Note: Still writing fanfiction. Still no beta reader. Still don't own Final Fantasy.

Oh, whatever...

"So, anything special planned for today?"

The question was asked in a cheerful and happy tone, its owner seemingly not too much affected by the summer temperatures.

"Nothing much, really." The possessor of the second voice appeared to be a bit more down-to-earth, but probably sounded a little bit too relaxed and laid-back to be taken seriously. "It's too warm to do any homework today, so I suggest we just hang around a bit. We can decide about the details later, but first let's get some ice-cream; otherwise I won't survive the next two hours. Jeez, I just can't stand sitting around in class rooms all day. How can they lock us in there when it's such a great weather today?! Are these people even human?!"

A snicker was heard. "Aw, poor Reno. But it will continue like this for another few weeks. Get used to it, vacation is over."

"But there's always winter vacation... in... how many days again?" Reno's face lit up as he pulled out a pocked diary from seemingly nowhere and happily leaned back against an oak tree. "I guess I'll start counting the hours in two or three weeks or so..."

A quiet laugh. "You are impossible, but that's fine with me."

Now it was Reno's turn to snicker. "I know. The crazier people act, the more you like them. I have it all figured out, Zack."

Zack just quirked an eyebrow and grinned, not replying. Comfortably stretched out in the shadow of the oak tree, he lazily gazed towards the other end of the campus. From here, he could even see the sports fields and watch various students gathering for after school activities.

"How foolish," he murmured. "These dumb guys are all going to die, running around in the open when the sun's burning like that."

"Be thankful then that we're two sensible and intelligent guys who know when to just lie back and enjoy the day – other than these sports freaks and other show-offs over there," Reno laughed.

"Hey, some of these "show-offs" happen to be my friends." Zack threw a pen at Reno and missed.

"But don't you also think that we are damn lucky guys? Not having to move a muscle, but still looking hot," Reno chirped and grinned self-satisfied.

"I can't believe you are being that modest today," Zack scoffed. "What happened, did someone hit you over the head with a baseball bat?!"

"Eh, don't worry, school jus' began a few days ago. I need a bit more practise, that's all..."

The two boys had made themselves comfortable on one of the various little lawns the school grounds had to offer. Their hiding place was carefully chosen, a bit aside from the most crowded areas of the school, almost hidden as it was encircled by some thick bushes, trees and a low brick wall. Basically, they could see almost everything that was going on from here, but could in return hardly be seen by anyone, if one didn't exactly know that this spot almost precisely between the school gates and the parking lot served as a makeshift den for a couple of students.

After a minute, Reno couldn't stand being quiet anymore and broke the comfortable silence. "Hey, what exactly happened to your groupies today? Forgot them this time, or did they finally grow up, grew brains and in an instant lost interest?" he asked somewhat mockingly.

Zack grinned, closing his eyes. "Lost them somewhere near the cafeteria. Quite a relief. I mean, not that I don't enjoy being the center of attention..."

"I'd be seriously worried about you now if you said anything else," Reno scoffed.

"...but sometimes a normal human being just wants some time off without anyone to bother them," Zack finished, ignoring his friend's comment.

Reno poked him in the ribs. "Zack, you are no normal human being. Besides, you haven't gotten rid of me yet. How do you plan to do that?" He looked genuinely curious.

Zack cracked one eye open. "You know, this is the part where you are supposed to act really offended and pouty and so on."

"Well, I do not. I'm used to people wanting to get rid of me. You, of course, are not familiar with such a thing. So, answer me."

"Whatever. Maybe I just meant that sometimes I like to spend my time with the people I want to."

Reno gave a sudden yell and scuttled a few feet away from Zack hurriedly, pretending to be scared to death. But he couldn't keep the act for long and laughed. "Gods, you need to practise a bit more. Really, Zack, this was just bad. Never ever talk to people like that. If I was any other person in the world, I would have run without ever stopping until I had reached at least another continent..."

"I hope for your own sake, then, that you have the ability to grow gills in record time." Zack flashed him a grin. "And to save my reputation - the girls like that line. And some of the boys, too..."

"Only because most of the poor creatures are blind with their affection for you and just don't realize what a playboy you can be if getting too high-spirited."

The two boys turned their heads in the direction the gentle voice had come from to look at the girl who had just arrived without them noticing.

"Aeris...? Aeris!" Zack sat up, beaming. "You joining us today?"

"To put up with you?" She smiled as she swung her legs over the wall and crouched down beside them. "Don't get your hopes up, I just came over to say bye - I'm heading straight to town with Rachel, if you really have to know." She pointed over her shoulder, where her friend was waiting patiently near the gates. "And you are not invited."

"Mean." Zack pouted.

