A New Life

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts.

Summary: Non-existent Cloud Strife had been in love on popular Leon. Because of his nerdy looks, no one spared him even one look. Then Yuffie came into the picture and in comes Cloud with a new face and a new love life.

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Squall Leonheart. The person of his affection. And the most popular of all populars. Dark, tall and handsome, Squall Leonheart fitted them all. He was the most popular guy of Radiant High other than Sephiroth. The two would always walked together in a group with nearly more than half of the whole student population (boys and girls) stalking behind them. Squall was the most admired student of the group.

Not only he had good looks, he was always the top student with top grades and was the male of every girls' and boys' dreams. Even though he was cold, distant and preferred to be actually left alone, none seemed to fear him except a few. Girls fawned over him and even tried many ways to get the male to notice them.

Some even crammed their way into his classes and spread plenty rumors that he or she was currently dating with the handsome brunette, which Squall had declared there was no such thing in an clearly irritated tone. He was after all the talk of the school other than Sephiroth.

And of course, last but not least, he had his very own fan club with fan girls plus boys having meetings about the hot brunette. They talked about his latest fads and lots of other things about him much to Squall's disgust. They even learned that the brunette hated being called Squall and preferred to be called Leon instead of that name. None knew why but that won't take too long to find out. That was why the brunette hated going near the group.

And in entered the school's most picked-on nerd, Cloud Strife who was also a part of the 'I Love Leon' Committee. The boy actually had to beg his way into the committee. Because of his nerdy looks, most teens in school never gave him much of a 'pleasant' welcome. He was bullied, picked on or even better, of non-existent by the whole student body. After all, Cloud was among the least fortunate one and he was already used to everything he encountered in the school.

Not only that he was a bookworm, his low grades didn't help much either. To top it all off, he was skinny, not that tall as Leon and not that good-looking as him too. His mop of blonde hair had been brushed flat against his head and his blue deep-sea eyes hidden behind large and thick horn-rimmed glasses with no thanks to his mother. The way he wore the school's uniform was uptight with a pair of trousers which looked too big for his size.

So where was he now? Right, hiding timidly behind a pole just to steal glances at the ever so popular Leon. Not that people could blame him for it. It had become a famous obsession lately for fans to do this so what made him different from the others? Face a tainted pink, Cloud stared dreamily on, studying the ice prince and picturing him in many ways. Leon smiling at him. Leon hugging him. Leon kissing him. And last but not least, Leon claiming him…

Startled at his own dirty thoughts, the blonde quickly shook his head, his face now turning as red as a tomato. Cloud knew clearly well that a cute guy like Leon won't even talk to him much less even sparing him one small look. After all, he was one of the least favored students in the community. Unlike Leon, Cloud didn't have any friends. Only one. And that was just his cousin, Yuffie Kusaragi.

Yuffie, as a child had vowed and dreamed that she could take over Cloud's love life much to the blonde's protests and dismay. Cloud remembered how she would rant on and on about her favorite cousin's wedding should be like and as long as she was the wedding planner, she could just die and gone to heaven. That was also why Cloud wouldn't let the raven-haired girl knew of his love for the ice prince, no matter what.

Or else, it wouldn't have been pretty for him.

He continued to stare and study his prince. Every short movement he made made the blonde gasped softly under his breath on how gorgeous he was. It was really a breathtaking view for one Cloud Strife. There were times when Cloud would actually stand up, walk away and say hi. But there were also times when the blonde would look at himself in the mirror grimly.

He looked pathetic for pete sake and he hated himself for it.

The school's bell suddenly rang, snapping the blonde out of his thoughts, reminding him vaguely of the consequences for being late for Mr. Valentine's class. He winced at the again sudden reminder of Valentine's angry and furious face before turning on his heels, and dashed across the hall, bumping into several students along the way.

He could fantasize about his dreamy hunk later and focused on class. But that was seemingly impossible for Cloud since he was in the same class with Leon. And most importantly, his seat was just two seats away from his prince. Maybe that was the cause for Cloud to fidget nervously every time in Leon's presence. Hey! Everything was possible for now. Who knows?

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Yuffie Kusaragi was sick. The always bubbly and full of energy girl wasn't sick due to an unknown illness but she was sick and dead tired of her cousin's obvious behavior. She had been watching Cloud for a while. Well, you could say it was a long time ago and until now, it was still the same. Nothing ever changed.

Her cousin was as timid and shy as ever. Not that she minded since she was actually the one who loved to tease Cloud about his wacky appearance. And she was also the one who forced Cloud to vow with her on that wedding thing. Yuffie wouldn't hesitate to even roll her eyes at her cousin. For once, he was an awful liar.

And for twice, he was even worse at hiding his own feelings. For many times already, the raven-haired girl had caught the teen in his acts, sneaking glances at Leon and writing love-sick notes about the ice prince. Puh-lease. As if she didn't know what was going on in Cloud's head.

There was one time when she accidentally stumbled across Cloud's diary, skimming through the contents. At first, she was bewildered at the fact that her cousin was gay but then instantly, she was turned into a gay fan girl. And is worst came to worst, she would have to break her resolution to buy a car into buying a new camcorder.

After all, she was quite confident at the fact that there was a possibility that the two would end up together. As long as she was on the job that is. Besides, the little devil knew that Leon was gay and not that clueless on these kind of stuffs so her work would be much more easier then. The blonde for once had frankly surprised her. She would never have guessed that her little cousin was now in love.

Cloud wasn't interested in girls or boys if that even mattered in the first place. She had a feeling he was only destined to married his comics about Captain Undies-pants. Err…or was it underpants? Whatever. As long as Cloud now was fully aware of his feelings, she wouldn't start to worry about the blonde's future life.

