Erm... yes. Just another chapter. I guess we all know by now that I don't own Final Fantasy.

The next day was a friday. To Elena, a friday normally basically meant that she had to move more carefully in the corridors after school. People were always so... so... overly enthusiastic at fridays, and it already had happened more than once that she had been knocked over by some jerk that was either too nearsighted or to stupid to be aware of his path being blocked by a tiny blonde.

Or maybe they were aware of her presence, and did it just because they could. What made it worse was that no one ever seemed to have just a few moments to spare to even apologize afterwards. Oh well, maybe they just didn't notice that they had collided with someone...

And that Reno and Zack, if they happened to be around, usually were after them in an instant to give them a piece of their mind, wasn't any help at all. She didn't need some wannabe-bodyguards to watch over her, Elena thought grumpily. Although she had to give them some credit, if she was honest. So far, it had never happened that the same airhead had stomped all over her twice.

Okay. Whatever. But in this case? Really.

"You sure you don't need us?," Reno asked for the umpteenth time, as they were walking down the hall which led to the main entrance. Elena was already fuming by then.

"Reno." She gritted her teeth and forced herself to speak calm. "He is just a guy in my class whom I need to work on a damn homework with. He is almost smaller than me, and apart from being the biggest jerk I have ever seen besides you, he is just a normal kid like everyone else here. What could he probably be up to, hm?"

Reno shrugged and crossed his arms. "Better a bit too careful than too careless." He looked down at Elena skeptically. "Apropos, are you wearing this to spite me? And I hope you are aware of the fact that skirts like these attract very, very much attention? The attention of sometimes very, very strange guys?!"

"Reno, first of all, it's summer – if you haven't noticed. Secondly – if I am not seriously mistaken, then I think you are one of the strangest guys out of the "strange guys"." Elena raised an eyebrow mockingly. "If it's the other girls, you never complain. On the contrary. Stop being hypocritical, okay?"

Reno pouted. "Just don't want these nasty guys that run around looking at you like that lad today in lunch break..."

"He is a friend. And he was talking to me. And there was no reason for you to act as if he had groped me."

"So? And here I thought that people normally look into each other's faces when talking – must've been mistaken. Hey, be glad that Zack wasn't there. The way I know him, he would've... wait a moment." Reno uncrossed his arms and looked around. "Speaking of him, I wonder where he can be. Ah, he'll probably jump out of nowhere within the next two minutes to claim he first had to forget his fanclub somewhere," he reminded himself.

"Do me a favour and tell him to notfollow me," Elena spat and quickened her pace, leaving Reno behind.

"Er... okay, I'll try," Reno called after her. "But I can't promise anything! You know he's a bit overprotective at times!"

Elena snorted. "Look who's talking."

When Cloud, feeling quite dehydrated, finally arrived at the heavy wooden library doors, Elena was already there, staring at him almost expressionless. She said no word, and Cloud was grateful for that. Hopefully it would stay that way. He couldn't stand a girl talking right now - not after all the hours of silly chattering and high-pitched giggling he had to endure every day. He could be mistaken, of course, but he always seemed to be in the center of the area where these ear-piercing sounds were the worst. He must have an inner radar for it or something - if only he knew how to turn that damn thing off. Even in the hallways he never was out of earshot of those sickening high voices, as if the girls were actually following him. And did he not catch a glimpse of pink today – several times, in fact?!

His imagination was really running wild at times, and it certainly didn't do anything good for his mood.

Anyway, if Elena was expecting him to say something first, she was disappointed. He merely spared her a glance and then pushed past her, entering the library with a sigh of relief. He really had nothing against the library. In fact, he rather liked it, and not only because it was by far the most peaceful place in school.

For once, it was several degrees cooler in here than in most other buildings, and since it was summer time, almost never crowded. On days like these, there was hardly anyone busy in here longer than was really necessary; it was almost the only place where he was safe from those annoying high-pitched voices, and if groups of pink-clad girls happened to come in, then the arrangement of the furniture offered enough protection to easily hide somewhere in a corner behind some bookshelves and sit quietly with a book without being seen or disturbed. Cloud actually spent most of the lunch breaks in here, since he didn't like the crowded cafeteria - too many people. Way too many people.

