To Tobirion and Guest: Thanks a lot for your reviews. =]
Genesis pushed open the wooden doors to the gym, with his head held high. The gym which was full of sound just a few seconds ago immediately hushed. A small grin was carved on Genesis's lips as he strode confidently into the center of the gym.
He always loved to make a grand entrance. Genesis swept his eyes around the gym and heaved an exasperated sigh when he noted the increase of number of students in the gym today.
Today sure was bad luck. The other PE teacher suddenly claimed he was feeling unwell today , which leave Genesis no choice but to act as the substitute teacher and combined both classes together. This meant more work for him and Genesis was not going to back down easily. But no matter how much Genesis grumbled to the office management, he was still stuck with both classes.
"Now, everyone gathers around here. Make a circle around me." Genesis blew on his whistle, motioning everyone to come closer with the flick of his wrist.
Once he was sure that everyone was around hearing territory, Genesis paced the clipboard behind him as he slowly paced around in a circle.
"As we all know, Shinra High is not a normal high school. In other school, the students played basketballs, dodge balls, netballs and other useless activities during their physical education class." Genesis wrinkled his face in disgust, his words sent a ripple of laughter among the students.
"In Shinra High, we emphasized on sparring, martial arts ad activities which are related to speed and accuracy. Things that will help you out in the future," Genesis said with a huge grin on his face, whipping out the clipboard from behind his back.
"So… Today's activity will be…"
Genesis deliberately paused at that sentence, building up the tension. He loved to watch the anxious expression on the students' faces as they wondered what Genesis had in store for them.
"Sparring," Genesis said with a gleam in his eyes.
Groans echoed around the gym and a few students actually looked scared. "So, let's start with the first match. Now, who do we have here?" Genesis said, tapping a pen against his clipboard. "First pair, Cloud Strife…"
"Here!" A shaky pale hand rose in the air.
Genesis stared amusedly at Cloud above the top of his clipboard. Cloud looked like a frightened rabbit, ready to scuttle away anytime.
"And his partner will be… Vincent Valentine."
The reaction was almost immediate. There was a sharp intake of breath from the usually stoic looking Sephiroth and Cid gave a growl like an angry animal.
Vincent placed a comforting hand on Cid's shoulder but to Genesis' surprise, Cid shrugged off Vincent's hand roughly and walked away from him.
"Hmmm, this looks interesting," Genesis muttered quietly to himself.
It was no secret in Shinra High that Cid and Vincent were very close. There were also rumors that they were actually a couple.
And then there was Sephiroth who was acting strange as well. Sephiroth hardly react to anything, but today he actually responded to Genesis's words.
Genesis's eyes sparkled as his brain worked over time. Genesis had no idea what happened between this four, but he was most interested to find out. Hastily, Genesis slashed out the second pair's name and filled in the spaces.
"The second pair will be…" Genesis bit his lip down, barely hiding the grin. "Sephiroth and Cid Highwind."
Excitement surged up inside Genesis as he watched both of Sephiroth's and Cid's face darkened. This class was just starting to get interesting.
xxxx
This is bad. This is really, really bad.
One thought kept on repeating in Sephiroth's mind as he stared at Mr Rhapsodos who was trying very hard to hide his smirk. What was Mr Rhapsodos thinking? Was it a coincidence or did he know about everything that had happened?
Sephiroth threw a suspicious glance at Mr Rhapsodos who merely replied his stare with an innocent look. Sephiroth snorted and trained his eyes to his sword, pretending to be examining it when he was secretly staring at Cloud through the corner of his eyes.
Just then, Vincent lowered his head and whispered something into Cloud's ear. Cloud's blue eyes shone brightly as he turned around to beam at Vincent.
Sephiroth's heart gave a squeeze when he saw that. Damn. Cloud looked really happy when he was around Vincent.
Frowning slightly, Sephiroth flicked his gaze away and began to practice slashing his sword in air a couple of times. Imagining that it was Vincent's head he was swinging his sword at.
Hitting him over and over again.
Even though it was merely Sephiroth's fantasy, he couldn't help feeling a sense of satisfaction.
"Alright, first team. Gather at the center now." Genesis placed the whistle to his mouth.
Sephiroth stepped into the center with his partner, Cid Highwind. Sephiroth didn't really know Cid. Sephiroth only knew that they had some classes together and he always stuck close to Vincent. Apart from that, Sephiroth had no other knowledge about Cid. Not that he would wanted to anyway.
