Blood and Steel
By: Lazeralk
Standard disclaimers apply
FF7/Saiyuki crossover
Warnings: This will have implied Shonen-Ai. I suck as yaoi, even though I love it dearly.
Part 5
0o0o0
"You have thirty seconds to get your gear and be on the line, do hear me!?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
Sergeant Mitch Thompson growled at his platoon as they scrambled to get their gear together and make it to the lines down the center of the room in the time given them. Three neat rows of green clad Shin-Ra cadets stared back at him, panting and awaiting their next orders. Sergeant Thompson took the time to spit and then had his wanna-be SOLDIERS marching, in full gear, out to the training grounds of the base.
He marched out with them and sighed as he spotted the small figure that was lagging behind.
"Strife! Get moving!" he yelled at the unruly blonde locks that were bobbing along, half a foot shorter than anyone else in the platoon.
"Sir, yes sir!" cried the boy as he struggled to catch up with and then match the pace of the rest of the group.
"C'mon Cloud, ya gotta keep up or Lutzig is gunna beat ya to a pulp for makin' us do extra laps." Whispered Cloud's first friend in the military, Janus Kazaleh. Davin Lutzig had taken one look at Cloud on his first day on base, shook his head dramatically, and then beat the poor blonde for a reason yet unknown.
"I'm comin'." Wheezed Cloud as he trotted along side his bunkmate. Third Platoon moved in a steady line of synchronized bodies down the drive and towards the fields where the obstacle courses where.
"Let's move brats! We got work to do today!" yelled Sergeant Thompson as he shouted out cadences to keep the cadets moving. They reached the edge of the obstacle course field, affectionately called 'Rat Race', and stared in awe at the sight that greeted them.
General Sephiroth and Brigadier General Knight stood on the watchtower with clipboards as they observed a lone figure racing through the course as if it were nothing.
"Wow." Whispered the cadets; jealousy and admiration filling them as they watched a blur of red and blue take each challenge easily. Half an instant later the blur stopped in front of them and they stared open-mouthed at the beautiful Second Class SOLDIER. He stood facing the watchtower, giving the cadets a sliver of his profile, his long crimson hair waving gently in the breeze.
"Alright, let's move on to endurance testing." Said the General, casually hopping over the railing of the tower, falling the twenty or so feet the ground, and landing easily on his feet. The redheaded SOLDIER nodded and fell into step behind the General and the Brigadier General. Even Sergeant Thompson watched as the three of them disappeared around a corner.
0o0o0
Cloud dragged his bruised and battered body into the barracks and collapsed on his bunk. He shut his eyes and tried desperately to make the rest of the world disappear. His attempts were thwarted by the chipper voice of the cadet whose bunk was across the room from his.
"Hey Cloud! Did ya see that Second Class today? Man was he something! Think they'll let me grow my hair out that long when I get to Second Class? Did ya see how he took the Rat Race? Man that was nice work. I can't wait to get that high up. Things will be so much easier then, with all the upgrades I mean. What do you think he specializes in? He wasn't carrying a sword or a gun that I could see. Did you see anything? Hey, Cloud, you in there man?"
"Gods Palka, do you ever shut up?" griped another cadet from a few bunks over.
"Only when Sergeant Thompson tells me too!" Palka called back.
"Jemeni? I really need to sleep right now…" begged Cloud as he cracked one blue eye open to stare at his bouncy friend. Jemeni Palka was blonde, freckled and far too happy to have just gone through the Rat Race. Cloud glared at him and groaned as his bruises protested his tiny movements.
"Hey its not so bad man, we have indoor weapons training tomorrow. Which means no Rat Race. Cheer up Spiky, we'll get through this."
Cloud smiled faintly at him and let his eye drift shut. Jemeni ruffled the blond spikes affectionately and headed over to another cadet to gossip about the three SOLDIERS they'd seen on the training fields.
0o0o0
"Well?" asked Kougaiji, freshly showered and in his own tan pants and open black jacket.
"This is bullshit!" said Zack happily, waving around the stack of papers that were the demon's test results.
Kougaiji raised an eyebrow and sat next to the dark haired SOLDIER on the couch.
"With the limiters and no Mako, you test as a very high end Second Class, borderline First. With the Mako, you test as a First. Which is crazy. You're a demon, not a demi-god for Planet's sake."
"Ah!"
