A/N: Okay guys so I am going to be introducing a concept in this chapter that I haven't really seen around much. You will know it when you read it. It is definately more adult then anything even the OG did so take that as you will. But I think it paints Cloud's life in a new context and I think that's pretty interesting. Hopefully you guys will see it that way too.
Claudia sat in her kitchen twiddling her thumbs nervously. She had been waiting for Cloud to return for hours now. She knew Cloud went to hang out with Tifa and her friends because Mrs Lockhart had come by to tell her Cloud was over. But even though she knew he was just next door, she couldn't help but worry.
Cloud has always been a quiet boy. A shy boy. Many of the other kids didn't seem to understand him well. The only child who seemed to understand Cloud, even just a little bit was little Tifa. Claudia recalled when Cloud had first met Tifa years ago. It seemed even then Cloud had a soft spot for her. And now from what she heard from Mrs Lockhart, it seems Cloud was trying to make friends with Tifa's friends. Claudia was happy that Cloud was trying to be social, but also knew that children could be cruel. She just hoped Cloud was happy.
Claudia jumped in slight shock as the front door opened. Cloud walked into the house slamming the door behind him. Cloud continued walking to his room, not paying his mother any mind. Not wanting to be ignored Claudia spoke up.
" Where have you been young man?" Claudia asked in a slightly harsh tone. Cloud jumped in suprise as he didn't even realize he had passed his mother.
" I...I went to Tifa's." Cloud mumbled. Claudia crossed her arms and gave her son a scowl.
" And why did you not come home to tell me?" Claudia asked. Cloud looked down in shame. He knew he forgot something when he went to Tifa's. He had been so caught up in the thought of playing with Tifa, telling his mother completely slipped his mind.
" I'm sorry mom... I should've told you..."' Cloud said as he continued to look down in shame. Claudia sighed and walked over to her son and quicky embraced him with a hug.
" Oh Cloud... I don't mind you going and playing with other kids. Just let me know from now on. Okay." Claudia said. Cloud couldn't help but begin to cry in his mother's embrace. The events of the day replaying in his mind. How scared he was, how angry, everything just came rushing back. And all the boy wanted was his mother to say it was all okay. Claudia heard Cloud begin to crying into her shoulder. Confused by Cloud's sudden emotional outbursts she just held on to him tighter.
" Cloud what's wrong? You hardly ever cry." Claudia said. Claudia could count on her hand how many times Cloud cried in recent years. He always bottled up his emotions. Even when he had a bad day in school, Cloud would go in his room and scream into a pillow to vent his frustration. Cloud was sure his mother didn't know, but she had always known. Cloud began to regain control of his emotions and them began explaining everything.
" Tifa's friends...They are so stupid." Cloud said with some venom to his words. Claudia let go of her son and looked him in the eyes. His eyes were red from the tears, his face was dirty and he had a bandage over his right eyebrow. Claudia sighed. She began putting some pieces together of what may have happened.
" What happened?" Claudia asked. Cloud took a deep breath before recounting the day.
Claudia and Cloud sat at the dinner table after he had told her about the day. About the wolf, how the kids disappeared, and how they hit him with a rock. Claudia couldn't help but swell with pride for her son. He tried to help the poor animal who was being terrorised by the ignorant children even though it could have been dangerous. And he saved those children too boot. Claudia smiled as she ran her hand through Cloud's dirty hair. Blood had soaked into some of his bangs. She was delighted to hear how selfless he had been.
" Well I can't say I'm happy you put yourself in danger like that. But you acted bravely. You can't say that about Rye and his friends. " Claudia said hoping to cheer her son up.
"Yeah..." Cloid said. Cloud hadn't thought that he was being brave, he was just doing what came natural to him.
" Well. We can talk more about this later. You need to clean yourself up young man." Claudia said as she stood up and walked toward the bathroom. Cloud wordlessly followed suit.
" Now you get yourself cleaned up now. Then after what do you say we have some ice cream hmm?" Claudia offered. Cloud absolutely loved ice cream. it was probably by far his favorite thing to eat. What ever mood he was in before had vanished as soon as him mother mentioned the creamy delight.
