It was like any other daily routine. Classes, then whatever duties assigned to him. Cloud was aware of how people saw him since his slip up.
So when a class ended, he made his way onto the next. At least this one had Kunsel to join on the misery. There was that to look forward to, at least.
However he noticed when a group of boys caught up to him. Cloud didn't pay any attention. He caught sight of Kunsel. It was easy to distinguish him out of a crowd because of his scent. He smelled of pine mixed with autumn meadows.
"Hey, Heart Eater! I heard you're like some big bad wolf." Someone laughed.
Cloud ignored the taunting. He noticed Kunsel grow nervous, and he tried to approach.
"What, you too good for us or something? I think he's trying to ignore us, guys!" One of the others yelled out and they laughed.
Cloud counted six in total. There was a smaller group behind them, watching and warily trying to get to their own class. Ahead of them Kunsel caught up to them.
"Hey, Cloud! Ready for that test?" The nervous Soldier greeted in a poor attempt to be cheerful.
"Yeah." Cloud replied, only to bite his inner cheek.
"Hey, how come this little punk gets to converse with you?" Someone shoved Kunsel.
"Don't. Touch. Him." Cloud caught the wrist, his grip vice like.
"Or else what? What you gonna do? Huh?"
It took everything in Cloud not to swing first. He thought of Sephiroth. His scent and those eyes that entranced him. And it was enough to calm the rage.
Until someone swung at the back of his head. And with that attack someone shoved Kunsel to the ground. That was more than enough to send these boys down.
And the smaller group watched in awe as Cloud took these six guys down with relative ease. Even Kunsel watched in equal amazement.
It was all too easy. And even in such a narrow hallway. Cloud still wiped the floor with them. A drill instructor poked his head out at the commotion.
"Strife! You got some answering to do!" The instructor yelled as he caught the end of it. The six guys made a nice pile of bodies.
"Sir! They attacked first!" Kunsel defended as he stood up. "They provoked, and when that didn't work they attacked him and pushed me down."
"They did!" One of the other witnesses piped up.
"Then all of you head to Director Lazard's office. He will excuse you all for being late. I'll be taking these boys to medical." The instructor couldn't argue with the witnesses.
So the four of them sat while Lazard was in a meeting. When it was done the door opened to reveal General Sephiroth. At the sight of him they saluted in surprise.
"...What happened?" Sephiroth asked them, immediately noticing Kunsel and Cloud were waiting together with two others.
Director Lazard poked his head out from behind the general and sighed. He immediately reached for his cup of coffee and chugged the rest of it down.
"A gang of six guys jumped on me and Cloud. He dealt with them. Sir." Kunsel explained.
"No one dead or maimed?" Sephiroth should have known.
"No, sir." Cloud answered honestly.
"They were all in a pile. But they were still breathing." Another of the Soldiers added.
"I see. So I assume you two witnessed the whole thing?"
"Yes, Sir." They said in unison.
"And you didn't offer any kind of help. That is borderline punishable for not helping your comrades." Those green eyes burned brightly at the fury. And for a moment they were too surprised at who he was angry at.
"...But, Sir, that rule applies to the war - " One of them tried to argue.
"It doesn't matter who the enemy is. Even if they have the same uniform, come from the same town, they still attacked one of our own. Six against two isn't fair odds. Six against four is better. And yet you still didn't offer help. You stood by and watched. Doing nothing is worse than throwing the punch."
They looked down in shame. Cloud and Kunsel didn't. They were more amazed at the stance Sephiroth was showing in front of them, even the director.
"To be fair, Sir, when Cloud fights he moves in such a way its mesmerizing. I was shoved and pinned down and after he took care of the guy on me, I couldn't be of much help either as he fought the others." Kunsel faltered under the general's gaze.
"So then it was six against one? Even worse. Then again you had reason enough. Very well, these two will get a lighter form of punishment. Director Lazard, I will let you handle that." Sephiroth decided to be generous.
"So I'm assuming I'm to handle whatever the other directors throw at me for this incident?"
"Tell them if they want to argue then they can freely call me."
An open stand of protection. Lazard began to send messages to the Turks for footage of what happened. He had a feeling they were already getting to the bottom of it, seeing as how the director was caught up in a short meeting with Sephiroth.
The footage was sent barely two seconds later. Lazard watched and the story was how Kunsel explained. Sephiroth watched over his shoulder just in case.
"Strife wasn't in the wrong. Put all six of them on probation. Anymore of this behavior and they will be discharged. No benefits from Shinra. No income. A black mark on their record."
The maximum level of punishment.
"How long will the probation be?" Lazard sighed as he began typing.
"Six months." Sephiroth answered.
Cloud was amazed of this exchange. And just like that he wasn't in trouble. What amazing luck that Sephiroth just so happened to be in a meeting with Director Lazard.