However, today, his favourite place at school was less peaceful. Hardly had he stepped onto the red-carpeted floors, Elena stormed in behind him, and she certainly did not make extra efforts to be quiet. "A simple "hello" wouldn't hurt you, you know," she fumed.

And there went the cherished, holy quietness of the library. Cloud sighed, exasperated, and decided to face her. "We are supposed to work here, not bitch at each other like some childish, menstruating drama queens," he told Elena, turning around and giving her his best death glare.

When Elena just gaped at him with a horrified expression, he considered his task done - at least for the next few minutes - and made his way to the computers. Not that he didn't already know where to find the right books, but he was used to pretend he was a bit more dense than he actually was; with the right people, it sometimes helped.

After a few steps, Cloud glanced back for a moment; Elena seemed to be fighting with herself. At first, it looked like she was ready to run after him and strangle him right then and there, and he couldn't even blame her. But she restrained herself quite well. After a few seconds of looking down to the floor, her fists clenching and unclenching, and muttering something over and over again - which Cloud couldn't understand from where he stood - she sighed and straightened up, shooting the librarian, who had watched the little scene with mild interest, a dark look and moved into the opposite direction.

Cloud shrugged. Whatever.

When he came back from a little journey through the first floor, almost a dozen books in his arms, he found her dropping her belongings onto one of the tables. Not in one of the quiet, hidden corners he preferred, but not either right in the open middle of the first floor that could be watched from everywhere. With a sigh, he forced himself to walk over to her.

"I brought some books," he said matter-of-factly, unceremoniously dropping them onto the table top.

Elena directed a mocking glare at him, an eyebrow quirked. "Oh dear, so you can talk civilly after all. Just why didn't you tell me earlier, and what are you going to do next? Prove that you are actually human?! Would you please warn me beforehand, so that I can psyche myself up for it and won't faint right on the spot?!"

Apparently, Cloud thought, she was still angry at him for what he said earlier. Or he was right, and she was nothing but a moody girl during her menstruation days. He almost smirked at that thought, but suppressed it in the last moment.

Elena, however, was quite a good observer and had caught that little twitch around the corners of his mouth, and it disturbed her more than anything he could have said.

Cloud sighed. As it was, they both were behaving quite childish right now. He knew it, but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to let his reasonable side take over. He was... offended. There were so many things he could be doing right now. Important things, like maybe slouching about in front of the TV - or internet surfing. Or playing on the keyboard. Or reading a book. Instead, he was here, with this girl... what was her name? Oh yes, Elena – and he just felt sorry for himself. Maybe it had been a bad decision to just let it out on her – it wasn't really like him – but he had to admit to himself that he felt a lot better by not suppressing his anger. It was easier than being sensible. And besides, Elena was doing just the same. Cloud dreaded the next few weeks. It wouldn't work with them, he had known it from the very first minute. One of them acting like a five-year-old would be bad enough, but both of them?!

And yet, Cloud refused to listen to his intellect. Maybe tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. Or next week. Whatever. And maybe Elena would come to her senses before him, and...

Oh, this was just great. Now he was actually trying to justify his own behaviour in front of... himself. This was so foolish. Antipathy was no excuse – not in this situation. It was aout school, dammit. Surely, as an almost-grown-up, he should be able to forget his personal feelings and stupid behaviour patterns for a while and just do his damn work?!

Sighing heavily, he rolled his eyes, sent a quick pray to heaven and turned around to Elena.

"Listen," he began, suddenly feeling insecure, "maybe we should..."

But he was interrupted.

"Hey guys, what's up?!"

The loud and cheerful shout sadfully couldn't be directed at anyone else besides them, since they still were the only ones who were stupid enough to spend their free time in the library while everyone else was going swimming.

Cloud gritted his teeth. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. There couldn't be one more annoying person in this room. It was just not possible. It was friday, for crying out loud! He turned around, irritated, to see who else wasn't right in their mind today, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Elena did the same, and wasn't any less surprised than him to see the crazy figure walking up to them: Redheaded, tall, lanky, with a grin that couldn't be described with another word as mad. The most striking feature of that boy (Cloud was quite sure he hadn't seen him before) was the gravity-defying hair, and he was willing to bet ten points of his IQ that the crimson red wasn't it's natural colour.