" Really! Okay!" Cloud yelled out happily as he rushed into the bathroom and ran the bath.
The next day
The next day of school for Cloud was terrible. The story of that night spread around like crazy. But it was completely false. Rye, Jenna and Gin told there own version of what happened and seemed to have told the whole school.
Cloud noticed how people were looking at him now, suddenly avoiding him. Well more then usual. He had hoped to talk with Tifa some more but her friends all seemed to keep her away from him. Sometimes as he walked through the halls Cloud would hear some people talking about how he had a pet wolf, or that he was the wolf boy. Or how he wanted to feed Rye and the others to it. Cloud couldn't believe how gullible people in this school were. They really thought he had a pet wolf? These people don't even know him. One kid decided to call out to Cloud in the halls at lunch.
" Hey wolf boy!" the kid yelled at Cloud. Cloud decided to just ignore him.
" Wolf Boy! Where's your pet wolf?" The kid continued. Cloud jelust kept walking trying to go to lunch.
" Hey do you howl with your wolf too?" the kid asks as he then begins howling. Cloud had enough of this.
Frustrated with what was going on Cloud decided to confront the source of these rumors that had been spreading. Cloud found Rye, Jenna, Gin and Tifa all sitting together in the cafeteria at lunch. When they saw Cloud approaching Tifa was the only one that gave him any sort of welcome.
" Hey Cloud." Tifa greeter politely. Cloud decided to ignore her and looked at Rye.
" What the hell. Why are you spreading rumors about me." Cloud demanded. Jenna looked at Cloud and looked a little uncomfortable but Gin and Rye looked amused.
" Oh come on Cloud, were just playing around." Gin said.
" Yeah, just some stories to tell others." Rye said.
" Then tell the truth then. Don't be saying shit about me." Cloud said" Tifa looked genuinely confused by this whole conversation.
" What are you guys talking about?" Tifa asked, not sure what they ment. Rye quickly spoke up before Cloud could say anything.
" Nothing Tifa, I just told a few guys about what happened last night that's all." Rye said.
" Yeah, Cloud tried to scare us with a wolf he found. But it scratched him instead. We had to scare the thing off to save him." Gin said. Cloud's eyes widened at this. These guys were completely fliping the story to make Cloud look like the idiot. Jenna still remained silent.
" Liers! Your Lying to everyone just to make your selfs look better." Cloud yelled, drawing attention toward them. Tifa looked even more confused.
" Well what really happened Cloud?" Tifa asked. A crowd then began forming around them.
" These guys went and found a sleeping wolf so they thought they should try to kill it. They dropped a big rock on its leg to pin it and left to find another. I found the wolf and helped it out. Then these guys come back and throw a damn rock at the wolf but it hits me instead. The wolf freaked out and almost attacked them. I jumped in the way and managed to scare it away." Cloud explained. Everyone looked at each other trying to figure out what which person was telling the truth. Rye laughed as he stood and approached Cloud.
" Come on Cloud that's crazy. Why would we try to kill an innocent animal. You were the one who was talking to it. When we came you told it to get us. Had you trained your pet a bit better maybe it would have hurt us instead of you." Rye said as he poked Cloud's bandage. Cloud clenched his fists tight as he tried to hold himself back from attacking Rye. Cloud decided it was probably a good idea to walk away right now. He was angry and could blow at any minute. Cloud looked down to the floor and wordlessly turned around to leave. Tifa looked like she wanted to say something but she couldn't think of the words. Cloud was just about out the door when he heard something he wasn't ment to hear.
" Can you believe that freak." Rye said to Gin. The two boys laughed.
" It's cus his mom doesn't give him enough attention cus she's busy with her job." Gin said. Cloud had now stopped moving and was listening closely. He had begun shaking angrily.
" My dad told me that she's a whore.." Rye said.
An audible gasp was heated on the cafeteria. Some of the kids in the lunch room began mumbling to each other, asking what a whore was. All they knew was that it sounded like a bad word. Cloud however knew what Rye was talking about. Cloud turned back to see Rye laughing with Gin. This broke any restraint Cloud had left.
