Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 9: A little jumpy
Summary: Sephiroth and Angeal test some theories … meanwhile Cloud is still having bully problems.
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After much discussion and conjecture, Angeal had finally decided it was best to have Sephiroth show him what he'd meant about the young Cadet Cloud Strife's "Battle Instincts". It was one of the few things that didn't quite match up with their Genius theory. Unfortunately the two SOLDIER 1st's did not often have days where they both had large time blocks free to devote to their own amusements, so several weeks passed before they could initiate their plan. Now they were both sitting in the observation room above Squad Sekhmet's class. Sephiroth lounged in one of the chairs with a steaming cup of spiced cider beside him. Angeal remained standing, watching the training room below.
"So, …" Angeal began, casually glancing over the Cadets lined up, "How does this work exactly?" Sephiroth grinned,
"Watch Cloud." The General murmured, and once Angeal complied Sephiroth let his gaze drop intently on the blonde,
"Whoa." Angeal gawked, noting Cloud's involuntary start. Pausing to assess what he'd seen, the SOLDIER 1st frowned, "There's a lot of support for our Genius theory…"
"But no proof," Sephiroth stoically added, taking a moment to sip his cider,
"What do you suppose this means?" Angeal continued,
"I'm not entirely sure," Sephiroth shrugged, "but his reaction seems to coincide with how much attention I pay to him."
"Really…" Angeal rubbed his chin thoughtfully, he was silent as Sephiroth pulled out a book and began to read, turning slowly back to the window Angeal watched. The class was just starting and the boys were partnering up to better practice defensive moves. Before the teacher instructed them to start, the raven-haired SOLDIER took the opportunity to test Sephiroth's claim, allowing his eyes to focus on the smallest blonde. Cloud twitched slightly, frowning and rolling his shoulders as if uncomfortable. "Interesting." Angeal admitted.
"He twitches for you too?" Sephiroth lowered his book and smirked,
"Yeah, a little."
"What did you do?"
"I'm staring at him." Angeal explained, without warning Sephiroth stood and leveled his own stare on the diminutive Cadet. Cloud jolted violently, somehow managing to hold onto his practice sword, his free hand jumped up and rubbed his back while his head whipped from side-to-side. Sephiroth snickered, Angeal turned to gawk at his superior, before slugging him in the arm,
"You're a jerk!" The younger SOLDIER snapped indignantly, Sephiroth shrugged, retaking his seat.
"He does that all the time," the Silver-haired general admitted, "always like I've called his name or something." Angeal took his own seat, not wanting to further distress the poor teen,
"You ruined my experiment," the black-haired man half-heartedly growled, "but I think the boy reacts more to you, than he does to me."
"Is that so?"
"I believe so, … why do you suppose that would be?"
Sephiroth paused, seeming to put some real thought into the question, "Perhaps I'm just more intimidating?"
"Or maybe he's more attuned to you?"
Sephiroth chuckled, "You see why it's entertaining?"
"Just don't torment the poor boy too much." Angeal sighed and shook his head, "We want him to survive long enough to make it into SOLDIER remember?" Sephiroth hmmed an unconvincing agreement, settling into reading his book and watching the boy out of the corner of his eye.
--------------------------
Cloud sighed, he stood in line with the rest of Squad Sekhmet in their Weapons Training Class, most of the boys were chatting with their sparring partners, Cloud didn't bother to even glance at Cyril, he knew without looking that the youth was smirking. It wasn't Monday, and as such they had Sergeant Kerring as their instructor. With the pale scar that ran above one eye and disappeared into his graying hair, he had little sympathy for his students. Eyes that have seen too much, Cloud could never help the thought whenever he met the Sergeant's icy gaze. The man was a battle veteran, but no longer fit for war, his emotional scars were evident to one who knew what to look for. But he was a good if strict teacher. Well versed with sword play. Kerring shouted for the boys to pair up as usual, and with no hesitance the Cadets obeyed.
Now Cloud met Cyril's gaze, the brown eyes flickered with amusement, but Cloud's face was carefully impassive. It would take more than a teenage bully to break his resolve. They bowed slightly as was customary, an acknowledgement to a friendly opponent, but neither Cloud nor Cyril let their eyes leave the other's face. Cloud took his stance, holding the sword out before him as Sergeant Kerring scanned the lines for improper positions. Suddenly the hairs rose on the back of Cloud's neck and he flinched, someone was watching him... He kept his eyes carefully on his opponent, but Cyril had noticed the tensing and grinned wickedly. A familiar twitch settled between his shoulder blades, and Cloud almost growled, if someone thought it was funny to peak at him… Well…. There wasn't much he could do, but he sincerely wished they'd chosen a different time to do so.
Cloud managed to push that concern to the back of his mind, as Kerring gave the order to begin. It was a routine set of moves, executed to the Sergeant's shouted numbers. Cloud settled into it with mild relief, he was starting to get the hang of these things again, like an old glove that had needed repairs but still fit in most the right places. Just had to get used to the new stitching… He was just getting the hang of today's pacing when suddenly his instincts screamed, his nerves burned with readiness as his subconscious dropped him into fight mode, he looked frantically for his enemy, knowing there was something nearby. His rational mind reminded him his sparring partner was right in front of him, but it was like trying to fight a Nibel Wolf in front of a Dragons cave… he knew there was a bigger predator there. The pressure eased almost as quickly as it had come and Cloud breathed heavily, it had only been a second, but he already felt frayed, there was never anything to FIGHT!
