12 October 1989

Cloud stuck one hand inside his pocket and held a stick over his shoulder with the other. He strut his way through the Nibel trail, heading down to town.

A sucker punch to the back of his leg caused him to stumble. Quickly, as he had learned to, he got back on his feet.

Kadaj. Cloud wasn't surprised at all anymore.

"What do you want?" the blond grumbled, in no mood for the other's attention-seeking.

"Don't be so rude, little brother. I'm just trying to say hello," Kadaj said, dragging his foot along the ground.

"What do you want?" Cloud repeated, ready to get into a defensive stance.

Kadaj smirked. "I'm only having fun here, little brother."

"Stop calling me that," Cloud snapped. He didn't try to hit Kadaj first. That's only what he wanted him to do. Quickly, he glanced about, catching sight of neither Loz nor Yazoo. He immediately redirected his focus back onto Kadaj, not wanting to take his eyes off of him for even a fraction of a second too long.

It didn't matter a whole lot. Kadaj rushed forward and knocked Cloud back. Reacting quickly, the blond swung his stick and managed to whack Kadaj on the side of his head.

Kadaj didn't even flinch. He held his fist in one hand and looked down at the blond with a sneer. He pulled his fist back, and Cloud closed his eyes and turned away, expecting the blow to land on his face.

Cloud cried out in agony as his stomach surged with pain. He rolled over onto his side, clutching at his stomach, when Kadaj got off.

Weakly, Cloud looked up, finding Kadaj with his stick over his shoulder.

"Thanks, little brother. I appreciate your gift," Kadaj said with a grin.

"You got what you wanted," Cloud wheezed. "Now get out of my sight." The blond cried out again as Kadaj gave him a swift kick to the leg.

"Fuck off, you miserable little shit," Kadaj muttered. "Go home and cry to your mother." He turned around and set off for his home.

The blond held his tongue and waited until Kadaj was out of sight before he stood up, leaning on a large rock for support. Panting weakly and feeling sick, the blond rested there for a few moments before continuing his journey down.

He managed to recover, for the most part, by the time he reached his mother's house. Cloud's stomach still ached with the force of the punch, but it was easily bearable. Staying outside a little longer, the blond tried to compose himself as best as he could before he opened the door and went inside.

His mother greeted him eagerly, as she always did. She strode over to the blond and reached in for a hug, pausing when she felt her son stiffen and saw him grimace.

"It's nothing," Cloud said quickly. "I'm fine."

Mrs. Strife would have none of it. She lifted Cloud's shirt a little and winced at the bruise she found.

"Kadaj?" she asked, looking up at Cloud's face.

The boy nodded.

Mrs. Strife sighed.

"I didn't do anything," Cloud protested. "He came up to me out of nowhere and punched me."

"I'm not saying you did anything," Mrs. Strife said, letting Cloud's shirt fall before walking to the freezer to pull out an ice pack. "I'm upset he laid a bad hand on you in the first place. I don't like to see you getting hurt. Stay with me for a while."

Cloud took the ice pack from his mother when she handed it to him. He hissed as the cold came into contact with his bruised, sensitive skin. "I think I will," he said, heading over to a chair and sitting down. "He didn't hit hard today," Cloud added casually as an afterthought.

Mrs. Strife went to the stove and stirred the contents in a pot. She shook her head slowly, obviously not approving of the situation at all no matter how it was looked at.

Cloud took slow breaths, trying to disturb his bruise as little as possible. Soon, the area on his stomach the ice pack touched became a little numb. The blond slumped in his seat and sighed.

Mrs. Strife perked up suddenly. "Stir the soup, dear. I forgot to bring the paper in." She crossed her arms when she heard Cloud sigh. "Don't give me that."

"Nothing ever happens around here. What's the point?"

"Just stir the soup for a couple of minutes. Please?"

Wordlessly, Cloud stood up and made his way to the stove, grabbing the ladle and stirring slowly. His mother left, then returned, just as quickly as she'd promised. Cloud heard the crinkling of paper and stopped stirring, expecting his mother to come and take over.

When nothing happened, the blond turned and looked, finding his mother staring at the front page. He saw a strange look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

Mrs. Strife didn't reply to the question. Instead, she turned the paper around and handed it to Cloud.

He stopped breathing for a few seconds as he saw a grainy photo of Sephiroth taking up the entire page.

His plan to stay at his mother's home that night was scrapped. He didn't care if Kadaj was always there and ready to beat him up at any time, he needed to know.

If there was a headline on the newspaper, then surely it was featured on television as well?

Cloud sat on the couch getting up only to kill time between commercials. He often stood up to turn the dial and flip between channels, checking different ones in hopes of finding any kind of mention of SOLDIER or Shinra in general.

Finally, after waiting for what felt like hours straight, he had it. He stepped back from the TV, threw himself back on the couch, and stared.

He paid little attention to the voice-over given by the reporter, instead focusing on how the camera rotated in a haphazard manner to capture the action. The scene was surprisingly calm, given the Wutai war was still raging on, and the SOLDIERs seemed somewhat at ease, yet still alert in what Cloud assumed was their camp.

Like before, with the newspaper, Cloud held his breath when he caught a glimpse of silver. His heart ran, and his body went rigid at the sight of his old friend.

Sephiroth eyed the camera with disdain, the TV broadcasting the brilliant blue-green of his eyes and displaying it far better than any black-and-white newspaper ever could. His smooth movements as he walked away and went out of sight entranced Cloud. How he'd missed his best friend so!

Something stirred in his stomach, and he immediately felt strange. The blond shifted in his seat, then looked down.

His body was acting weird. He'd never had this feeling before. He flushed, and stood up, the feeling only intensifying. Quickly, he ran up the stairs and into Sephiroth's room.

What was going on? He didn't even know how to describe how or what he felt. It seemed that only his lower half was affected, so he took his pants off to investigate.

What he found staring back up at him made him even more confused about himself.

Notes:

Started: 2015年1月8日（木）

Finished: 2015年1月18日（土）

Uploaded: 2015年1月20日（火）

It begins.

This version has been censored. To view the original version, go read this on AO3. Link is at the bottom of the bio (which really isn't a bio) on my profile page.