" Rye! I can't believe you said that!" Tifa yelled at him knowing full well what he ment. Cloud was now walking toward Rye. Gin had now stopped laughing as he noticed Cloud walking back to them. Rye seemed to be the last person to notice Cloud returning because everyone was staring at Cloud as Rye turned around.
Cloud threw his fist into Rye's face sending the taller boy to the floor. The crowd around them all gasped At the sudden action. Tifa and Jenna stood up shocked at what just happened. Gin on the other hand had jumped over the table and charged for Cloud. Gin tackled Cloud to the floor as the crowd all began to chant the word "Fight". Cloud struggled against Gin for a moment. The boys rolling on the ground trying to get the upperhand on the other. Cloud finally managed to role on top of Gin and shoved Gin's head down against the floor. Gin thrashed around trying to get Cloud off of him, but the blond had a good grip. Rye seeing that Cloud was distracted got up from the floor and kicked Cloud in the ribs. Cloud lost his grip on Gin and he fell to the floor holding his side. Rye then proceeded to kick Cloud over and over.
" You like that wolf boy." Rye said as he kicked Cloud's sides. Gin jumped up from the floor and joined his friend in kicking Cloud. Cloud curled up into a ball and tried blocking the kicks. Tifa ran up to Rye and grabbed his arm.
" Rye stop it, that enough." Tifa pleaded but Rye was too caught up with what was happening.
" I'm mess you up so bad your mom will pay others to keep her away from you." Rye said taunting Cloud. Rye was getting so into it he failed to notice that Cloud had stopped flinching at the kicks. Gin was the first to notice Cloud not moving anymore and stopped kicking. Cloud suddenly grabbed Rye's leg just before it hit him again.
" What!" Rye said.
" AAAAAAHHHHHHH" Cloud yelled as an orange aura covered his body. With strength he shouldn't have, he picked Rye up off the ground and threw him across the whole cafeteria and into the wall with one arm. The entire lunch room stared at the scene in shock. Gin had fallen to the ground in fear of Cloud. Some of the students rushed over to see if Rye was okay. Tifa looked over to Cloud and saw that the strange aura that covered him before was now gone. She rushed over to his side and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
" Cloud, are you okay." Tifa asked. Cloud flinched at her touch, he wanted to yell at her. To scream at her and blame her because she was friends with these assholes. But the rational part of his mind was coming back and told him that she wasn't at fault. Cloud stood up with some minor struggle. Tifa tried to help but Cloud pushed away.
" I can do it..." Cloud said. Cloud managed to get to his feet. Tifa quickly pulled a chair out for him to sit down. Cloud happily sits down.
The murmers then began again. People began talking about the fight that just happened. But mostly how it ended. With Cloud throwing a boy that was bigger then him across the whole lunch room. Cloud tried not to listen to the masses talking but he couldn't help it. Words like, freak, monster, scary were being thrown around. Cloud sighed in defeat.
He had just made everything worse.
The principle had arrived a few moments after the fight was over. He looked at the scene and imidiately took Cloud to the principles office and took Rye to the nurses office. The other teachers grabbed Gin, Jenna, and Tifa and brought them to the office as well.
They all sat there in the office receptionist area not saying a word. Cloud's hand shot to his ribs as he felt pangs of pain hit him periodically. Tifa was worried that maybe Cloud had a broken rib. She stood up and walked over to the receptionist.
" My friend Cloud is hurt, can I take him to the nurses office please? We will be right back." Tifa asked hoping to get Cloud parched up. but she also wanted to talk to him about what happened.
" The principle is just about done calling parents, so you won't wait long for him. Have a seat." The receptionist said. Tifa wanted to say something else but Cloud stopped her.
"I'm fine Tifa...leave it alone..." Cloud said as he tried to mask the pain in his voice. Tifa huffed and took her seat next to Cloud. The four students sat in silence for a few moments before the principle came back in to face them.
" Okay Gin, Come in." The principle said. Gin got up from his chair and walked into the main office. The principle closed the door so the could speak privately. Now that the Gin was gone Tifa turned to talk with Cloud.
" Is what you said true? Rye hit you with a rock?" Tifa asked. Cloud remained silent for a moment before answering.
