Zack reached for his phone as the blaring alarm tore him out of his sleep at 8:30. He managed to turn it off and blinked the sleep out of his dry eyes. He pushed away the blanket and forced himself to swing his legs over the side of the bed to sit up, although he did not feel like getting up at all. He had no assignments today that he knew about, but if he wanted to catch breakfast in the mass hall, 8:30 was the latest time he could get up. Wondering what the situation with Lazard was, he picked up his phone to check his messages, but there was nothing from Tseng or one of the other Turks. Instead, he found a message from Aerith waiting for him that put a smile on his lips. It read "Good morning, Zack! Are you free today? Feel free to stop by. Let's do something fun 3" That was a good start into the day. He responded: "Good morning, sweetie! I'm not sure what the situation is right now. Didn't get any updates. I'll come over as soon as I can. See you in a bit!" He had been texting Aerith the day before during the way back from Wutai and then while he was returning home from the Turks' headquarters, so she was already aware that there was something going on and he knew she would understand. She always did.
He put down his phone and stood up to go to the bathroom and take a shower. He made it just in time to the mass hall to pick up the leftovers from breakfast and wolfed it down quickly. Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen; not that Zack expected to see him, but he was still on the lookout, hoping to see how he was doing. While he was taking large bites from a bread roll, Kunsel, carrying an empty tray, made a stop at Zack's table and sat down across from him. "Hey Zack", he began. "Haven't seen you in a while." Zack swallowed the bread he was chewing on and nodded. "Yeah, sorry, I haven't really had time lately." Kunsel nodded in understanding. "Of course. Don't worry. Hey, do you know what's going on with Lazard? I heard some rumor that he disappeared and the Turks are looking for him." Zack clenched his fists and stared at his plate. So that was the situation. "Do you know anything?", Kunsel asked again. Zack leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest, wondering how much of the little he knew or presumed he was allowed to say. Perhaps not starting rumors was better for now. "I think he did not file some reports correctly and the Turks suspect there might be more going on, but I have no idea, really."
Kunsel's glowing green eyes studied him closely from his square face. Zack scratched the back of his neck and continued: "I actually talked to him yesterday in the afternoon and everything seemed normal. I don't know anything aside from that." Saying that out aloud, he suddenly realized that perhaps him reporting yesterday's events to Lazard gave him the time he needed to make himself scarce before the Turks fully realized what was going on. He vaguely remembered telling him explicitly that he had no idea how the information about Yuffie could have been lost. Had he messed up again? Kunsel leaned back and locked his hands in the back of his head and mused: "It would be shame if he really was involved in anything shady. He's the best director SOLDIER has ever had. You know, he really cares about us. I don't want to be seen as just a heap of muscle to be sent to die on the battlefield. Lazard isn't like that." Zack had to agree with this notion. It was literally Lazard's job to send them to the battlefield, possibly to die, but he saw them as people and always tried to understand them on a personal level, as well as to understand their strengths and weaknesses to use them as effectively as possible and minimize their risk of dying or getting seriously hurt. Perhaps Zack had not messed up after all, from a certain standpoint. He hoped Kunsel was right.
As he was contemplating, a group of three people chatting to each other suddenly stopped at his table, their conversation dead. He looked up to wish them a good morning, but was surprised to find all three of them dressed in the black SOLDIER 1st class uniforms. The same uniform he was wearing. Suddenly realizing that one of them was a tall, muscular woman with an undercut and chin-length brown hair brushed all the way to one side, brown eyes glowing in a freckled, tanned face, he straightened himself out and, raising a hand, blurted out: "Hiya! How's it going?" A soft, deep voice coming from the man standing next to her, exclaimed: "Oh my god!" The slim man with the wavy black hair framing his face, had raised a hand in front of his mouth and pinched his eyes as if he was suppressing a laugh. The blond, bulky man standing to the woman's other side, crossed his arms and mustered Zack with a disdainful expression as he spouted: "The rumors were true. He's already hitting on you."
Zack blinked a few times, wondering what he had done wrong and who these people were, but suddenly remembered that not quite a week ago, the day before he left for Wutai, three people he had never met had been promoted to class 1st. He tried to recall their names from the announcement, unsuccessfully. Instead, he nodded and tried the most diplomatic approach by saying: "A good morning to you, too. Do you need anything?" The woman stepped forward and leaned heavily on the table. "Isn't it tradition to have a contest to see who's the strongest in the SOLDIER division?" A challenge? Zack had never heard of such a tradition and it seemed pointless to him, since everyone knew that Sephiroth was the strongest, seeing as no one had ever defeated him. That was how Zack saw it, but actually, I remember so vividly how Genesis never accepted that Sephiroth was superior to him, and kept challenging him to duels. Not just for training, but to prove that he was better than Sephiroth. I had to break them up time and time again, and get my own butt kicked in the process. Genesis never accepted that Sephiroth was the strongest. Although someone who subscribed to the "Red Leather" fan mails may have mistaken Genesis' behavior for a SOLDIER tradition, it was not, because Sephiroth had always been the strongest, ever since the SOLDIER division was first founded. There was no point in trying to prove that it was not so. That never stopped Genesis from trying, obviously. She had a point, though. Seeing as Sephiroth and I had been contemplating about our retirement for some time, the position of the strongest may become vacant sooner than Zack expected. And he would have to defend that position against the new generation of 1sts rising through the ranks. That is, if he had any mind and the power to do so.
Zack folded his arms and looked away. He usually did not back away from a challenge, but it was just a bad time in general and he really wanted to visit Aerith later today. "If you want to prove that you're the strongest, perhaps you should go talk to Sephiroth", he said to discourage her, but that only provoked her further and, clenching her fist, she shot back: "Are you scared, you coward?" The black-haired man, chuckled and threw in: "Isn't Sephiroth still hiding in his room?" The other man interjected: "Hiding from what? Doesn't he have assignments to do like the rest of us? Why does he keep getting a free pass?" Zack pressed his lips together as heat rose to his face. He could live very well with being ridiculed by these bullies, but he could not accept people badmouthing Sephiroth.
Kunsel, noticing that the situation was about to go sideways, changed the topic in his usually colloquial manner: "Don't forget that everyone's on standby until further notice. This is a bad time to be fighting amongst ourselves. Besides, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Kunsel. Let me know if you need help with anything." Three pairs of eyes turned to him and then everyone laughed as they turned away. "Who the heck is that?", Zack heard the blonde man saying to the others and the black-haired man joined in with a joyful tone: "He's way out of his league!" Zack rolled his eyes, even more annoyed now than before. Kunsel had never made it past class 2nd, but he was one of the most senior people in the division. Everyone respected him, not just as a friend, but as one of the most experienced and knowledgeable people around, who was always eager to support the younger SOLDIERs. "It's fine", Kunsel interrupted Zack's thoughts. "You know, some people are like that. Don't let it get to you." Zack looked up as Kunsel rose from his seat. "I won't stop you if you want to give them a good beating, but keep a cool head about it. I heard they like ganging up on people. You might not be able to defeat the three of them together. I'll catch you later."
Zack waved at him and wished him a good day as he picked up his tray and walked off. He finished his breakfast quickly, but his sour mood had made him lose his appetite. After not finding any new orders or relevant news when he checked his phone, he decided to stop by at Aerith's place as soon as he could, as there was no telling when he would be called into action again.