Ugh! Finally! My writing muse may slowly be coming back! Here's the update for ya guys! Thanks so much for the reviews!
"Nii-Chan, what are you-"
Cloud slapped a hand over Ventus's mouth and told him to hush. While doing so, the elder blonde scanned the hallway they're in: lockers, more lockers, even more rows of lockers, a pair of vending machines, a couple of closed doors with classes in session, a garbage can, a water fountain…
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"I…want to apologize."
Leon let out a sigh as his fingers tapped himself while his arms were folded.
"…Me too," Leon let out but looked away, "I…still treasure our friendship, Rinoa. As bad as our decisions went…"
The long dark-haired young woman nodded and let out a small sigh of her own.
"Squall…" She reached out a hand to him but when Leon suddenly turned his head to look in the direction at the end of the hallway, she pulled her hand back, "Squall? What's the matter?"
"…Did you hear something?" he asked and started to walk in that general direction.
"Well, yes, but students are always in the hallway," she stated and tailed the man.
"Yeah but only not all the students sound like Ventus…" the lion-like man thought and as he turned the corner he indeed spotted Ventus…looking a bit lost.
"Ventus?"
The young blonde lightly flinched and turned his body to face Leon.
"H-Hiya Leon!" he greeted with a nervous smile and scratched the back of his head. Of course that only made Leon raise a brow…does this entire family have a thing for acting strange nowadays? Rinoa popped her head from behind Leon to see Ventus skip up to the man.
"Oh aren't you adorable?" she cooed and immediately had her hands on that cute face.
Leon only rolled his eyes at that but before he could comment, Ven was already blushing a bit with Rinoa petting the boy's head as if he was a puppy(although Leon won't deny how accurate that really was…). So instead of going through with that comment, he scanned the area. He knew Ventus wasn't THAT out of it to talk to himself. But no matter where he looked, the hallway was as empty as it would've been if Ventus wasn't in it. The elder Leonhart only sighed, thinking he must be studying too hard if this kept happening. So he turned back to Ven and Rinoa to approach the pair,
"Ven, Sora mentioned to me about a certain incident involving Roxas and Riku, you know anything?" Leon asked, straight to the point and Ven only squirmed as he stood and looked away.
"Y-Yeah…In fact…I was going to go see Riku right now!"
"Something happened?" Rinoa asked in worry and Leon only sighed again but added in a shrug,
"Nothing Rinoa, just an accident…well, I'll take you, Ventus. I might as well check on Riku…" he muttered the silverette's name and Rinoa let out a small giggle,
"Still protective of Sora are we? At least I see you're nice enough to at least see that boy!"
"Ugh, it's nothing like that!" Leon spat as he folded his arms and started walking.
"Leon…" Ventus called out, making the man pause.
"I thought the nurse's office was this way," Ventus pointed in the other direction and the young blonde could hear what sounded like a growl from Leon before said-man turned around.
"Well we can continue this later if you wish, Rinoa," he said and unfolded his arms to put a hand behind Ventus to guide him along.
"Very well, Squall. You take care now. And it was very nice to meet you, Ventus," she said with a smile in which she got back from Ventus. The two parted in opposite directions and Ventus looked over his shoulder to watch her go.
"Ooh, wish people would stop littering…" Rinoa said out loud as she picked up an empty bag of chips and a drink to throw into the trash. But when Ventus saw that drink spill while going in, he couldn't help but let out a squeak.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Ventus quickly exclaimed and looked ahead of him again, "Nothing! Totally fine!" He then grabbed the elder brunette's hand and started pulling as he walked faster, "Come on! We gotta see Riku!"
Leon only silently followed as he sped up his walk. After their voices disappeared and a couple minutes of silence passed, Cloud practically slammed his hands upon the opening of the trash bin and pulled himself out after pushing off the top with the pink slushie dripping from his hair. With a sigh, he dropped his head and wiped a bit of the mess from his face.
"This…this is not worth the trouble…"
"Aw Ku, you sure you didn't hit your head?" Sora asked but Riku only gave him a look as he laid on the bed in the nurse's office. Though Riku found his sanity was saved when Ventus skipped in…then he felt he was going to lose it again when he saw Leon…
"Ven! And Nii-Chan!" Sora exclaimed and got up from his chair to hug Leon as Ven approached the injured Riku.
"Aw Riku…I'm really sorry about Roxas. You're…not too hurt are you?" he asked in worry.
"Tch, it's not too bad. Almost sprained the ankle, a couple of bruises, but that's it," he replied as Ven's eyes went down to the ice pack on said-ankle, "And stop apologizing for your brother."
"But…I'm still sorry…"
"Riku's right, Ven! It's not like you were involved in any way!" Sora piped in as he pulled Leon closer by the hand returned to his chair again. But when Riku's eyes shifted and he glanced away, Leon couldn't help but butt in.
"So Ven really was involved huh?" the scarred-man questioned and Riku couldn't help but send a small glare at the older Leonhart.
"Wh-What? But I didn't-"
"Ventus wasn't directly involved in it," Riku cut in on Ven, "Roxas was just being a dick because he doesn't want to share his brother with other people."