Aeris laughed softly. "By the way, what has happened to the trio of doom? Where is Elena? Did she get sick of you two eventually? I have to offer her my congratulations for becoming sensible." She smiled impishly.

"She should be here soon," Reno answered, gracefully ignoring the last remark. "Her last period was World History, it might have taken a little longer due to some stuff about a class project - or so she told me."

"Well." The pretty girl stood up again. "See you tomorrow, then."

They said their goodbyes, and Aeris headed back to her friend.

"Okay. So, where is Elena?" Zack asked when the two girls had disappeared out of view. "We've been waiting for quite some time now. What was that with the project thing?"

"Oh, that..." Reno shrugged. "She was not entirely happy with that. Apparently, some teacher had the funny idea of making them give a presentation about some stuff – I think it was the second world war."

"That early in the school year?" Zack grinned. "Poor Elena - I guess we'll have to cheer her up."

"I think you are right." Renos voice sounded a bit alarmed. He had scrambled over to the wall to peer over the edge. "There she comes, and she doesn't look too happy, if you ask me."

Zack looked over his friend's shoulder to see an obviously seething Elena approaching them, and he just couldn't imagine that this rage was the result of only a completely boring homework. Not with other students shying away from her after they had catched the look on her face.

"I don't want to be at the receiving end of her anger right now," he remarked in a rather amused tone.

Reno frowned. "Me neither."

"Don't talk to me." Elena hissed as she slumped down beside Reno, folding her arms.

Reno raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"

Elena hissed some more. "It couldn't be worse."

"Jeez, I know that World History is the most boring class ever, but I thought you were quite good at it. What can there be that makes you...?"

"It's not about that. Did I already tell you that I have to work with a partner on this?!"

"I like working with partners," Zack piped up. "Even more in groups. You can leave the whole stuff to other people and just relax."

Reno and Elena both shot him a quite irritated look. "Maybe it works that way for you," Reno snapped.

"Hey, don't take everything so serious." Grinning, Zack held his hands up in defeat. "Just kidding."

"The day you start taking things seriously will be the one I'll mark in my calendar." Elena wasn't ready to just leave the subject. "Just in case you haven't noticed - this is your graduation year."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Oh. My. God. We're not even fully into the first semester and she already starts talking about Zack's graduation. I wonder what it's going to be like for me next year. She'll probably run after me the whole day to ask me whether I have done my homework yet and that I better should start studying for the final exams during summer vacation, or else I'll have no chance at all, or something like that."

And, before Elena had a chance to respond to this, he went on: "Come on, don't be childish. Is there really nobody in your class you would like to work with?!"

Elena looked ready to explode again. "Oh, don't worry, there are quite a few people. Let me correct that, there would be quite a few people, if we were at least to choose our partner!"

And after that, she finally started spluttering what was bothering her. Zack and Reno weren't always sure what exactly she was talking about, but eventually she felt certain that her friends were finally convinced of the fact that she had to be the most miserable human being on Gods earth - and stopped for breath.

"Er...so..." Reno began slowly. "You are disgruntled, because you have to work out your presentation with some person you don't know, right? And that same person also happens to be a guy and, in addition, is some new kid who doesn't really care to assimilate himself? Did I understand all that correctly?"

Elena snorted. "That's an understatement. I swear, that jerk think's he's something better. Didn't talk to one single person in our grade other than throw insults at them that I didn't even hear from Reno yet, scared everyone away who tried to socialize with him, he doesn't pay any attention, hell, he didn't even realize we were assigned together until I informed him about it, and he looks at us, like... well, generally he's trying to stare us to death, actually. In short, he's an asshole." She seemed to have calmed down a bit, since she stopped glaring daggers now.

Reno raised an eyebrow. "You should watch your language, too, you know..."

"Please what?!" Elena exploded in a sudden outburst of revived fury. "Dammit, Reno, stop pretending already that you're in any position to tell me what and what not to do!"

Reno folded his arms and sulked. "Well, someone apparently has to. I mean, jus' look at yourself! You been wearing that all day or what?!"

Elena looked at her clothing and then back at Reno, an expression on her face as if she seriously doubted Reno's sanity now. "Erm... Reno... that is a skirt," She told him flatly. "You know, these things that girls wear when it gets kinda warm outside."

"Oh really? You call that a skirt? Are you even allowed to show yourself like that in school?!"

"It's almost knee-length, for heaven's sake!"

"Yes, if barely-more-than-a-belt is the new knee-length, then indeed it is!"

"Reno, you are not my mother!"

"But I am... "

"Hey, quit it, you two," Zack intervened, chuckling. "Really, can't you just spend two minutes in each other's presence without bickering about something – for once?!"