Kougaiji gripped his head in pain, his eyes screwing shut.
"Jeez man, you ok?" asked Zack, his face filled with concern as he laid a hand on the redhead's shoulder.
Kougaiji shook his head, grit his teeth and reached to pull the limiters off.
"Sephiroth!" called Zack as he eased the redhead down onto the couch. The General appeared a moment later, his leathers replaced with slacks and a white button down shirt. He frowned in confusion at his friend and Zack motioned him over with an abrupt hand motion.
Kougaiji's limiters sat on the coffee table between the two couches and the demon himself was lying tensed and still on the couch, his hands wrapped around his head.
"Kougaiji?" asked Sephiroth, and the redhead jerked and opened his still glowing Mako purple eyes.
"I…remember." He growled out, his fangs and claws lengthening in response to his stress level. He groaned in pain and threw his head back against the couch.
"What's wrong?" asked Zack, watching his newest friend's face with worry.
"Massive headache." The redhead hissed between clenched teeth.
Sephiroth disappeared into his kitchen and returned a moment later with some pills and a glass of water. He handed both to Zack over the couch and watched as the Second Class carefully administered the drugs to Kougaiji.
"Painkillers." Explained Zack at Kougaiji's questioning stare. The redhead nodded and obediently swallowed them.
The three SOLDIERS sat in silence while Kougaiji rubbed at his temples and waited for him to speak.
"I remember now. When Zack said demi-god, I remembered everything. Gyokumen Koshu gave me a scroll, a Summoning spell. It was supposed to Summon the demi-god Seraphim. I'm guessing that's you Sephiroth. It's close enough to have worked. But it didn't. I thought the circles looked weird, and now I know why. They were backwards. It wasn't a Summoning technique, it was a Banishing. I Banished myself to the demi-god Seraphim." Explained Kougaiji in a voice tight with self-condescension.
"How will you get home?" asked Sephiroth, his tone only barely hiding his displeasure at the idea of loosing his new friend.
"I'd have to Banish myself right back to Shangri-La, but I've never intentionally Banished myself before. The safest way to do it would be to remember the exact spell that brought me here and rewrite it so that I'm Banished to someone of equal power to Sephiroth in Shangri-La. That will be tricky, since my options are limited to Homura, Konzeon Bonsatsu, and possibly Genjo Sanzo. Homura will kill me, he's a very bitter person. But then, being cast out of Heaven for falling in love will do that to you. Konzeon Bonsatsu is the Merciful Goddess, but she's really not all that merciful. Besides, I think she still holds a grudge against my family for Nakatu's depression and subsequent self-sealing. Genjo Sanzo will laugh at me and then shoot me. There's also the little fact that I'm pretty sure Gyokumen tampered with the scroll so I wouldn't remember enough to get home. She did this on purpose to get rid of me. In short, I'm royally screwed."
"Yeah, you are." Said Zack, then a devious smile tugged at his lips.
"Ya know, you could just stay here. We're happy to have you."
Kougaiji smiled, soft and genuine.
"Thank you." He said quietly, staring at the ceiling, one arm draped over his forehead.
"I mean it Kou, we like having you here. Please really consider it ok?" pleaded Zack, answering that genuine smile with one of his own.
"I will." Said Kougaiji seriously, looking Zack in the eyes.
"Great!" said Zack, slapping Kougaiji's knee. Then he stilled in confusion, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.
"What were we doing?" he asked.
"You were explaining the results of Kougaiji's test to him." said Sephiroth helpfully from his place behind the couch. He hadn't said anything since he'd asked Kougaiji about going home; he'd been too afraid to speak and ruin any chance he might have had at keeping the redhead. A fierce sense of possessiveness filled him to the brim at the though of loosing the demon and that both startled him and felt perfectly natural. He'd puzzled over it while he'd watched the two of them talk about Kougaiji's future.
"Oh right!" said Zack as he pulled the papers back out and practically shoved them under the demon's nose.
"So, as I was saying, you rank as a SOLDIER First Class with the Mako, which you'll be on regular doses of. If these are your scores with the limiters on, then I can't wait to see what you can do with them off. I mean, jeez! Anyway. Your hand-to-hand combat skills are awesome, so that's not an issue, but you have got to pick a weapon. Or weapons, whichever you want to do, and start leaning them. You have to at least carry them around, even if you don't use them."
