuffie, stop teasing the poor boy," Aeris said. She and Tifa began to eat their dinner. Vincent's left hand started to go up, behind his head, but Tifa looked up.
"Don't you dare touch the bandages!" she said fiercely. "Or I'll tie your hands up and you'll have to sleep like that all night!"
"Better listen to Tifa, Vince," Cloud told him. "She's serious." Vincent sighed through his nose, and went to bed.
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A loud knocking woke Vincent and Cloud up at 9:00 am the next morning. Cloud got up groggily and opened the door. Tifa and Aeris smiled at him, fully dressed and carrying their backpacks. "Hi," they both said at once. Cloud stared.
"Um…hi. Why are you guys here, so early in the morning?"
"We need to change Vincent's bandages," Tifa said. The girls went into the room. Vincent was sitting up and looking at them warily.
"We need to change your bandages," Aeris told him. Vincent's eyes widened. "Yes, you have to go like this class," Aeris said calmly. Vincent began to bolt out of bed, but stopped and gave in, sighing silently.
"That's a good boy," Tifa said, smiling. She took the bandages off. Vincent's jaw didn't look as bruised anymore. "Brush your teeth first. Then change into your clothes and eat breakfast."
"We brought buttered toast for both of you," Aeris said. "We already ate." The boys brushed, changed, and ate.
"Hurry," Cloud told the girls. "It's already 9:40." Aeris and Tifa quickly applied the medicine to Vincent's bruised jaw and bandaged it. By the time the group went out, it was 9:55. They entered the literature classroom. The friends spotted Reno, who was as heavily bandaged as Vincent was. His nose and left eye were both covered with bandages. Cloud and Vincent went up to Professor Tseng.
"Um, Vincent won't be able to talk today," Cloud told the teacher.
"I can see," Professor Tseng said dryly. "Fight?" Vincent nodded slowly, looking rather embarrassed. "Hm. With Mr. Terrace there. Fine." Cloud and Vincent sat down in their seats.
"…um…Vincent? Are you…alright?" Elena asked timidly. Vincent nodded. Reno scowled and looked away. Rude fidgeted.
Alright! Finished! Wheeeee! Hope you guys liked this chapter. It wasn't that eventful, but hey, it's important, right? We're getting there! Just ten more chapters until the plot actually starts to fold out. Heheheh…just ten more chapters? Whew. Well, I promise you guys, the ten chapters won't be full of junk and pointless side stories. Only one or two. Yay, I'm currently writing chapter ten! Please REVIEW! I love to read your comments. Tune in for the next chapter: Chapter 6 - Act It.