" Yeah..." Tifa mouth dropped a little and she shook her head in disappointment. She then turned to Jenna who had been really quiet for a while.
"And you didn't think to tell me?" Tifa asked. Jenna looked genuinely guilty when Tifa directed her disappointed glare at her.
" I'm sorry Tifa. I honestly thought Cloud would have told you." Jenna explained bit she wasn't done.
" And Cloud im so sorry about the rumors. I didn't know people would take it so far. And I'm sorry about Rye and Gin.. They are such assholes for saying those things about your mom.." Jenna apologised.
" Language!" The receptionist barked. Jenna just ignored her.
" Seriously Cloud I am so sorry about your head. I didn't even know you were next to that wolf." Jenna said.
" You wouldn't have come across the Wolf had you not left us alone on the path.." Cloud said through slightly labored breaths. Jenna looked down in shame.
The principle opened the door and Gin walked out the office and exited the reception area. All the while giving Cloud a cold glare.
" Jenna. Come in " The principle said. Jenna did as she was told and followed the principle into his office. The door closing behind them once again.
'sniff'
Cloud heard the muffled sound of crying. He looked over to Tifa and saw she had her hands in her face trying to hide her face. Cloud fought through the pain that shot through his ribs and leaned closer to her.
" Tifa...it's okay. Really." Cloud said trying to comfort her. Tifa shook her head and dropped her hand to show her crying form.
" No. it's not okay... it's my fault you got hurt. If I didn't ask you to come you would have been fine, and you wouldn't have gotten into that fight. Its all my fault." Tifa said as tears kept falling.
Cloud didn't really know what to do here but he knew he needed to help. He looked over to the receptionist who was not paying any sort of attention at all. He did notice that she had a box of tissues on her desk however. Cloud stood up and waddled over to her desk and grabbed her tissues. This got the receptionists attention however.
" Hey. Those are my tissues. You can't have all of it." The receptionist said but Cloud didn't pay her any mind and simply handed them to Tifa, who gladly accepted them.
"Thank you..." Tifa said as she wiped the tears away.
" It's not your fault. It's Rye's and Gin's. They were being stupid. You did nothing wrong." Cloud said hoping to reassure her.
" I know they are to blame, but I..." Tifa said trying to pin some of it on herself. Cloud sighed as he didn't know exactly what to say to fix this. He just say there wondering and Tifa sat there next to him feeling guilty for something she didn't need to feel guilty over
The principles door opened again and out came Jenna who looked like she was crying a bit also. She didn't stop. to say a word to ether Cloud or Tifa, she just exited the office.
" Tifa, your dismissed. You can go home." The principle said. Tifa looked stunned for a moment and looked to Cloud to see if she heard right.
" Go...I'll be fine." Cloud said as he stood up and wattled inside the principles office. Leaving Tifa sitting in the reception area confused again.
Cloud quickly took a seat as it hurt a bit too much to be walking around so much. The principle said nothing as he walked around his desk and sat at his chair. He left Cloud waiting for a minute as he looked over some notes that he had. The principle then looked at Cloud and gave him a smile.
" Okay Cloud, so the others have told me that you started a fight with your classmate. Is this true." The principle asked.
" ...yes" Cloud reluctantly answered.
" And the fight was over rumors that had been spread over the school is that correct?" The principle asked. Cloud was about to say yes to just get this whole thing over with but he stopped himself. Rye had said some hurtful things Bout his mother. Things that he wouldn't let slide.
" No, it wasn't." Cloud responded. The principle looked back down at his notes.
" well the other kids say that it was because of the rumors. Are you calling them liers?" The principle accused. Cloud was a little taken by the blunt accusation.
" What? No. I went to Rye to confront him about the rumors but that's not why the fight started." Cloud explained. The principle grabbed his pen and began to write down some notes on his paper.
" Rye was sayin-" Cloud started but was interrupted by the principle holding his finger up to stop him from talking as he furiously wrote on his notepad. Cloud then waited for a few more seconds before the principle stopped.
" Now, Can you tell me what these rumors are about?" The principle asks. Cloud takes a breath before talking.
