Sorry about the wait, but I think the long chappy is worth it. Also, sorry about being so…whiny last chappy. I'm over it now. Gomen. Bows

Cloud's PoV

The alarm buzzed, and I swatted it blearily. Why had I set the alarm so early? In the summer? It is still summer… shit! School! I swatted the alarm again and finally managed to turn it off. The sun was already streaming in, painfully hot on my skin where it managed to peak through the cats claw and the curtains. I stumbled out to the bathroom and washed my face, blinking the water from my eyes and hunting for the gel. I normally showered at night, and then went to bed with it wet, so it was hanging in limp blond hanks nearly to my shoulders. I found the gel—a grey tube with the word 'concrete' stamped on it in red—and carefully spiked my hair. Once the stuff was set I brushed my teeth and headed out to the kitchen. Riffling through the fridge, I found cold-cuts and a slightly spotty apple; I made myself a sandwich and threw it and the fruit in a bag. Yuffie had warned me about the school food. Pasting on my best scowl, I headed out the door. Dad was already at work, despite the early hour, and mom wasn't up yet, so I was stuck riding my bike. It wasn't that far, but it was already cursedly hot. I actually got there a few minutes early, already regretting my black sleeveless shirt. I wasn't sure which was worse; the black was hot, but the bare skin burned. Yuffie was waiting for me by the gate. I recognized her from the photo. I waved as I rode into outer courtyard with the bike rack, but she just waved back without appearing to recognize me. I could have smacked myself when the reason hit me. Duh, she doesn't know what your look like, genius. I locked up my bike and walked over to Yuffie, who was standing by the fence next to… the tall brunet from across the street. Really, I have all the luck.

"Yuffie?" I asked, more to get her attention than because I didn't know. She jumped and looked at me, blowing short black hair out of her eyes.

"Cloud?" I nodded slightly. Yep, that's me. I should have expected her reaction. She went ballistic. "Oh my god! Why didn't you tell me you were bishonen?" I found myself being hugged. Screw that, more like being put in a vise.

"Yuffie, I think he might like some air." The brunet chimed in, sounding far too amused. Yuffie let go, apologizing, but I bristled and glared. Suddenly, she grinned.

"Oh yeh!" Honestly, just as perky in person as online… "Leon, this is Cloud. Cloudie-chan, this is Leon. Don't mind him, he just hates you. He hates everyone, except Damian, of course. You don't have a problem with shonen-ai, do you?" It was only thanks to a very long, embarrassing conversation with this same girl that I even know what it meant. I couldn't resist an uncharitable thought, it figures the bastard's gay, too. Almost immediately I felt guilty; mustn't be derogatory to homosexuals who aren't Leon. After all, Vincent, good friend of mine back home was bi, but Leon just got under my skin like that. Yuffie finally realized Leon and I were too busy glaring at each other to listen to her after she had been talking for about two minutes; I hadn't heard a word since she'd introduced my creepy neighbor. My neighbor with unusual eyes; they were very pale grey, ringed with a darker charcoal, and reminded me very much of a wolf's pelt. Leon was the first to look away, spotting something—someone—over my shoulder, and those strange eyes lit up like a Vegas strip at sundown. I looked up myself, and blinked at the rather ordinary man that met my eyes.

Blue-black hair, light brown eyes, and very pale skin; taller than me, but everyone is. Looking at the suddenly gentle expression in Leon's eyes, I surmised that this was Damian. I shrugged, and took a seat on the low wall in the courtyard, waiting for Yuffie to introduce him. She did, soon enough.

"Cloud, this is Damian. Damian, my friend Cloud." I nodded cordially enough. No reason to be rude to him just because his boyfriend is a jerk. Somebody walked by holding a schedule and I realized I should try to find my class before the bell rang. I grabbed the card out of my pack and asked Yuffie where 801 was. Damian and Leon had already left together. Yuffie told me how to find my math class, and then she went off to talk to some of her other friends. I felt a moment of jealousy. But hey, it's high school. I can't be the only one here who doesn't know anyone, what about the rest of the freshman? So I walked into math making a real effort not to be grumpy. It was getting kinda hard to stay that way by lunchtime. Somewhere, there is a god, and he hates me. Leon was in two of my three morning classes.