Automatically, his hand went to touch his own bangs which for the love of god just wouldn't let themselves be tamed, no matter how much he tried to get them to lie flat - instead of making him look like a hedgehog which had tried to drown itself in a bucket of yellow paint. He wasn't exactly happy the way his spikes were sticking out in every possible and impossible direction, drawing more attention to him than he deemed necessary.

It filled Cloud with something almost like enthusiasm when he noticed that Elena and him shared the same opinion for once: they were genuinely pissed at the intruder.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing?!" Elena hissed at him as soon as he slumped down on a chair at their table as if it was self-evident he was here and didn't really get why the other two were that surprised.

The boy, who couldn't be much older than them, just smirked a little wider. "I told you I would tag along." Then, as if the matter was cleared, he gazed across the table to stare shamelessly curiously at Cloud, who was still standing frozen in place.

Elena looked ready to burst in flames. "Yes, and I told you not to!"

"Erm... excuse me, but... no. You didn't," The readhead responded happily, still looking the blonde over as if he had just discovered a most interesting new species. Cloud began to feel just a bit uncomfortable. "You told me to tell Zack not to come, but didn't include me in that. And I did tell Zack, before you ask. The question is," if it was possible, he grinned even wider by now, "...whether he listens to me. I doubt that, if I'm honest." He cocked his head to one side and continued to eye Elena's classmate. Then he leaned over the table with a sudden movement that made Cloud flinch, and stared wide-eyed at him. "Say, that's an interesting hair-style you've got. Care to tell me how you do that?"

Elena groaned and buried her face in her hands. When she looked up again, she was met with one of Clouds more... intimidating glares. Obviously, he was waiting for an explanation. A good one.

She slumped her shoulders, giving up. "If I may introduce: Reno, pain in the neck by profession and the reason why nobody dares to ask me out anymore – oh, like that will interest you. Sorry, but you'll have to put up with him," she stated tonelessly.

"I'm her brother," Reno added proudly.

"My stepbrother," Elena corrected.

Cloud looked at both of them with an expression that looked horribly like he was mocking them. "Really? Wow, you have to keep telling people that. Judging by the outward appearance, I would have been convinced that you were at least twins."

"Oh, just shut up, you moron." Elena slumped down beside Reno, glaring at him. "Be at least quiet, if you really have to sit here," she instructed firmly.

Reno, utterly relaxed despite of the obvious tension between the three of them, leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. "Oh, I can be as quiet as you want me to be," he drawled lazily, "but I don't really know whether I can convince him to be quiet," and with a wink, he directed his eyes to the library doors which could be heard to be pushed open one or two seconds after his statement.

Even bevore the new arrival came into sight, Cloud had a strange feeling, something that he struggled to grasp, but couldn't - until a tall, raven-haired boy appeared in their part of the library, spotting them quickly and walking over to them with long strides. Once he was in sight, there was no mistaking as to where this sudden change in the atmosphere had come from.

Cloud could only stare.

That guy had a bright gleam in his violet eyes, and he radiated cheerfulness and carelessness with an intensity that the whole room suddenly seemed to lit up. It was very seldom that Cloud had seen someone with such an amazing charisma like that, which practically overwhelmed you just by looking at that damned person, combined with such a dazzling smile.

Cloud was sure he was also friendly by nature. Oh yes, there were definetely very few people who were able to resist this boy, at least if they weren't used to that damn emanation. How great. He could just hope that this aura wouldn't affect him as well. Things like that could end very embarrassing...

"Zack Fair. Just why?!" Elena wailed when he approached them, but her voice was completely swallowed by his.

"Sorry for being late, guys, but I just had to organize something before I came here. Couldn't risk us all to die with thirst, could I?!" And with that, the next disturbing person rushed to their table to bother them, and if Cloud didn't know any better, he would have sworn this spiky-haired Zack guy wanted to actually sit down with them like that strange redhead had done.