Surprisingly enough, both Reno and Elena turned to look at him. Zack seemed thoughtful for a moment, then his face lit up. "Hey, maybe that guy of yours is just shy, Elena. How would you know if you don't really know him?!"

"Oh, but of course," she responded dryly. "I can see what you mean. This whole nasty and vicious behaviour, all the death threats, hell, of course he's just shy, why didn't I think of that?! If only he would talk civilly just every now and then, so that it was actually possible to get to know him, then I wouldn't have drawn false conclusions in the first place!" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Zack didn't seem to notice.

"See?" he beamed. "Now is the opportunity! You have to work on a school assignment together, he has to talk to you! Isn't that just great?!"

"Wow, Zack, you are so intelligent and wise! How did you know that this was what I always wanted?! - Dammit,Zack!" Elena slowly went angry again. "This will sound infantile now, but: I don't want to! Besides, that guy actually creeps me out." She slumped back against the wall and folded her arms over her chest again. "I really thought I would just dissolve when he gave me that death glare before – and jeez, I was just trying to help."

"He's antisocial...doesn't care about school... he's scary... is able to make even Elena afraid of him..." Zack murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Forget it." Elena gave him a light punch to the shoulder. "I know you like to associate with the weirdest people at times, but in this case... just forget it." She sounded serious. "There is this boy in my grade who is just as persistent as you, this Robert guy, I told you about him. In the first days, he was determined to get some words out of him that you can also find in a dictionary, and at first he just got the usual glares and insults that everyone who came close to him had to deal with. And then..."

"And then he found Cloud's weak spot and they became great friends?" Zack's voice didn't sound too hopeful. More like someone just snatched his candy away.

"... and then," Elena went on, "... he found out about Robert's... well, sexual preferences. I don't really know what happened at their next encounter, he wouldn't tell, but the poor guy was nearly crying afterwards..."

"I thought he has learned to deal with stupid people." Reno frowned.

Elena narrowed her eyes. "But not with him."

"Could always be that your Cloud person just interpreted Robert's efforts a bit wrong and just got scared!" Zack offered enthusiastically. "Hell, maybe Robert really did hit on him! Maybe that whole thing's just a misunderstanding! – Or maybe Cloud is just a homophobic jerk," he added, shrugging. "Difficult to tell, sometimes. But we shouldn't judge him just yet..."

"Zack, please." Elena seemed to get tired of the whole conversation. "It's not bad that you always want to see the good in people, really, but you can overdo everything. Besides, Robert already has a boyfriend. There's no reason whatsoever that he should have any interest in a person like Cloud." She sighed. "Except that, for some reaon, the girls all swoon over him," she admitted reluctantly. "And just because he is somewhat good-looking. Dumbass doesn't even realize it. As if they're not worth being noticed by him... as if they are lower beings than him, or something. How I hate people like that!"

"Zack, what exactly are you doing there?" Reno suddenly said, cutting her off.

Zack, who had been scribbling into a small notebook while Elena talked, looked up with a slightly guilty expression.

"Eh..." he scratched his head, "...just completing my list on him. Added "homophobic" and "probably crush of the whole tenth grade". That fellow's getting quite interesting."

"Great. It actually happened," Elena stated in a monotone tone of voice. "He's gotten completely mad. This is all your fault, Reno."

"Why mine?! Why is it always me?" Reno complained. "Now, come on. There are a few things that will make it worthwhile spending your time with Cloud, don't you realize?"

"Well, I would like to know." Elena snatched the notebook from Zack's hands, ripped out the paper he had been writing on and busied herself with shredding it to tiny little frazzles furiously.

Reno grinned. "I mean, just think about how all the other girls will envy you about this! I bet they would just die to be at your place! And they all will want to talk to you and will want to hear every tiny detail that you'll find out about him..."

"God help me!" Elena shrieked, and Reno snickered and playfully elbowed her into the side. "And seriously, can all the girls in your grade be that wrong? Or are you the only one with proper eyesight? Come on, I wanna know! Is he really...?" He sounded curious now.

Elena just rolled her eyes. "Okay, so he is kinda cute..."

"Aha!" satisfied with the answer, Reno peeked over the wall to look over to the main entrance, where the stream of students leaving the school building had lessened somewhat. "Is he already gone, or ist there a chance that we get to look at your new co-worker?"

"He's one of those who always seem to be in a hurry, but he also takes ages at his locker, should be still in there," said Elena while watching Zack, who had begun gathering the small pieces of paper with a look on his face as if he had just found out that he'd been dumped by the love of his live. "You killed it!" she heard him wail.