I found a small corner by the library that was relatively cool, and ate quickly. It was hot out! Even my spikes were wilting, but there was a couple next to me, also taking advantage of the shady corner to make out. Ew. I went into the library. It was blessedly cool, if a tad bright and rather full. I went over to the nonfiction section and sat down between two shelves so nobody could see me. Much better. I hadn't been there for more than six seconds before I herd voices in the next row. I was temped to peak through, but the shelves had solid backs. Drat. The voices were vaguely familiar, though, so I listened.

"She's not that bad, and neither is he, for that matter. I seem to have missed the insulting tirade he apparently went on." The voice was light, teasing, and I heard the smile in the other man's voice.

"Maybe he isn't that bad. But I'm not going to be nice to him." The first voice laughed.

"Love, if you start being nice to anyone, I'll start worrying something is really wrong."

"I'm nice to people." He was mock-sulky, also joking. The first man laughed again.

"The singular of 'people' is 'person', love. Just one doesn't count." The second voice muttered something, and the first laughed again. "Come on, Leon, I'm just asking you not to pick a fight. He is Yuffie's friend, after all." I stiffened. Leon! That made the other voice Damian… and the 'he', me. I slipped away, and sat down again in the poetry section, out of hearing range. Damian was definitely a nicer guy than I had given him credit for. Then I snorted. It didn't matter. I wasn't planning to provoke Leon before, so I definitely wouldn't now. It didn't really bother me that he was gay; it was just the first thing that sounded like an insult that came to mind. Vincent, back home, had been bi, hell, he'd even kissed me once. Admittedly, I had hit Vince then gone to brush my teeth, but that had more to do with who it was than him being a guy. I mean seriously. Vincent. 'Nuff said. Just sitting here was starting to get boring. I grabbed a book at random, opened it to the middle, and began to read.

The wind blew in from Bergen, through the dawning to the day…

I read it all. It was called The Last Hero, by G.K. Chesterton. It was an amazing poem, once you got past the fact that the narrator was certifiably insane. It made the poem all the more fascinating… my eyes trailed down the page, once, twice, and three times, committing it to memory. I have a photographic memory, and it comes in handy. Before long I had a perfect mental image of the page. I closed the book and lay down, staring at the ceiling. It wasn't long before the bell rang, and I went hunting for my next class. English was deadly dull, and nobody talked to anybody much. My next class was gym, which was with the 'sis o's', including Leon, and true to the rules for the first day of school, nothing happened. I did, however, discover that P.E. was split by gender. Damn. I had been looking forward to girls in P.E. shorts. My seventh hour class was the best; introtech with Mr. Ducy. Basically, how things work, done for high school students. Oddly enough, Damian sat next to me in that class, and I found him very easy to talk to. He was very cheerful, and charismatic I a way that made you just warm to him. I resolved to dry and be decent to Leon, if only for his sake.

The last bell rang and people spilled out of the classroom. I was the last one out; the sun was blisteringly hot, and I silently thanked mom for the bottle of sunscreen she'd bought me when we got here. My bike was hot too; I singed my hand getting it unlocked, and I was not looking forward to biking even a yard in this heat, let alone the two miles home. I was sweating like a pig when I finally reached the house, and wanted nothing more than to pour a bucked of ice water on my head, or go swimming. So I took a cold shower. The pool was hot, anyway. It felt great, but of course the water ruined my hair. Feh. I like it spiky. Better still, girls like it spiky. Thankfully, it dried quickly; the air here was so dry it took less than fifteen minutes. I respiked it and sat down at my computer, at a loss as to what to do next. Finally I just called Yuffie and asked what there was to do around here. She suggested I join the study group (her, Damian, and Leon) at the main library. I was less than thrilled with the idea of spending more time with Leon than absolutely necessary, but Damian was decent and Yuffie was fun. Besides, might be girls at the library. So I talked mom into dropping me off in front of the Burton Barr branch, snickering a bit at the name.