What Cloud didn't expect was the backlash. People heard that Cloud threw down six people but didn't get all of the information. So this spread like wildfire. And a lot of people grew angry at the sight of him walking away free.
It got to the point that Kunsel and Cloud sought out Zack. He was in the middle of training with Angeal when they approached.
"Hey, so what happened?" Zack tilted his head.
"They attacked first. But no one wants to listen to us. They're all angry he doesn't get punished." Kunsel explained.
"Hold on. Let me make a call." Angeal pulled out his phone. "Zack, you get them on a set of drills."
Some minutes later all of their PHS went off. They checked and it was a mass message to everyone in Soldier and Public Security. It didn't give details but only that the incident has already been dealt with, and the results were an act of self defense. And it stated that cameras caught the whole ordeal.
The message further went on to explain any form of harassment will be immediately be punished. And the punishment will fit the severity of the level of harassment. Such acts do not become of Soldier and such.
"So then he's untouchable." A Soldier nearby scowled.
"Technically we're not supposed to attack each other. Unless we're training, but I doubt a training exercise in a hallway counts as training." Zack piped up.
"But he shouldn't be here! He doesn't belong!" The Soldier tried to argue.
"What about him makes you say that?" The dark haired Soldier inquired.
"Because...he eats hearts! That's not normal!"
"Okay, and? In Gongaga we eat some pretty weird stuff. Actually, if you go visit all the villages, you'll find they got some really weird things to eat. I've heard one village that survived off of chocobos after one harsh winter."
"But...hearts! He even ripped that one girls heart out while she was still alive!"
"He was triggered. And you forget something. Even after these incidents, General Sephiroth remained at his side. You follow him, don't you?"
"Of course! He's the Hero of Wutai!"
"And what does it mean if you insult Cloud while General Sephiroth is standing beside him?" Zack knew he had them thinking about the bigger picture then.
That they were insulting Sephiroth through Cloud. That so long as Sephiroth deemed Cloud worthy to stay then it wasn't their right to judge Cloud. They may not like it but they can at least show some respect.
"...Was it really in self defense?" One of the Soldiers asked.
"My head still hurts from where one of them hit me." Cloud admitted.
"And you haven't been checked!?" Zack panicked.
"No? I can walk, can't I?" The blond was confused.
"Fuck it, you're being seen. I'm not taking that chance." Zack pulled him along to be checked at the medical ward.
Angeal sighed but let them leave. He gave an update to Sephiroth, who replied he should have thought of that earlier. Later that evening Cloud returned with a mildly irritated Zack to Sephiroth's apartment.
"What did the doctor say?" Sephiroth glanced up from the paperwork.
"Just mild headache. Not even a concussion." Zack crossed his arms.
"...Can you make that soup?" Cloud wanted to eat something that wasn't just pizza after today.
"Yeah, give me a minute. Do you wanna skip tonight's writing session?" Zack offered.
"Can we skip tonight?" The blond wasn't in the mood.
"That's fine by me. Hey, wanna learn to cook instead? That way when Angeal and I leave for missions you can cook this. It's super easy once you got the basics."
"I...I guess?" He was a little scared. He knew how to heat things up again. But to cook? A little intimidating.
Then he had to remind himself that he could face Weiss and not flinch. If he could do that then Cloud should be able to handle cooking. This time even Sephiroth engaged with Angeal, making sure no accidents happened.
And under Zack's guidance Cloud learned how to make Gongaga Special. At the end he felt proud of himself. He helped himself to three bowls.
When Angeal and Zack said their farewells Cloud found himself alone with Sephiroth. This time he noticed the eyes staring at him. He smelled the curiosity from the general and did his best not to get his hopes up.
"Zack would be a good fit for you." Sephiroth tried to plant the seed.
"But his scent doesn't drive me up the wall insane. His touches doesn't make me feel alive. His eyes don't pull me in." Cloud argued, knowing what the general was trying to do.
"Is that why you steal my blankets?"
"And maybe one or two of your shirts." The blond blushed at the admission.
"Cloud, you're wearing one of them right now." Sephiroth pointed out, and the blush deepened in color.
Of course he noticed. But he didn't say anything about it in front of the others. Sephiroth wasn't sure how Cloud would react in front of guests to being called out for stealing his clothes.
"I don't mind that you do it. So long as I don't have to search through your room for something to wear then I'm fine with you taking a few." Sephiroth assured.
"So then you are interested." Cloud concluded, feeling his heart dance.
Sephiroth was caught off guard with this observation. He had to remind himself that allowing Cloud to walk around in one of his shirts could mean more than friendship is happening. He had only thought it was a comfort thing, not a sign of ownership.
"You still haven't earned me yet." The general countered, earning a sly smile. It was eerily similar to the wolf smile when Cloud was on the hunt.
Sephiroth had to remind himself Cloud sought him as a mate, not a meal.