Sephiroth tilted his head slightly to his left to get a good look at his sparring partner. Surprisingly, Cid was glowering at both Vincent and Cloud who seemed to be sharing some kind of private joke.
Cloud was still chuckling when he raised his head and locked eyes with Cid's burning eyes. The smile froze on Cloud's face as his blue eyes clouded with confusion. Cloud nearly stumbled as he approached the middle of the gym.
Sephiroth reached out his hand absent-mindedly as if to support Cloud before he fell. But before he had the chance, Vincent grabbed Cloud by the arm, steadying him in time. Vincent smiled warmly at Cloud before pulling him up straight.
The wooden sword in Cid's hand suddenly snapped into half causing everyone to gasp at him. Mr Rhapsodos arched an eyebrow at Cid, pursing his lips.
"Go take another sword," Genesis said shortly, scribbling down a few notes on his clipboard.
Cid mumbled an incoherent answer and threw the broken wooden sword to the floor. As he headed over to the side to take a new one, Cid continued to glare at Cloud and sending obvious vibes of dislike.
Vincent looked troubled as he kept on darting anxious glances between Cloud and Cid. Sephiroth took this all in quietly, after all he was merely acting as a casual observant. Then a thought struck him, what could be the cause of Cid's and Vincent's fight? Could Vincent and Cid had knew about the letter already?
At that thought, Sephiroth's grip around his wooden sword tightened. After another look on Cid's face, Sephiroth's suspicions were confirmed. But before Sephiroth could give this matter another thought, Genesis was already shouting "Ready!" and his whistle was placed on his lips.
At the first note of Genesis' sharp whistle, Cid immediately rushed toward an unguarded Cloud who fumbled with his wooden sword. Cid was too fast for Cloud to react, his sword held high ready to slash it down on Cloud.
Cloud's legs gave way and he fell down to the floor with his arms held up in a defensive position, his face scrunched up, waiting for the blow.
Instinctively, Sephiroth blocked Cid's blow with his own wooden sword. Swearing loudly, Cid turned towards Sephiroth, one finger jabbing pointedly at Sephiroth's chest.
"What is the meaning of this?" Cid snapped. "You are supposed to be on my team."
A tinge of pink appeared on Sephiroth's cheeks as he inwardly cringed. How could he make such an obvious faux pas? But at that moment, Sephiroth lost all of his senses. All he could think of that time was to save Cloud.
"This is just a training session. You are being too serious," Sephiroth replied calmly, his voice gravelly.
Beneath him, Cloud muttered shyly. "Thanks."
Just hearing that sent goose bumps across Sephiroth's skin. Sephiroth would have looked down and smiled back at Cloud if not for Vincent rushing towards him with a wooden sword.
Sephiroth just managed to block off Vincent's attack in time.
"Having trouble concentrating?" Vincent asked, pressing his weight down on the sword.
Sephiroth smirked as counter-attacked but Vincent managed to parry his attacks. Vincent was skillful and agile as he dodged all of Sephiroth's attack.
This could just be the chance he was looking for. Maybe Sephiroth could unintentionally wounded Vincent and still managed to get away by saying this was an accident.
Hmmm, Sephiroth pondered seriously for a few seconds as he dodged Vincent's blow gracefully.
This would be payback for being so friendly with Cloud. Grinning devilishly to himself, Sephiroth rushed towards Vincent, ready to critically wounded Vincent. Vincent still had no idea of Sephiroth's dark plans as he stood there with a light smile on his lips.
Sephiroth pretended he was going to attack from the front and when Vincent blocked his attack. Sephiroth slipped behind Vincent and held his sword up high, ready to slash it down on Vincent.
This blow would not kill Vincent, but it would hurt him. Would Cloud still like Vincent after seeing him in such a humiliating state? Sephiroth's lip curled up at that thought.
"Vincent!"
A loud shout came from nearby. Suddenly out of nowhere a wooden sword appeared, blocking off most of Sephiroth's attack.
"What?" Sephiroth raised his head, feeling furious.
Who the hell dared to spoil his plans?
To be continue…
Okay, dear readers, I know that Valentine's Day is already far gone. But please bear with me a bit more. =] The confusion between Sephiroth and Cloud is going to be solve soon. Anyway thanks for reading and please leave a review/comment behind. =] Thanks a lot!