" Yesterday Rye, Jenna and Gin were hanging out with me and Tifa. We took a walk in the woods when we lost them." Cloud explained.
" Lost who?" The principle asked as he began writing again.
" Rye, Jenna and Gin. They disappeared from the trail. So we followed our tracks back and found where they turned." Cloud said. The principle continued to write everything down as Cloud spoke. Cloud wondered what exactly he needed the notes for.
" I told Tifa to go home and get an adult in case something was wrong. Then I followed the tracks for a while. But instead of them, I found a big wolf." Cloud explained
" A wolf?" The principle asked. Cloud just nodded.
" It was stuck under a big rock, so I tried to get it free. Which I did. That's when Rye and the others came." Cloud said. deciding to stop and collect his thoughts a bit.
" What happened then?" Principle asked. Cloud lifted his hair from above his bandage and removed the bandage to show the stitched up cut above his eyebrow.
" They threw a rock at the wolf but it hit me instead." Cloud said. The principle nodded and continued to write in his notes.
" The Wolf was about to attack then but I stopped it." Cloud explained.
" You stopped it?" How?" The principle asked skeptically.
" I don't know really. I ran in front of it and asked it to leave then alone. I guess it must have liked me cus it just left after that." Cloud explained. Thinking back on it he wasn't really sure why the wolf didn't pounce. It did seem to calm down pretty quickly too. Did it listen to him? Or did he just get bored Cloud wondered.
" Okay. And then what happened?" The principle asked.
" That's pretty much it. I asked where they went before and they said they wanted to hunt down the wolf because they saw its tracks. That's why it was pinned down.' Cloud explained. The principle wrote all of this down and then looked it over.
" Okay so let me see if I got this right: Rye, Gin, Jenna, Tifa and yourself all went into the woods. You lost Rye, Jenna, and Gin alone the way and went looking for them while sending Tifa for help. You then encountered a wolf, which was stuck under rocks which you lifted off of it. And then Rye, Gin, and Jenna arrive, they throw a rock ment for the Wolf, but end up hitting you. You then successfully talked a wolf down and protected the three kids single handedly. Am I understanding this so far." The principle asked.
Cloud could tell this was already going poorly. The principle was doing a very poor job of keeping the skepticism out of his voice. Cloud could only hope that the rest goes better.
" Yes sir. That's correct." Cloud says. The principle writes a few more notes down before he asks another question.
" So where do the rumors come in?" The principle asks.
" I came into school today and I started hearing people saying stuff like: I'm a wolf boy, I had a pet wolf, or that I wanted to feed Rye and the others to the wolf." Cloud said. The principle wrote more notes. Cloud was beginning to get really annoyed by his note writing.
" So if the rumors weren't the start of the fight, what was?" The principle asked.
'His mom doesn't give him enough attention''
'she's a whore.'
Cloud thought back to the things Rye and Gin said. He knew full well what it ment. Even if some of the kids at school didn't, He knew. He had known for years what being escort ment. His mother tried to hide it from him, but he knew. She was exactly what Rye had said.
" They... said some unkind things about my mother." Cloud said quietly.
" Was it mere insults? Saying she was overweight? Or uneducated?" The principle asked using the more correct terminology for calling someone fat and dumb He continued to scribble down some notes as he waited for Cloud to respond.
" No...they called her a whore..." Cloud said. The principle stopped writing at that and looked at Cloud with pity.
" Oh..." The room grew very quiet. Cloud assumed that the principle must have known about his mother's "job". It's why he grew so quiet. Tears began to well up in Cloud's eyes. He really didn't want to have to think about this.
" Well, children can be cruel, and can repeat things they hear from there parents that they may not fully understand. I will have words with Rye and Gin later. As well was there parents." The principle said. Cloud simply nodded accepting that as a fitting punishment for the two.
" Did Jenna have anything to do with the rumors." The principle asked. Remembering how Jenna apologized prior decided to let her off the hook.
" No she didn't. She even apologized for Rye and Gin acting like jerks." Cloud says. The principle the writes down some notes before speaking again.
" Okay. While I understand your outburst today, I can't condone fighting in my school. You will have a one week suspension. You will not be required to come into school for this week. Your school work will be delivered to your house every day. And the work will be completled by the time you return next week. Is that understood?" The principle asked.