He turned back to Cyril slowly, and realized the real danger behind his reaction, he tried to block, but his mind moved faster than his body, and the taller boy's wooden sword hit him almost squarely in the face. For a second Cloud saw stars, and staggered backwards, he hissed a curse that would have done Cid proud, and blue eyes blazing he stepped hastily forward to his place, his eyes took another few seconds to focus properly, but in that time he reinitiated the practice sequence, just a little faster than the Sergeant was calling it. He'd deserved that hit, he'd let his attention wander, but it didn't stop the fact he was angry. A headache was already throbbing behind his ears, and he felt the familiar warm, wet, trickle of blood along his hair-line, … if not for the fact he hadn't bothered to get his blond mess of hair cut since he'd gotten here, it would have been plainly visible for anyone to see. As it was, Cloud intended to deal with it later.
Cyril kept pace with Cloud as the blond slowly accelerated their moves, but he stopped smiling. It was all Cloud could do not to smirk back, he hadn't tripped once since his earlier distraction, and the platinum blond before him was just starting to realize what that might mean. It was tempting to try and sneak in a couple of blows of his own, but it really wouldn't be worth it in the long run. He still wasn't quite up to snuff, at least not enough to take on a pack of irritated teenagers.
The class finished without further incident, and Cloud managed to ignore the smug, sneering looks in some of his Squad-mates faces. He put away his sword and trotted quickly from the room. A brief stop in the bathroom showed Cloud the worst of the damage, his face had a nice long bruise across the forehead, and down the right side of his cheekbone. The blood seemed to have clumped into his hair, he washed his forehead before gazing morosely at the dark red-brown color staining the roots of his blonde locks. With a sigh Cloud left it as it was, he'd have to scrub it out with shampoo later.
Next he jogged to his Chemistry class, today was the first major Exam, "Test-Out" day as Cloud jokingly thought of it. The teacher had set up three main tables with Camcorders, so that three students at a time could present their chosen projects. Since many of the projects needed to be shown step-by-step, the cameras were there so the teacher could double-check the work later, and also to discourage cheating. As Cloud gathered his own materials, carefully sorting them and ensuring they were labeled correctly, he gazed at the video recorders, an idea quickly forming in his mind. … The libraries rented those right? It probably cost money… but all Military personnel received a small pension, most boys spent theirs on alcohol or better food on their days off, many also had girlfriends who absorbed their time and means. But Cloud was so busy training he hadn't put much thought into the pitiful allowances they received. Now his mind churned, if he recorded his late-night training, he could figure out what he was doing wrong… from ANY angle, and in real-time! Originally he'd thought to purchase some mirrors, but those would be awkward to cart around, and he'd still have to watch himself while he worked! A slow smile formed on his face, it would take some doing, but this new idea was far better than his previous plan. …
Half an hour later Cloud was collecting his materials from the table, having just finished his presentation. He quietly handed the teacher his finished "Ether" and put the rest of his chemicals away. The instructor for this class was a younger woman with heavy glasses, and when Cloud turned to leave she gently called him back, gesturing for him to follow her into the hallway.
"Private Strife," she murmured with a smile, eyeing the long bruise marring his face, "I've been thinking, …You're a smart boy, but the SOLDIER Preparation courses seem a bit rough on you, … I think… well… wouldn't you rather go into Special Operations instead? It wouldn't be nearly so tough physically, and I think you'd do really well!" Cloud blinked several times, remembering the first person who'd said much the same thing to him, the blond slowly grinned and chuckled, raising his hand to rub a thumb over the dark purple mark along his cheek,
"Thank you very much for your concern Professor, … but I really want to be in SOLDIER." He nodded to her, his own eyes gleaming with amusement; she nodded back a little sadly and sighed,
"I just thought I'd ask, … Good Luck Cloud." He turned with a smile and a wave and trotted off down the hallways, envisioning himself as a Turk cheered him up immensely. He was still snickering when he entered the Lunch room later.
--------------------------
Now that he had a break from his own training, Zack prowled the Shinra hallways gloomily, every single chance he got he prowled the floor where his "fan" had declared himself. But despite ample opportunities the boy had not shown up again. Zack heaved a sigh,
"Looking for your fan?" Zack's head snapped up, his blue eyes meeting the brown ones of the same young secretary he'd been flirting with on the fateful day. Ariel chuckled, "Now really Zack, who are you more interested in?... your fan? Or me?"
"It's not like that Ariel," Zack ducked sheepishly, "It's just… well… I've never had a fan before y'know? … I kinda always wanted one."
The brunette smiled, "So you think he'll come back?"
Zack frowned, "Well… I've been trying to trace his path, … y'know… figure out where he came from and stuff!"
"You're not a blood-hound Zack! You can't 'track' him." Ariel raised an eyebrow as she gazed about the pristine halls.
"Ah!" Zack gasped, suddenly grinning, "That's a great idea! I haven't tried smell yet!"
Ariel snickered softly, "Do you WANT to scare off your fan?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, Zack fidgeted uncomfortably,
"No…"
"Then don't worry about it! … He'll come forward if and when he's ready."
Zack heaved a heavy sigh, letting his shoulders hunch with disappointment, "I suppose…"
Ariel smiled and shook her head ruefully as she watched the SOLDIER 3rd trudge dejectedly back down the hallway.
--------------------------