After Cloud got himself cleaned up to as best as possible in the bathroom, he returned to the hallways. Though now that Leon was with Ventus, he might as well return home for the day. It's not like he won't see Roxas later if it sounds like the boy is going to get suspended. Cloud pulled the hood over his head to hide his now-hideous (more) crazy hair, slipped his hands in the white(and pink-stained) jacket's pockets, and started on his way. As he did he pondered about Leon and his little predicament: should he or should he not tell the truth? Though that little question was enough to distract Cloud enough to not notice that he should probably lower his head a bit more when he passed a certain trio…
Without warning, he was stopped when someone gripped his arm. But when they met eyes, Cloud just wanted to screw himself.
"So it IS you…" Seifer nearly growled and his hand on Cloud's arm tightened. Though Cloud only glared back as he lowered his head just a tad.
"STRAWBERRY." Fuu said and Cloud cursed whoever decided to put strawberry smoothie in the middle of nowhere! Did she mistake the scent for shampoo? Hopefully…
"Lay off, Seifer," Cloud said quietly in a lighter voice and yanked his arm back, "I'm in a hurry."
Cloud quickly scurried off and was surprised Seifer and his two lackeys didn't feel like following.
"Knew she was nothing!" Rai laughed but Seifer only folded his arms in suspicion.
"That didn't look like a girl…"
"NO?" Fuu questioned,
"No…" the scarred-blonde replied as he ran through in his mind what looked wrong before he continued to lead the other two to their original destination. As soon as they were out of sight, a new figure arose from where he stood hidden against a classroom door cut inwards to the wall.
"Cloudy!"
Cloud groaned upon hearing that extra letter in his name. He was almost to his motorcycle too…
"What?" he asked tiredly as he turned around only to be man-hugged by Zack without warning.
"Cloudy! So I hear you've been masquerading in a dress!" Zack exclaimed with a huge and mischievous grin.
"…What makes you think that?" Cloud asked after a few blinks.
"Oh I don't know…the fact that you're still A: walking around the school a lot these days. B: Seifer suspects you're a woman. And C: Tifa and Aerith can see you and your dates with Squall from their dorm window."
"DATES?" Cloud exclaimed and resisted the urge to pound the word out of Zack's vocabulary(as he was scared Tifa will punch him out first if he even dare tried to pound either girls), "That's NOT what we're DOING! But they really shouldn't be spying anyway!"
Though the anger didn't really scare Zack considering the man is only laughing,
"I'm sure it's not," he teased, "Is that why you're denying while I see your face flush like that?"
"I-HEY!" That only made it worse for Cloud as he had his hand feel the side of his face…he was indeed burning.
"But that aside, that's not why I'm here, Cloudy. I saw what happened when you crossed paths with Seifer."
"Yeah, and…?" Cloud only thanked that the subject was changed.
"If you wanna hang around here anymore looking like a girl, you're gonna have to convince Seifer that! He's totally onto you!"
Cloud wanted to question how, but then he questioned if he should even bother. Then again…if Leon were to ever find out the truth, he'd rather tell the man himself than have it spill from Seifer!
"And Seifer's got a point!" Zack continued, "You look like a man!" he pointed at Cloud's clothing.
"That's because I am one…"
"Yeah but he saw your face! He recognized you as a girl but you clearly look like a guy! I mean for one you sorta have thicker…actually you do kinda look like a girl…but that aside! I saw that death-grip he had on you! You were able to pull away from that as if it was nothing!"
"Um, possibly because of the mako?" Cloud reminded as if it was obvious.
"Well he doesn't know that! Unless you're a girl with muscles, even I would find your strength a tad suspicious!"
"…Alright, well how do you suppose we convince this man?"
And Cloud regretted asking such a question when he saw a smirk form on Zack's face.
Evening that day:
The doors opened and Cloud stepped into a nice club named 7th Heaven sporting a silky black and red Chinese dress with a red dragon running up his outfit and a slit at the side, exposing his stocking-covered legs. His brow twitched out of irritation, not just because he feels so exposed and the extra make-up was just darn annoying to feel…
His wig wasn't changed but Aerith replaced the ribbons that were being worn out. However, as soon as dozens of eyes landed on him, he was very much thinking about turning around now but Aerith and Tifa grabbed his arms before the blonde could act on his decision.
"People are gonna notice I don't have curves!" Cloud hissed at his girlfriends as the three strutted in.
"Oh it's not that tight," Tifa waved it off and even pulled a bit on the outfit to indicate the looseness, "And the cheap corset helped."
"Don't remind me…" Cloud muttered, not enjoying the pain of even putting one on.
"Is that the man that suspects you?" Aerith pointed across the room as the three took their seats. Sure enough, Seifer and his 2 lackeys were here…plus Leon that just sat at the table. Cloud wanted to bang his head and curse his bad luck! He cursed his luck again when Seifer's eyes looked their way and the two met eyes.
"Kill me now…" he murmured.
"Too late, we're already here, stop whining," said Tifa except Cloud still wanted to die.
"Heehee, this should be fun!"
