(A/N: I decided I'd post a few more chapters 'cause who-knows when I'll get to update again with the way that school is going.)

Dear Journal

A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction

Chapter 6

Kasumi

Dear Journal,

It's Kasumi; don't get your hopes up about someone else writing any entries in this journal. I suppose there's not much point in me having a journal… well, other than it giving me a way to relieve some stress, get some weight off my shoulders, clear my head a bit… ya know? I'm not sure where I want to begin… I mean, I could start anywhere so… guess I'll just begin somewhere then. So, Miki and Yuri and I had a girl's night out – movie, dinner, shopping, talking – just hanging out; it was great to get to see them again and we made some plans for this September, around the seventeenth or so. After all, it's kinda a traditional thing for my friends and I to get together around that time of the month and have a party; we never have time anymore to get together and celebrate on my actual birthday so we try and have the party early.

So then… after I got to hang out with my best friends, Miki and Yuri, I made plans to get together with some of my other friends. And later that same week, I got to hang out with them before I had to go meet with the two maybe-future-employers.

First, I met with Mrs. Scarlett D. Divine. Mrs. Divine was a tall woman with hair that was styled in an elegant bun and was a deep red that went well with her first name. She was dressed in a business suit that was a dark gray and some three inch high heels of a matching color. Her eyes were like emeralds, hard yet beautiful. Mrs. Divine was a powerful woman, being the head of one of the biggest companies in the world, because she married a rich man; the only child and heir to the company that his parents had built from scrap, but didn't care much for the business left to them by his late parents. So, his wife decided to take over for him and the company had flourished and continued to grow in the four years since.

Mrs. Divine told me that she wished to have me be her bodyguard because of my reputation as an awe-inspiring bodyguard that had not been bested and had always kept her boss from losing their life… um, did that sound repetitive to anyone else? …As great as that sounds and all, she continued on to say a lot of things that might have sounded like compliments to anyone else but were clear insults if you paid any attention to how she worded them. I didn't like her when I first saw her, I didn't like the way she talked to me, and I wanted to bitch slap her for how she sounded so… so… impertinent when I asked a question. Then add to that her acting as if that fact that I'm in college is a totally bad idea, like I shouldn't be wasting my time at some school to further my education… and then her flat out telling me to withdraw from the university as if I was actually one of the little minions that worked for her… Let's just say that I told her, as politely as I could, I was not someone that she could talk that way to, that she was a bitch and an idiot, I had not signed a contract with her so she couldn't order me around, and that she was not able to tell me to drop out of college. Was I happy to see her face match her hair as I told her all that and then followed it all up with "You couldn't get me to take the job even if you tried to apologize after being so… hmm, let's go with the word rude and leave it at that for now. Thanks for wasting both our time." I stood to leave and she told me she never wanted to see me ever again. That didn't bother me, seeing as I want nothing to do someone like her. I told her, "That can be arranged" and left.

After getting as far away from that woman as I felt was necessary, I called Mr. Richard M. Wolfwood and found that he had just finished a meeting and wanted to meet with me ASAP; he said he'd buy me lunch if I met him at Mako's Miso, not that I really cared. When I arrived, Mr. Wolfwood was seated in the back, away from prying eyes – which was a wise idea. Mr. Wolfwood was nervously picking at the sushi on the plate in front of him, his eyes moving this way and that as if he expected to be attacked at any moment. Not that I blame him, but man, he needs to take a few chill pills.

Mr. Wolfwood jumped when I walked up to his table and said his name just louder than a whisper. I couldn't help but smirk when he looked at me with his mouth hanging open and almost to the table when he found out that I was the person he had contacted about a bodyguard. Mr. Wolfwood had dark brown hair and eyes that were a hazel-brown color. He wore a nice white-blue shirt and tan pants with brown shoes.

We chatted for a bit and he did buy me lunch, just like he said he would, and he told me how he thought I'd be the perfect bodyguard. He also hit a nail on the head when he mentioned how most people most likely expect me to be a daughter, sister, or maybe even a niece, of the person that I was actually the bodyguard of… and all of it based on my looks. When I asked about if I could attend school and work, I got about halfway through the question before he interrupted me with "Of course, I don't expect you to drop out of school to help me! In fact, if you did drop out, what would you do? Work as a bodyguard for the rest of your life?" It was nice to hear someone tell me to not give up on school, but I couldn't quite shake the feeling that he wasn't being all that truthful. It kinda seemed like… I don't know… like he really didn't care if I went to school or not…

I don't know… Anyways, school started a few days after I started working for Mr. Wolfwood; he keeps requesting that I call him "Richard" but I just can't; I don't need to get confused on who I'm talking to… I've got a friend named Richie – his name is really Richard, but no one calls him that – and it'd be really weird to call my boss by his first name.

So now, I have to put up with classes, homework, and… well, work. Oh and it's now September. It's hard to believe that school started three weeks ago and that my friends and I are getting together tonight.

Love always,

Kasumi Mizushima

Time had just seemed to drag for Kasumi, but then again when one is trying to balance school, friends, and work… time will either drag or fly by. Kasumi had started school about three weeks prior, her classes were alright; if she wasn't working, she probably wouldn't be having so much trouble with her classes. At least, she had already paid for everything that she needed to and didn't need financial aid. But like with the information about her job, Miki and Yuri and her other friends didn't know; she hoped it stayed that way, but Kasumi had a bad feeling in her gut. She had learned to trust her gut instinct as it was usually right.

It was late and Kasumi had just finished writing her paper for her English class, it was after ten o'clock at night and she had to walk to her car and then drive to her friend's apartment that was about forty minutes away from the school. Growling slightly in annoyance at the fact that it took her so long to find the books that held the information she needed only to learn that she couldn't check any of them out and so she had to write her paper at the library. Kasumi hated how she had to always rush to get her homework assignments done as soon as the teachers let her and her peers know about them because she never knew when she might actually get called in to work.

Her boss had called her several times, wanting to know where she was… even though he had given her the night off. Another growl escaped her as she packed up the last of her stuff.

She was in luck and didn't have to try and remember about turning in her paper since her teacher had told the class that they could just email their papers to him instead of having to hand them in during class two weeks from now. Kasumi returned the books to their shelves and left the library to make her way to her car.

Little did she know that she would never make it to her car, to the party, or see her friends, family, or the day – on Earth – that had yet to come.