Elena sighed and turned around to look outside their little hideout as well. "You will find it hard to miss him," she told a curious Reno. "Just look out for the most outrageous hairstyle. Not even you guys can keep up with that."

"If that really is the case, I will have no choice but to declare him my new arch-enemy," Reno said, dangerously narrowing his eyes. "How dare he?!"

Elena sighed once more. "You know, sometimes I ask myself why I even bother to try and beat some sense into you."

"Because you are my precious little sister, of course!"

"Your precious little stepsister, if you please," Elena corrected and then pointed with her chin to a certain person just leaving the building with quick steps. "Over there! See him? Baggy pants, red t-shirt, blond spikes and a face as if he had to listen to you gossiping about the last party you attended."

"What, that small kid over there is actually able to give you the creeps?! But you're right, he really is hard to miss!" Reno snickered. "Damn, I just have to know which hair gel he uses! Hey, Elena - you think he will...?"

"I don't think so, Reno."

"Hey, quit talking about his hair already!" Zack called from his spot where he had sprawled out on the grass again. "I wanna hear about his cuteness factor!"

"Well," Reno answered dryly, "Since I am neither a girl nor gay, I can't really tell, you know. Why don't you come over and see for yourself?!"

"What a shame... really, nowadays, I have to do just everything by myself," Zack complained before he joined his friends at the wall. He quickly was able to spot the blond spikes that Elena had mentioned, standing up in every possible direction. He whistled in astonishment. "Jeez, that guy is cute!" He stared for a few moments and then turned to give Elena an unbelieving look. "Gods, Laney, I can't believe you are throwing such a hissy fit! That fellow is positively gorgeous, you are the luckiest girl in the world!"

"Really...?" Elena stood up to lean against the tree trunk with a shoulder, placing a hand on her hip. She made a face. "Not everybody is shallow like you, Zack. I don't care what people look like."

"He could just rival me as the hottest guy in school," Zack mused, ignoring the girl. When Reno gave him a raised eyebrow, he just grinned sheepishly. "Why, with you being the second hottest, of course."

Reno shook his head in response.

"Wonder why he's glaring like that, though," Zack chattered on, directing his gaze once more to the male student who quickly made his way to the gates, passing the groups of students without looking at them and not noticing the looks he got from most of the girls, hands buried in his pockets and his gaze lowered, with some blond bangs falling into his face. "Eh, it must be his name," he gave the answer, before Reno or Elena could say something. "If my parents had named me Cloud, I would also be grumpy twenty-four-seven. But since I am a lucky guy to have such a cool name like Zack..."

"Why are we even still hanging around here?" Elena cut him off, deciding to leave this topic at least for today. "If I don't get something freezingly cold in the next thirty minutes, I'm going to be seriously upset. And trust me, you don't want that."

Neither of the boys doubted a word she was saying.

"Yeah, let's go!" Zack jumped to his feet.

"Let's forget that little troublemaker and head to town," Reno agreed.

Just when Elena sighed in relief, Zack made another observation. "Hey, Laney, maybe we should invite that crazy guy of yours along," he chuckled. "He looks like he needs a bit of ice-cream as well. I think he will break down in a minute or so."

Elena didn't even pay attention to his outstretched finger. "Always looks that way," she shrugged it off. "I don't know exactly where he's from - in fact, nobody knows - but it must be Alaska or something. Or Greenland."

"See, that could be another reason for him to be so strange! Just imagine what it must be like when you're..."

"Zack, just quit it."

"...Whatever."

"When exactly are you two meeting for the first time?" Reno asked Elena when they left the school grounds after making sure that Cloud was nowhere in sight anymore.

"Tomorrow, library," she answered curtly.

Reno frowned. "Aw, not the library. But anyways," he went on, "...actually I wanted to spend my free time somewhere else, since it's friday tomorrow, but in this case," he slung one of his arms around Elenas shoulders compassionately, "I think I'll just stick around to cheer you up. Or maybe just drop in once to say hello. And, who knows", he added as an afterthought, "Maybe it's better that way. The library can quite deserted at times, and if this Cloud person is really someone you better keep away from..."

"You know," Elena said, demonstratively removing his arm from her shoulders, "I can take care of myself. I'm turning sixteen, remember?!"

"Yes. In March."

"Forget it, Elena," Zack chirped, merrily skipping along. "If he says he's going to drop in, then he will drop in. Hell, maybe I'll even join him to get a closer look at this Cloud. And," he took two quick steps to stand in front of them, looking suddenly very stern and serious, "...if that guy is proving to be any trouble," he had lowered his voice to a dangerous growl, "Then he's going to be the one in trouble."

Okay, that's that... and with another one or two chapters, I'll may have already something close to an exposition. Yay me, I may be getting somewhere.