Cloud only rolled his eyes at Aerith's enthusiasm about this. It didn't take long for the entire Seifer-table to look towards the trio and Cloud could see Leon giving a suspicious look. Man could things get worse…?
"If it isn't my favorite trio!"
Cloud mentally thought it was Zack at first starting his plan…but it wasn't his best friend at all. Without warning, Cloud was pulled out of his seat and into a tight hug,
"My most favorite blonde in the world!"
From standing, he saw Zack walking towards the table and trying to hold back his laugh. Next to the guy was Sephiroth face-palming which meant the one hugging him was Genesis...
"What kind of stupid plan is this, Zack? And did Sephiroth give Gen apples made of sugar or something? Or maybe Zack is holding LOVELESS hostage…"
When the other two approached, the greetings were exchanged and the red-head finally released Cloud to greet the other two before they all sat down to join. Apparently Zack's plan to convince everyone that Cloud is a girl by using gay men to pretend they're straight. Cloud wasn't sure why, but that plan sounded off…
"Alright, let's go have fun! Come on, Aerith!" Zack took his girlfriend's hand and the two hit the dance floor.
"I get to dance with Cloud right?" Genesis asked and Cloud didn't even have to answer when Genesis pulled him out of the seat.
"Um, no, you're going to kill him," Sephiroth cut in and yanked the blonde man to him instead.
"Will not!" and the process was repeated again as Cloud's body went towards Genesis this time.
"Ow…"
"Give him to me before I kick you onto the couch tonight," Sephiroth threatened and yanked the blonde back.
"Ah, you forget: my bed, my choice!" Genesis reminded before pulling Cloud back to his arms.
"Ow! Guys! Take it easy already! I really don't wanna dance anyway!"
His pleas were ignored when he felt himself get yanked back to Sephiroth…and back to Genesis again…
He learned the pattern by now so when it stopped, he finally snapped out of his daze.
"No means no…" Leon said with poison in his voice after he pulled Cloud towards himself by pulling on the blonde's waist.
"Hey! Who the-"
Sephiroth quickly stomped on Gen's foot to remind him to let it go. After holding in a cry, Gen finally realized it was Leon and their plan worked! At least they hope it did.
"Right…sorry Cloudy-"
A kick this time.
"-Dia! Ah…ow…Sorry about that, um, I'll go find myself another partner!" Genesis quickly limped himself away from them with Sephiroth silently followed after a quick apology to Cloud.
"…"
"…"
"So you're name's Cloudia?"
"…Sure?" Why bother covering it up at this point right?
"…"
"…"
"So…what are you doing here?" Leon asked and he finally noticed he was still holding Cloud and he immediately let go and went straight to folding his arms.
"Friends dragged me here," Cloud murmured and sat down at his table with Leon inviting himself to it by sitting across from him.
"I see…you seem quite popular among your friends though."
Cloud only shrugged.
"I guess…"
"You guess?"
Cloud's eyes glanced towards Zack who was moving is body perfectly to the beat of the music.
"It doesn't matter how popular I am if the one person that you wish cared, didn't," Cloud stated with a small sigh before returning his eyes to Leon, "At least that's what I learned after that first, uh, experience with love."
"I see…never thought of it that way," the brunette stated with a hand on his chin, "How long has it been since your first love?"
"Well…I don't know…I stopped counting," Cloud almost whispered as he looked back at Zack, "If I did, I may never get over it."
The blonde's eyes drifted away from man once more to return to the one before him.
"But sometimes I feel lonely and…wondered about the 'what if' part of this whole thing. What about you? I don't think I…even know that much about you even after all this time."
"…" Leon slowly put himself into a stand that Cloud wasn't sure if he just said something that offended the man. But instead, Leon put out a hand for Cloud, waiting for him to take it, "Come on then. You don't seem to be having fun here, I'm certainly not having much fun here as I hate dancing; let's go get a burger or something. We can learn more about each other in a normal atmosphere for once, just as friends should."
That may be the longest thing Cloud has heard Leon say…but who was he to deny such a tempting request.
"So long as you don't take me somewhere that's spicy, not in favor of those," Cloud stated as he practically slapped his hand into the other and Leon helped pull him up into a stand.
"Hey, neither am I. Emo Burger it is then."
That comment stole a light chuckle from Cloud as the two walked side by side and out of the noisy atmosphere together.
Notes:
-Despite the fact I shortened both Fuu and Rai's names as I just did, their appearance is still FFVIII's to match with Seifer and Squall's appearance. The only reason their names were like that to begin with was b/c this is still a Kingdom Heart's story…and I'm just that lazy to go with the shorten versions.
-Okay I probably didn't do a good job wording it but the hallways were based on how my high school was set up. Basically, instead of the door against the wall, the wall cuts in like a cube and the door is inside that. In which that is where Zack was 'hiding.' Did I confuse people even more or did that make sense?
-Emo Burger was something my brother noticed at a McDonald-looking joint in the manga "Love Com"(Lovely Complex) and we just kept laughing at the name of the place and how we'd totally go to a McDonald-like joint called Emo Burger lol!
Please read and review!