Which was exactly what he did, seating himself at Elena's other side and at once, mimicking Renos curious glance from before. Even if this time, it was a lot more... intense. Cloud couldn't describe it any other way. This Zack whatever-his-surname-was-again looked as if he wanted to suck in every detail of him, and it didn't exactly put him in high spirits. Almost squirming in discomfort, now being looked over by both boys as if he was a red and yellow checkered squirrel they had just found in their lunchbox, he did his best to maintain his trademark glare, all intentions of trying to be likeable forgotten.

"Can we start now," Well, at least he had found his voice again, "Or do we have to wait up for the whole school to follow these morons first?!"

He couldn't help it, but he thought there was something odd about the three of them sitting across from him... or rather, about the way this guys - Reno and Zack - were sitting on either of Elenas side, a bit closer than was necessary, just as... hell, just as if they wanted to protect her from him or something. Something about this amused him so much that for the second time in just five minutes, he had to suppress a smirk. If it was this why they were here - he could live with that. It would have been worse if they were bothering them because they were actually... wanted to get to know him. But this was okay. Apart, of course, from the fact that they were annoying.

Slowly, he placed his feet on the table, leaned back comfortably and lifted his head to point with his chin at Zack. "That another brother of yours?" There was no way to miss the sarcasm in his voice.

"Stepbrother," Elena corrected automatically, "And no, he isn't."

"And the rest of the school is already gone to buy ice-cream, and since it's not allowed to bring this stuff in here, we're rather safe, I suppose," said Zack, not at all being intimidated or at least offended by Clouds behaviour, which only confused him more. "I managed to smuggle this in, though," Zack happily went on and began to forage in his backpack to pull a few tin cans out of it. "I think a coke after school is the best way to start the real day, don't you think?" He pushed the cans over the table to the others, surprisingly first at Cloud, chirping "There, you look like you need one," and then to Elena and Reno.

Cloud just stared at it suspiciously. Everything in him screamed to just take it and swallow its contents in one gulp, since he had emptied the soda he had brought with him almost two hours ago and felt as if his tongue was beginning to turn to dust. But accepting something from Zack would mean accepting him, and he sure as hell couldn't do that. Gathering all his strength, Cloud scowled at him and didn't move an inch, keeping his twitching hands intertwined together in his lap.

"Oh c'mon, I promise it isn't poisoned." Zack smiled warmly at him, and Cloud couldn't really decide whether to be confused, furious, or afraid, or everything at once. This was not how he had expected things to happen. So far, everything had always worked out, but now this Zack was smiling pleasantly at him, as if something that Cloud had done in the last thirty seconds had convinced him that he wouldn't... kidnap Elena, or whatever these idiots had thought he would be doing. They were acting way too friendly, and if Zack continued being all smiles like this, Cloud was afraid he would smile back in reflex.

"Not thirsty," Cloud responded stubbornly, but he had the strange feeling that the lie was more than obvious. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the way the others stared at him disparagingly, but he didn't care about being convincing right now. He just wanted this whole ridiculous situation to be over, so he turned once more to Elena. "Could we finally begin now, so that we all can get out of here as quickly as possible?!"

Zack turned to Elena as well, raising his eyebrows. "Jeez, he always like that?" He was grinning now and didn't sound exactly solemn.

Elena had long ago resigned, slumping back in her seat to sulk and not touching her coke either. But now she snapped out of it to scoff at her friend. "Tsk, what do you think? It's not that bad. Today, he has so far only ignored me and called me a childish and menstruating drama queen."

"Both at once?" Zack sounded curious when Cloud had expected him to take things a bit more seriously now, maybe even treating him in a disapproving manner; after all, he had insulted Elena, who was obviously a good friend. But it was Reno who narrowed his eyes, growling, while Zack just eyeballed him, smirking at him amusedly – as if he knew something that he, Cloud, didn't. He was getting weirder with every passing minute.

Elena didn't seem to notice; she seemed to be well accustomed to the boy's antics and merely groaned at his question as if it was something she had expected.

Zack didn't pay attention to it and once again rummaged in his backpack. To Cloud's surprise, he pulled out a small, red notebook and a pen, wearing a triumphant grin as if he had a gold bar in his hands instead of a piece of a dead tree.

Elena shrugged and finally leaned over the table to hand Cloud a sheet of paper. "There's the tasks we'll have to do. You prefer any of these?"