" Yes sir. Can I go now?" Cloud asked.
" Not yet, there is one more thing we need to speak about." The principle said. Cloud began to worry for a second. What else was there to talk about. He was already suspended, what else was there?
" People have mentioned that during the fight you exhibited an "orange glow"?" The principle said. Cloud blinked. What was he talking about? Cloud didn't remember any orange glow. When did that happen?
" Students have said that when the other two students got the better of you, you started glowing. You then proceeded to throw Rye across the cafeteria." The principle said. Cloud definately remembered that part. He didn't really give it much thought however. How did he do that? He threw Rye who was bigger then he was a good distance. Cloud couldn't understand how he did it. The principle seeing that Cloud had some recollection of his feat of strength continued.
" Cloud, from what people are describing, what you performed was something known as a Limit Break." The principle explained.
" A Limit break?" Cloud repeated.
" It is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, your body was pushed physically and mentally in that moment and you briefly broke your physical limits." The principle explained.
" Is...that bad?" Cloud asked, worried that he may have harmed himself somehow.
" Not at all. I'll admit the circumstances of this are rather unfortunate but I assure you Cloud it is something completely natural that everyone can do." The principle explained. Cloud relaxed a little at that. He was worried that he may unknowingly break things now.
" But there lies an issue with this. Limit breaks are something that we teach the older kids. At around the age of 14 kids usually begin to unlock that potential within themselfs. At school we can properly train the students how to properly channel that energy and to minimise the potential damage one could cause of they loose control. But you have unlocked this 4 years early." The principle explained.
" What do you mean loose control?' Cloud asked getting worried once again.
" There is always a chance when you release your limit energy that you can potentially harm yourself or others around you. We can teach you how to properly aim all the energy where you want it. And also how to properly control your emotions so you can hold the energy inside until it evaporates." The principle explains. Cloud was now getting lost. This was so much information he had no clue what to make of it. The Principle saw Cloud's look of confusion and chuckled.
" Haha, this is why we have a course for this. So because you unlocked this potential in you, the chances you will do it again has increased dramatically. So we need to begin training you in its use as soon as possible." The principle said. Cloud's ears perked up a bit at the word training.
" When you are back from suspension, you will spend an hour after school with the gym teacher Mr. Johnson. He will give you private lessons on limit control. Does that sound fair to you?" The principle asked. Cloud simply nodded not really knowing how to take this new information.
" Okay Cloud, we are done here. Your mother should be waiting outside for you." The principle said as he showed Cloud the door. Cloud then walked out of the room and proceeded out of the school.
The whole walk out was a blur. Cloud had been thinking about this whole Limit break thing. It honestly sounded kind of cool. He figured SOLDIER's knew how to do it really well. He was going to get training on it too. Maybe one day he can be as good as they were at it. But just as he thought about doing cool Limit breaking moves, his body reminded him of the cost such a limit would require. His side's pounded in pain once again as he clutched his side as if trying to keep it together. Cloud walked out of the school clutching his side and unfortunately his mother saw him in pain. Claudia rushed over to her son's side and quickly kneeled down to examine him closer.
" Oh my god Cloud! Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Why were you in a fight?Is your head okay? What about your side? Can I see?" Claudia began asking a million questions as she looked over her son. Cloud couldn't help but simply fall into his mother's arms as he found it too hard to stay up right.
" Mom I'm tired... can we go home now?" Cloud asked. Claudia stopped with her questions and just held her son. She knew he would tell her everything later anyway.
" Okay honey. Let go." Claudia said as she lifted him off the ground and began heading home.
" Mom?"
" Yeah hon?"
" Can you stay home tonight?" Cloud asked. It was a very loaded question and Claudia knew it was. She simply squeezed her some a little tighter.
" Of course. I won't leave your side."
A/N: Okay so some people may not be too jazzed on the idea that Cloud's mom is a sex worker but just bare with me on it. There is a reason behind it. Also I thought it added some color to this otherwise pretty generic portion of Cloud's story. Let me know what you guys think of this new development. And please let me know what you guys think over all. Thanks for reading.