At first look, the place was an impressive sight, white sail-like cloth pieces framing five floors of plate glass, and one wall seemed to be made of corroded copper. I walked in, (sans mother, of course) and was even more impressed. It was like walking into a cave at first; the entryway sloped steeply down, a dimly lit passageway of raw concrete. It opened up into a space that filled the hollow heart of the building, and I was struck by the almost chill in the air—not to mention the amazing view. All five stories were built around the central shaft, and I had never seen that much clear glass in one building. A bank of frosted glass elevators was ringed on three sides by a slightly scummy pond, and everything was dark colored or frosted glass, except for the dull gray carpet and matching metal shelves. No doubt about it; the place was huge. Yuffie had said to meet in teen central, on the fourth floor. At home, teen was one shelf in the back corner. I took the elevator up, and was surprised again by the section itself. Everything was painted, bright colors and lights, and people sat working or playing on nearly twenty net computers. Rock music was playing over the stereo system. I moved further into the curved, u-shape room, and finally found the group in the back corner, by a couple of vending machines and a handful of tables. Yuffie was sitting on the table, with Damian and Leon working around her. I waved, smiled at Damian, glared at Leon, and pulled out my math binder. Damian returned my greeting with a soft "Hello, Cloud." And I smiled at him again. Leon was carefully not looking at me, but working on his homework. It looked like math as well. For a while we all just worked without talking. I found it a bit distraction, all the people and the music, so I was working slower than usual, but still pretty quick. I finished the math and put it away, pulling out the science homework.

"Stuck?" Yuffie asked sympathetically, glancing at my binder.

"Uh, no. Done." Leon glanced at me, surprised, and Damian put down his pen.

"Good. You can help me, then." It was very odd, trying to explain algebra to a guy a full grade higher than me. Leon was listening too, his eyes flicking up to me every now and then. Damian caught on pretty quick, but Leon still looked confused. I was tempted to offer to help him, too, but something told me that he wouldn't appreciate it. He had an air to him that I suspected put people off—a sort of nobility, stubborn pride. But he wouldn't want help. So I went back to working on my science. It wasn't very much longer before he closed his binder with something halfway between a growl and a sigh.

"Finally. I hate algebra." Damian smiled wryly.

"Let's get some food. I could use a break, and Yuffie isn't working anyway." I looked at her paper and realized it wasn't homework, but a very detailed drawing of a ninja battle. How typical. In the end, we went to McDonalds in Leon's car. It was a cool car, too—old, but the classic red paint job was perfect, right down to the 3d black flames down the sides, clearly painted on. Most people used decals, but this was honest-to-god brush work. The ride was a bit squished; the backseat was small and Yuffie was sprawled over most of it, with Damian riding shotgun. The music in the stereo wasn't like anything I had ever heard; Yuffie called it j-pop. I really liked the third song Leon played, track five. The c.d. box listed it as Vanity, but I couldn't figure out why. Eating with them at McDonalds was fun, particularly since I'd never been a very social person, it was odd to just eat and talk with friends. It further served to convince me that Damian was wicked cool—he knew more random video game trivia than some self-proclaimed 'hardcore' gamers. At four-thirty, though, he looked at his watch, then Leon.

"Well, I've got to go to work now. Can I beg a ride, Leon?" The brunet nodded and we all packed up.

"Yuff, I'll drop you off after him."

"What about me?" I asked. It seemed like a stupid question, but I did need to know the answer. Leon glared at me.

"You can walk." I opened my mouth to retort, but Damian beat me to it, with an easy grin and wheedling tone.

"Come on, Leon, I won't be able to make him help me with the math if you make him walk." Leon paused, and then nodded, grudgingly.

"Okay." We dropped Damian off at the shopping complex near the school, then Yuffie at her house nearby. It was very tense being in the car with just me and Leon, but no words were spoken and he kept the music loud. At some point he had switched to radio, and the heavy metal was giving me a headache. Finally, he stopped the car at his house and got out, clearly pretending I didn't exist. I returned the favor and walked across the street to my house. The lawn was looking squished in places from having our stuff on top, and where it wasn't squished, it was scorched to a dusty brown. I shuddered and walked into the house. The air-conditioning was a shock after being in Leon's barely cooled car, and I reveled in the chill. One of my parents had set the thermostat even lower than we did at home… oops, back in Boston. That just reminded me of Aerith and I frowned and flopped on my bed. Moving sucks, it really does. And with that thought, I drifted off to sleep.

AN: Again, sorry about the moaning. Also, apologies for the late chapter; but I figure the length explains it. I just could't hit a point it felt right to stop at. Also, in chapter one, I was not exagerating the heat; I live in Phoenix, and 114 in the summer isn't that bad. It's been known to hit as high as 122.