Chapter 7

Two months.

Already, two months had flown by ever since Zack the Tasonosenshi started training Cloud the soul-bounded human.

A solid two months of him sucking at this 'training'.

It didn't even feel like training! Every day after school they would come to the Forest of Senshi to do said 'training', but it felt more like Cloud was just getting his clock cleaned and not learning anything. All he had managed to do was increase his stamina ever so slightly and learn how to block a whopping grand total of three punches. Oh, and he could throw out a decent right straight and a mediocre jab or two.

If he was being honest with himself… he was fed up with this.

He already got the shit kicked out of him by Deepground on the regular, and then he had to get knocked around by the very same being that was supposed to be protecting him from harm! Where was the pay-off? Where was the reward?

And let's not forget how secretive Zack liked to be about his past!

Oh, Cloud had been egging on about that the entire two months but he could never get that slippery shape-shifter to tell him anything. He was genuinely curious and wanted to know what it was like when humans and nightcrawlers co-existed, wanted to know how beautiful this forest used to look in its prime, and wanted to know how long his soul-bound demon was sealed here. That, and he wanted to know why Zack didn't want to talk about it. Not to mention why he always antagonized the crap out of him on the daily.

But Zack would always change the subject with a laugh or tell him to focus on his training. He could never get a straight answer out of him. He wasn't making any progress in defending himself, he wasn't making any social headway with his Tasonosenshi, he was having a ton of trouble keeping his grades up, and he certainly wasn't getting any closer to ridding Deepground from his life at all.

Needless to say, the blond was in over his head in terms of stress.

What with all this crap, hormones, and schoolwork to focus on, he was about to lose his freaking mind! It also didn't help that Zack kept antagonizing him all the time; making endless innuendos and always getting up close and in his personal space.

It was a miracle Cloud hadn't snapped yet –or fallen ill for that matter. Though he did notice an influx of acne lately. Maybe that was just the stress, but at this point –who knows?

All he did know was that he just wanted to make some kind of headway with anything at this point. He was tired of working his ass off only to go nowhere.

Maybe he would have been better off dead at this point…

"…oud… Cloud Strife!"

Cloud violently snapped out of his thoughts with a jolt, knocking over the books on his desk and flinching when they hit the floor with a loud wham. His peers were all staring at him now –some giving him confused looks and some quietly laughing at him. Glancing ahead, the dazed blond then realized he had caught the ire of his English III teacher, Mr. Crescent.

His teacher wore an annoyed and tight expression on his stone-cold face, his mint colored reading glasses only serving to make his piercing yellow-green eyes seem even more irritated.

If there was one thing Mr. Crescent could not tolerate; it was spacing out in the middle of his lectures.

Cloud felt a hot flourish burning against his cheeks and he just knew he was blushing out of sheer embarrassment. From out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tifa –his only friend in the class, mouthing the word 'coughing' as clearly as her lips would let her. If that's the case, then Mr. Crescent must have asked him a question that he didn't hear that she had.

"Uh… coughing…?" Cloud responded, performing the action himself into his fist. He couldn't make it seem like he was confused or his teacher would read right through him!

Mr. Crescent stared hard into his eyes as if searching for any signs of squeamish behavior. But he made sure to keep his eyes set and straight and hope to whatever God was out there that his teacher couldn't smell the fear he felt he was emitting.

"…Good. Seems you might have been paying attention after all…"

Cloud internally sighed.

"…Yes, coughing is the correct answer. That was the sound that Cope most remembered about…"

Mr. Crescent started to walk to another side of the classroom and his explanation faded with him. This time, Cloud did allow himself to quietly blow out a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one." Tifa whispered.

"Yeah, thanks, Tifa. Without your help I would have been so boned." Cloud acknowledged just as softly.

He saw Tifa make a face at him –eyebrows turned up and lips pulled down. "You don't normally space out during a lecture like that." She noted. "You okay?"

Cloud turned his head to check and see if his teacher was still explaining the answer to the other side of the room. He was, but it looked like he was going to spin on his heel and walk back over to their side any second.

"I'll tell you after class." He decided to say.

Tifa nodded. Not shortly after she did, Mr. Crescent turned around and began to pace back to their side of the room again while still continuing the lecture.

Now Cloud had to make sure he didn't space out like that again.

Once the end bell for first period rang, Cloud gathered up all his things as though his life depended on it; soon hurdling himself out of his desk, through the classroom, and into the hall.

He stood outside the front door and waited for Tifa to show up. She was the only one he could really talk to about what was going on –she had been his best friend since elementary school and they had always told each other just about everything. He even told her all about his pact with Zack, and also told her that if anyone asked about him to just say he was his cousin.

But she never brushed him off or told him to figure his problems out by himself. She was always willing to lend an ear or a hand and help him out. She was like the trustworthy older sister he never had.