Cloud glanced at it with an indifferent expression. You could have foreseen what the questions would be; it was what you expected when having to work on this topic. He had even done some of it last year in his old High School. "No," he said with a sounding rather uninterested. "I don't care. You choose."

"Fine," Elena said through gritted teeth, "Then how about I just take the first half and you the second, to save us from long discussions?!"

"There's no need for any discussion about this." Again, Cloud looked at the questions to memorize the tasks that were just declared as his in no time. So, perhaps he was bad at remembering names and things like that, but when it came to texts, there was no one who could beat him. Immediately, Cloud began to go through the books that had, until now, been lying in a heap on the table, unnoticed.

While Zack blithely scribbled something down(much to Cloud's irritation; and why was that guy always looking up as if he had to draw a portrait of him?!), Reno calmly sipped his coke and looked at the scene in a manner of someone who just watched a not too enthralling TV show, and Elena looked like she wanted to punch all three of her companions in the face.

Cloud quickly scanned titles and contents, throwing two or three books in Elenas direction, apparently not caring whether it would cause any damage to them. "There, I think you could use them."

As much as Elena was aggravated, she was also a bit confused. Cloud was an asshole, there was no arguing about it. The guy had no idea of civil behaviour at all, he also showed bad manners, and he was just plain dislikeable. And at the same time he sat there, feet on the table, and was just busily dividing their material between them. So far, he had been doing all the work, even if it was not much. And that just made her glower even harder as another book was being thrown carelessly to land in front of her.

"There, you could use that too."

Zack chuckled, scribbling some more, making Cloud finally look up from his self-assigned task to voice his confusion. "Something wrong?!"

"Just amused, that's all." Zack answered, grinning. Elena didn't want to know what kind of list he was working on now. But she knew him well enough to be certain by now that Zack was actually interested in that imbecile, for one reason or the other. Why he was, was beyond her.

She very nearly startled when, again, a few books landed in front of her on the table with a loud thump.

"There," she heard Clouds sharp voice. "This was it. Doesn't matter what you are doing now, but I'm leaving. There is no reason to stay any longer." And with that, he had gathered the material he wanted to keep for himself, lowered at them once more, just for good measure, and left with long, quick strides.

Elena, Zack and Reno looked at each other.

Zack was the first to speak. "You know, I think I like that kid," he grinned.

"I know," Elena stated dryly. „Care to explain why?"

Zack opened his mouth to answer, but in this very moment, Cloud appeared again at their table as if out of nowhere, quickly snatched the coke that Zack had offered to him, and left for the second time - this time even faster than before and with a beet red face.

A quiet snicker was heard, for Reno was never good at keeping a straight face when he was feeling mischievous.

"Well, that's really something." Zack mused when they had been sitting together for a while, silent and reflecting. He had resumed his scribbling as soon as he had known for sure that Cloud was gone for good this time. When he was finished, he skimmed through his work and chuckled, shaking his head. Then he grinned at his two friends. "I really like that kid."

"Yeah, you made that quite clear," Reno answered indifferently, then swallowed the last unzes of his coke.

"You know, I think he's interesting. A strange form of being interesting, I admit, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. And he's just so cute!"

"Don't you think you should tell him that you're bisexual before you go on with 'getting to know' him?" Elena was skeptic.

"Er... no. I think it might be better if he first gets to realize what a great guy I am. Once he has realized that he can't resist a temptation like me anyway, everything will become a lot easier," Zack explained chattily.

"Great, he has gone nuts, that bigheaded idiot," Elena sighed. "Reno, that's your fault."

"I don't think he has to tell Cloud that he likes boys, too," Reno told Elena, choosing to just ignore her comment entirely. "You know him. He can't restrain himelf. He will start to hit on our shorty before you can spell his name. That will be quite a show, I'm sure. Can't wait to see the scenes we'll get to witness! I hope it'll contain some slaps in the face." He tried to hide his amusement behind his tin can, but failed miserably.

Zack pouted. "You'll see. Once me and Cloud became best friends, it's me who will be laughing. There."

There's not really something to say, only that I won't take any responsibility for my mistakes. Blame my non-existent beta reader, if you have to blame someone. :)