"I can't specialize in hand-to-hand?" asked Kougaiji with a frown.
"You can, technically, but no one has ever done it without having a second specialty in a weapon. Usually, the people who specialize in hand-to-hand do so after they've already specialized in a weapon. It's sort of a supplemental kind of thing, ya know?"
"I'll see what you guys have and if I don't like anything, I'll Summon something from Shangri-La." Said Kougaiji as he leaned back into the couch and pulled a knee to his chest. He wrapped one arm around his leg and let the other rest on the back of the couch.
"Alright, we can go look through the weapons racks after my class. Kougaiji, I was hoping you'd come with me when I taught today." Offered Sephiroth.
"Sure, I'd like that. If someone asks me about a weapon before then, I'll just Summon one." Said Kougaiji.
"I thought you couldn't Summon with the limiters on?" said Zack.
"I can't Summon anything living with them on, and nothing really big, even if it is inanimate, either. I can manage a Dao without too much trouble, but don't ask me to Summon it more than a few times in an hour or so." Explained Kougaiji as he opened his hand and concentrated. A lovely straight sword with a decorative handle suddenly appeared just over his palm and floated there for the few instants it took for Kougaiji to wrap his fingers around it.
"Wow." Said Zack, openly gaping at the sword in his friend's hands.
"I've never seen a blade designed like that before." Said Sephiroth as he studied it.
"Never?" asked Kougaiji, glancing at him and then the sword.
"No. It's too thin to be a broad sword, too broad to be a saber, and the hilt is almost two and half hands, like a katana, but the blade is straight. There's a groove down the center of the blade, why? And the guard is almost two inches long, which is strange." Muttered Sephiroth.
"It's a Dao, the most common type of sword in Shangri-La." Said Kougaiji, holding out his other hand for the sheath. A moment later, a matching sheath was resting on his palm. He carefully slid the blade home and then attached the sheath to his belt.
"I had no idea your Summoning would be that impressive, better not use it where people can see. Just carry that sword out with you and we'll mess with your weapon's issue later. Go change into the First Class uniform and I'll get you some stripes." Said Sephiroth.
"Yes sir." Said Kougaiji with a smirk as he easily flipped himself, one-handed, over the back of the couch and hit the floor in a smooth walk towards the bedroom door.
"What rank are you gunna give him?" asked Zack excitedly.
"I was thinking Lieutenant General. Until I can figure out a way to make him untouchable to Hojo, I'll keep him as close as I can." Answered the General.
"Yeah, that's probably the best protection you can give him. No one will mess with him if he's with you." Said Zack as he came to stand beside his long time friend.
Kougaiji returned a moment later in the full red and gold First Class Officer's uniform and Sephiroth was surprised to note that his crowns, earrings, chokers and bracelets were a matching gold.
"These make you a Lieutenant General, the rank directly under mine. You have a lot of power over a lot of people now. Remember your titles, and don't salute anyone other than me first." Said Sephiroth as he affixed the stripes to Kougaiji's shoulders.
"First Class in red, Second Class in blue, Third Class in Grey, cadets in green. A blue business suit means you've run into a Turk. The Turks are the Corporate Branch's bodyguards and assassins. You can take them, but don't. Stay as far away from the labs as you can get."
"Anything else mother?" said Kougaiji with a frown.
"Yeah, don't be cheeky. Your cover story is that you've just recently been transferred here from the base in Wutai to teach an advanced hand-to-hand class. Don't be afraid to throw your weight around, but don't be obnoxious. The point is to not get noticed. Ok, any questions?" asked Sephiroth after he'd finished fussing over Kougaiji's uniform.
"Shouldn't we be leaving now?" replied the redhead, pointing to the clock.
Sephiroth glanced at the clock, saw that he had three minutes to get to the other side of the base, and glared at his new Lieutenant General.
"What did I say about being cheeky?"
"Sir, you said don't be cheeky, sir!" barked Kougaiji, just barely keeping a straight face.
Sephiroth glared again, but couldn't help his smile. Then he reined himself in and started to shut himself down and pull up his public persona. The cold, meticulous, ruthless General slowly bled into Sephiroth's face, leaving him a stranger to his friends.
"Come." He said, glancing over his shoulder at a disapproving Kougaiji and a melancholy Zack. He walked out the door without another word, his posture demanding that they follow, and broke into a brisk stride towards his classroom.
0o0o0
End part 5