"You're spacing out again~!" Tifa sang as he felt her tap him on the shoulder.

Cloud shook himself out of his thoughts. "Sorry." He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"It's alright. So…" They started to walk to their next period together. "…What's been going on lately? Deepground trouble again? You've been looking kinda stressed…"

"Well, yes and no…" He bobbed his head a little as he spoke. "Deepground's always a problem… But lately, I think Zack has been mostly the issue."

"Wait, Zack? As in your…" She leaned in a little closer with her hand blocking one side of her mouth. "Shape-shifting contractor?"

"Yeah." Cloud nodded as Tifa pulled her hand away.

"What's been going on with you two?"

"It's just… well, his training doesn't really feel like training and then I feel like I'm not getting anywhere with it at all!"

They carefully stepped down a small amount of stairs as the building they were in merged into a new one. The hallway size shrank, so the two had to walk a little more squished together.

"I think you should stop being so hard on yourself. I'm pretty sure you do great in whatever training it is that you two do!" Tifa encouraged with a smile.

"Oh yeah, I'm real great at getting the shit beat out of me… Real good at training if you look at it like that." Cloud rolled his eyes with a bitter grin on his face.

"Woah, woah, hold on. He's beating you up too?" She legitimately grabbed his shoulders and they stopped walking.

"That's what our 'training' is! He fights me, I try to fight back, and then he heals me and we do it all over again until God knows how many hours have passed!" Cloud became animated as he explained: using his hands, bobbing his head around, and rolling his eyes as well.

"So that's what it is…" Tifa muttered as she took her hands from his shoulders.

They stood off to the side in that narrow hall, the other kids moving past them and keeping the hall alive with the raucous sound of incoherent chatter. Cloud sighed heavily in that loud silence. Maybe Tifa might not have been the best person to talk about the extents of his training with –she was trained in martial arts and taekwondo, because now she might get a little defensive and threaten to beat the Tasonosenshi up.

"You know… I think you should talk to Zack about this." Tifa suggested with a nod.

Cloud leaned his head back until it connected with a cold, metal locker. "I've tried! But every time I say I'm not good at it or whatever then he tells me to just keep at it!"

"No, not about that!" Tifa giggled, her shoulders bouncing and her chocolate eyes sparkling. "Just tell him how the training makes you feel! Or better yet, how his methods are causing you stress." She stated matter-of-factly.

He pulled his head away from the locker. "That's easy for you to say. It's hard to talk to him about things like that!"

Tifa's whole body seemed to perk at that. "Well, why's that? From what you've told me about him he seems really nice… well… for a Tasonosenshi anyway."

When it came to trying to break him out of his social shell, Tifa would get really into it. It was like hearing the latest gossip with some girlfriends for her –it was exciting. He didn't know why she wanted him to open up so much, but he never really questioned it either. He just went with the flow.

"He's such a freaking provocative beast, that's why!" Cloud admonished with his hands held out. "He turns everything I say into some kind of dirty joke, always gets in my personal space and makes me so freaking nervous, an-and I don't even think he takes me seriously!" He felt a blush paint over his face and he hated it.

Tifa was silent for a moment, a look of shock or profound realization sweeping across her face. But then she started laughing out loud, one hand over her mouth and the other supporting her gut. Her whole body bounced and her eyes were practically stars now.

"Yeah, because that's so funny!" He drawled, the blush on his face now splotching its way toward his neck.

"It-It's just… kind of, haha, cute!" She managed to laugh out.

"Cute? Cute? How is that cute?!" Cloud's voice cracked and the redness was all over his face and neck now.

"Cloud, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he might have a crush on you!" She giggled, amused tears sprinkled in the corners of her eyes.

"A what?" Cloud practically slammed himself into the locker behind him just from the sheer audacity of his best friend's statement. "How could a joke-cracking, dark-hearted, overly-pushy, physically demanding, overprotective and overbearing, shape-shifting sleaze-ball, have a crush on me?"

A few people in the hall were staring, but then paid no mind and hurried onto their next class.

"This is just bullshit propaganda and I'm not listening anymore!" Cloud added as he pushed his hands against his ears and glanced at the ceiling tiles.

"No, Cloud listen!" Tifa pleaded as she pulled his hands away from his ears. She wiped all evidence of laughter away from her face and voice before she spoke again. "I really mean it! I think he has a crush on you and that's why he's pushing you so hard in training!"

Okay… so a crush might have something to do with the harsh training? Maybe it was worth listening now.

"What do you mean by that?" Cloud pulled his hands away from his ears entirely and Tifa dropped her hold on him too.

"Think about it: Deepground still keeps coming after you even though Zack shows up to steer them away. Not to mention the fact that they beat you senseless that one time while you were on his watch at school? I guess he might feel that even though he's around to protect you, he feels as though he's not enough?"

