For some reason, I was looking forward to classes—most likely because I'd get to see the General again. It was strange how much I missed him, even after just a day apart.
Back in Nibelheim, I'd had a girlfriend, but I couldn't recall ever feeling anything like this before. Maybe it was because I was 16 then and clueless about real feelings—or maybe it was because this was different. A crush on... a man. Since we had not done much back then, I still was...
"Spike! Hey!"
A familiar voice broke through my thoughts, and I turned to see Zack waving over the heads of the crowd heading toward Sephiroth's class. Before I could say anything, he was next to me, ruffling my hair with a grin.
"Hey!" I protested, pushing him away. He just laughed and pulled me into a tight hug before letting go and falling into step beside me. "How's it going?" he asked.
As I tried to fix my hair, I felt my cheeks heat up, remembering how Sephiroth said he liked it. "Same as always," I replied. "What about you?"
"Good!" Zack grinned. "Heading to class. There's a meeting afterward about next week's mission."
The mention of the mission made my heart sink. I'd almost forgotten that Sephiroth would be gone for days, maybe even weeks. Zack must've noticed my expression because he suddenly stopped walking, his smile faltering.
"Whoa, what happened to your lip?" he asked.
Caught off guard, I brought my hand up to the small sting I'd grown used to. "It's nothing," I mumbled.
Zack's grin returned, but now it was teasing. "Training accident? Or..." He nudged me. "...another kind of accident? Come on, who was it?"
I sighed. "No, it wasn't that spectacular. Only an accident while chewing on a pen..."
"A pen... is that so?" Zack snickered but, thankfully, got distracted as we arrived at the classroom.
"Seph!" he called, waving energetically. Then, I watched him darting forward, clearly aiming for a hug.
I watched how Sephiroth twitched and raised his arm up just in time to stop Zack from his attempted hug—with the palm of his hand on Zack's forehead, holding the struggling man back. I heard the General mutter something along the lines of "You're embarrassing me," and "can't you wait until the end of the lesson?"
I chuckled at the scene, quickly sliding into my seat in the second row. My eyes drifted toward the General, who was busy talking to other students. While I wanted to join the conversation, I also didn't want to come off as annoying or clingy. Instead, I sat quietly, watching as a strand of his silvery hair slipped free from behind his ear and fell into his face when he leaned down to check his laptop.
He didn't smile when he was talking to other people, but somehow, he still didn't appear unfriendly. 'He is one strangely amazing human...' I caught myself daydreaming while everyone moved to their seats.
Zack waved goodbye as he headed to the office behind the classroom, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I glanced at Sephiroth again, wondering if he'd noticed me yet. Had he ever looked at me during class? I couldn't remember. But tonight, I wanted him to. Maybe while I was answering one of his questions about the current subject.
I secretly grabbed my phone, suddenly unbelievably aware of how unreal my current situation was. My face turned slightly warmer when I read our latest texts:
*I don't taste good ;)*
*Hmm, I will have to convince myself of that on Friday... And no, I won't hurt you ;)*
*Really?*
*Yeah :) Or you like? O_O*
*Ha ha... depends on the situation! ;) ;) ;)*
I was just about to dim my phone to avoid "downtown awkwardness" when the lights in the room flickered off.
My head shot up just in time to see the presentation on the whiteboard in front of me... when suddenly, I felt several eyes on me.
"Your phone!", someone whispered and I reacted quickly by dimming the screen...
Now I was deadly sure that a certain somebody's eyes would be on me as well – not the way I had planned, however.
Carefully and slowly, my gaze moved up and to my instructor's eyes... but, instead of annoyance or anger which I expected for being rude and interrupting class, I found confusion in the pools of mako green...
His questioning look threw me off. Why would he be confused? Then I noticed him biting his lip, the sharp corner of his canine tooth catching the skin. My own lip stung in response, and I realized he must've noticed my injury. Embarrassed, I shook my head as if to say, "it's nothing." He hesitated, then gave me a subtle nod before continuing the lesson.
The rest of the class passed in a blur, and as students began to pack up, Sephiroth's voice cut through the room.
"Cloud Strife, stay after class."
I froze. Several students shot me curious glances as they left, but I stayed rooted to my seat, dreading what was coming. When the last person filed out, Sephiroth gestured for me to step forward.
I approached his desk slowly, my stomach twisting with nerves. 'It must be about that cellphone thing. They're forbidden during class, after all...' He rose and circled around me, his face unreadable.
By the time he finally spoke up, my heart was beating considerably faster because I had already pictured the worst scenarios in my head:
Him taking my phone away, him thinking I was also doing these kinds of texts with other people, or even... telling me that he wanted to stop the ambiguous–at least hinted–texting...
After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke up. "Did someone hurt you?" he asked, stopping in front of me. "Or did it happen during training?"
Sephiroth lifted his arm slowly, his hand moving up as if to touch my lip... but shortly before reaching it, he withdrew it and placed a finger on the corner of his own lips instead. The gesture made my heart race, but I managed to respond.
"Oh, no... It was an accident with a fork last night, please don't worry about it." I explained, watching his serious face soften. Fork sounded less dorky than getting hurt by a pen...
His expression softened immediately. "Are you sure? Well, okay... We do not use healing Materia for such small matters, otherwise I would offer you—", he started but I interrupted the taller man.
"I'll get some ointment from the nurse, alright?", I smiled at him. "But thanks for your concern."
I felt the strong urge to hug him for caring about me. Since there were no other students around anymore, it wouldn't seem weird... But I didn't want to make the first step and risk awkwardness.
"Please do. I'll go head to a short meeting," he said, putting on his black cloak, still standing in front of me.
I smiled at him again. "Then have fun, and good night." My voice came out quieter than I intended, and I hesitated before leaning forward slightly, hoping he'd take the hint.
To my surprise, he did. With a smirk, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I pressed against him, returning the hug. A pleasant scent of leather and aftershave emitted from him, and I prayed that I still smelled like my conditioner.
"Take care of yourself and on your way home," Sephiroth added, hands sliding down to pat my back.
"T-Thanks" I mumbled half into the fabric of the cloth on his chest and half up to his neck. I felt a few strands of his silver hair tickling my cheek and had to smile. "You too," I finished, the intoxicating scent surrounding him now impossible to ignore. During our previous hugs, I'd been too overwhelmed by the sheer fact of embracing Sephiroth to notice it—but now it lingered, wrapping around me as much as his presence did.
When we pulled away, I tried to hide my blush resulting from my face having been pressed against him, as well as that gorgeous smell...
Fortunately, he turned around to grab his suitcase, so I offered him a quick "See you!"
I quickly caught his answer "Good night" before rushing out of the door, face full of pure joy.
As I left the classroom, my heart was soaring. I couldn't stop thinking about the graceful General anymore—his voice, his scent, the way he made me feel. For once, I didn't care how ridiculous it seemed. All I knew was that Sephiroth made me happier than anything else. Even Kunsel was starting to worry what the cause of my sudden happiness outbursts was. Of course, I couldn't tell him what caused it, that would just be weird as hell.
Now that I thought about it, I didn't even know any homosexuals here at ShinRa. If I had internet at other places than the library, I would have done a research on it to find out if it wasn't even forbidden. 'Then I'd surely be screwed...' I thought, sighing.
Instead of worrying about that, I decided to think about my upcoming theory exam for 2nd Class. After taking a look at my papers, I figured that I was pretty much done with everything beside one book and some papers from class.
Therefore I flipped the book open and started another studying session, motivated from this day's events.