Well, that was understandable in terms of him getting stronger and explained the training, but how exactly did a crush play into behavior like that? Zack was just doing his job as a contractor when he protected and watched over him at school.

"So-?"

"So? Cloud… I don't think he wants to see you get hurt, like, ever. And I don't know about you, but when I have a crush on someone I like, I know I sure don't want to see them get hurt."

Again, keeping him from getting hurt was another part of the contract he had with Zack. He was just doing his job, nothing more.

"Tifa, it's part of his job to keep me from getting hurt by Deepground. How does that even insinuate that he has a-"

"The way he acts around you!" Tifa held out her hands as though Cloud was a prize she was showcasing. "You said it yourself! You know, the joke-cracking, overprotective sleaze-ball bit."

"That's just how he is, Tif'."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm-"

'It's been awhile since I've had such a young and cute master.'

Oh.

Zack did say that once he freed him from his limestone seal.

Tifa just gave him an all-knowing kind of smile, as if she could hear the thought playing in his head like a movie.

"Okay, what he said when I released him doesn't count!"

"Well, any other times he said or did something that might clue you in a little more?"

"Why does that matter, he doesn't have a crush on me! He's just doing his job!"

"…Uh-huh, sure, and I'm Rufus Shinra." Tifa snickered. "Trust me Cloud, I know what crushes sound like. I've had my fair share, and others have had their fair share for me."

Well, Cloud had seen Tifa with a few different relationships throughout the many years he'd known her… so she'd probably know a thing or two. After all, he had only been in one relationship –and that fizzled fast.

"…" Cloud was quiet now, a miffed yet far-away look on his face. Tifa really knew how to get him to think about things he would never even fathom of before.

Now he was standing in a hallway thinking of any time when Zack's behavior would have come off as 'crushy', while his best friend stood in front of him smiling and egging him on. He had to filter through the things he already deduced as Zack's eccentric personality and work from there.

Man, all this from just trying to get advice about his training.

Well… come to think of it, after Zack had transformed for the first time in front of him he had stated just how much fun he was to tease. That and he always pointed out when he blushed. Not very nice, so that was a maybe.

Then again, there had been quite a few instances where Cloud himself might have said something about his appearance… There's another blush. That same night he ended up having a nightmare and when he woke up in the morning Zack was curled up beside him. His contract didn't come with extended nightmare protection…

The when he gave him his late father's clothes, he had looked very sincere when he said he'd be careful with them. Ah, that probably didn't meant anything.

But then when one of the older kids at his bus stop, the one Zack dubbed 'patches' insulted him, his contractor was quick to scoop him up and threaten to kill him if he ever even looked his way again. He hadn't been teased by that kid ever since then. Surely Zack was just still doing his job, making sure people didn't hurt him verbally… probably.

But the last thing he could think of… that made a hot red blush swarm his entire body and he suddenly felt stuffy in his clothes. The way his contracted shape-shifter came to his aid that day when Deepground beat the ever living shit out of him. The way he hovered over him and challenged that band like they were nothing.

How he called him his kin.

"Yeah, with a look like that, I think you're starting to see it too!" Tifa grinned.

"…I don't know. I just don't see how a fierce Tasonosenshi would have a crush on a guy like me. I mean, hell, we're two different species!"

"C'mon Cloud! We practically live in a society that fantasizes about things like that! Haven't you been paying attention in history class? You think that stopped people in the past?"

"…" Cloud's brows furrowed tightly in absent thought. He really didn't know what to think anymore.

"So anyway, back to the whole thing about training. Just talk about it –that's all you have to do. With how I, the master of recognizing crushes, think he feels, I'm sure he'll be more inclined to listen." Tifa reminded.

Just as Cloud was about to speak up, the bell for the start of second period began to ring. Horror filled both of their eyes as they realized they were about to be late. They did not waste any time and scampered down the hall as fast as they could before they could be counted tardy.

The hall they once stood in was now dead silent: no people around to fill it to the brim with noise, no teachers chiding lollygagging students, and no bangs and slams from locker doors opening and closing. A loose paper or two laying against the tile forgotten by a careless student… It was completely void of life.

Until Zack stepped out from around another hall.

A/N: Hey look! An update! (After three years *cough cough*) I tried to avoid a time skip so badly, I really did. But then I realized that the only way for me to progress this story was to time skip XD So yeah, hopefully this will clear out the rest of that writer's-block!

If you liked this chapter, don't be shy to show it! Leave a review or drop a PM and let me know what you thought! I love hearing your feedback~!

Until next chapter, ciao!

PS: If you're curious about what in the ever living eff happened to me these past some odd years, details can be found on my profile because there's too much to say in an A/N XD