Fiddling with her pen as she failed to listen to Valentine's lecture, she cast a satisfied look towards the blonde whom by what she knew was currently struggling to make up his mind about whether to approach Leon or not. She smiled inwardly. This could pose quite of a challenge but she was confident in her skills. From what she had heard, Leon also was currently on the search for someone special in his life. After all, she wasn't proclaimed as the best matchmaker in the school for nothing.

But first things first, she had got to do something about the blonde's look. The glasses had got to go. And something must be done about the poor teen's outfit as well as the hair, it was giving her the goose bumps. Biting her lips, it would be a hard time trying to persuade her cousin about it though due to his overly-stubborn feature.

She would have to talk to him later, during lunch or perhaps, tricking him into coming to her house after school. Worst came to worst, she would have to kidnap her own cousin and held him captive in her house until she's done with him.

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"No," was the sudden and solid reply.

Of all the things to get stubborn in, Yuffie just had to give the blonde credit on it. The raven-haired girl had been trying her best to persuade the blonde into coming over to her house for a new change in his lifestyle but Cloud dismissed the idea fast and solid, not giving the girl time to explain herself out.

"No! My mom will kill me! You know she hate these things!"

The girl sighed dramatically and shook her head slowly. It was true that Cloud's mother was being overly-protective of her own son. She thought of the teenagers nowadays as a bad influence on the future's generation and always took her sweet time to lecture Cloud on what to do and what to not do, just so that her son won't be engaged in any indecent activities.

"I said no, Yuffie. And that's final!"

Cloud strife, currently in love with Leon, shook his head on what Yuffie had explained to him. His mother would never let him hear the end to this if she found out but that didn't stop Yuffie on what she had to say, just to make her cousin took part in her little get together project.

Twirling on her toes, she drawled on, "Aww…and I was only trying to help you with your problem…." Her voice trailed off, resisting the urge to laugh at how Cloud's ears had perked up at her statement. "But it's not my problem if you continue with your love-sick illness."

Cloud, shocked and face reddened at that sudden comment, abruptly stood up from his seat, dragging the cheering inwardly girl to a place in the school in which was currently unoccupied by anyone at that moment. He glared as Yuffie continued to giggle loudly, not bothering to hide the fact that she knew something about it.

"All right, Yuffie. Speak." The blonde growled dangerously, folding his arms, his eyes glaring at the girl.

"I took a teensy bitsy peek in your diary. Honestly! That's all I did!" She laughed sheepishly, shuffling her feet uncomfortably.

"YOU WHAT?!"

"Ehehehe?" She chuckled nervously, wincing at the blonde's outburst. "It was just a small peek."

"You looked into my diary without my permission?! Yuffie! How could you!"

"Look at it this way, Cloudster. If I didn't, you'll be stuck scribbling your love for Leon over for years."

Cloud blushed at the comment. "That's not the point! The point is that you-"

"-will be coming home with me later. I called your mom and she said yes to our little study session and won't mind about you staying over for months." She interrupted, mentally cheering at how her plan was advancing.

"Wait! You even called my mom?! YUFFIE!"

The girl tilted her head innocently. "What?"

The blonde slouched down to his knees, groaning at the way his cousin was acting. He would have figured it out sooner or he would have chosen another way to hide his diary in somewhere better and safer. At least his mother didn't saw the scribbles or even bothered to indulge herself in her son's dairy or else, he would have died and gone to hell.

He was grateful for it. But! Of all the times to let Yuffie saw it! Darn, somehow, the blonde had a feeling that he was going to regret this. Yuffie smiled smugly before deciding it on herself. "I knew you would agree! Besides, don't you want to get Leon to notice you for once? I knew of a plan perfectly how…"

Cloud raised his head so his gaze met Yuffie's. And something told him that this was not one which he could look forward to in any occasions. But at least, the girl could help him with his love crisis. He did do anything just to make Leon noticed him even if it meant disobeying his mother and bringing himself into Yuffie's plan.

After all, it was a step closer to his dream. And after all, Yuffie was the best matchmaker in school.

"Why do I have a feeling that I am going to regret this…" He groaned grimly.

The raven-haired girl just shrugged.

"You won't. I'm sure of it. Besides, you can always revert back to your old self."

That statement had Cloud's gears turning. She was right. If he didn't like it, he could always revert back to his usual lifestyle, being bullied, being the least favored one and etc.

"Okay…I guess. But this time, no FUNNY business." He warned sternly.

The girl just nodded curtly in respond.

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"A bit of this and a bit of that… There! All done!"

Yuffie immediately started on what she had planned earlier at once when Cloud stepped into her house. She had drastically dragged the boy into her room, locking the door tight to prevent any interruptions. She had taken the time to do the blonde's hair first. Cloud still wasn't sure about the whole thing. It was something new to him.

And he still had to admit it. Having a new look was already a temptation. But trying to make him look better and getting to knew Leon was more tempting. Yuffie had told him that loads of time ever since. He wondered to himself if Leon would even bother with him since he had saw one of the popular girls making a move on the brunette but received nothing except a cold hard glare, threatening to bite her head off if she went a few millimeters further near him.

Nonetheless, it was a huge step for him now so he wasn't too sure on making it. However, his cousin seemed to knew what she was doing. What on earth would his mother say if she saw him like this? Cloud grimaced at the thought but immediately shrugged it off as Yuffie declared that she was done. "Here. Put on these transparent contact lenses." She said, placing them in front of Cloud.

"What for? The glasses are already fine." The blonde asked curiously, opening the cases carefully.

"Your glasses? I threw them into the bin. It's probably burning in the dump right now." She chirped cheerfully. She was very satisfied at her new work.

Cloud wasn't happy at the idea. "What!! My mom will kill me now…Yuffie! Look at what you did!" He tried his best to suppress the urge to groan.

"I'm and I'm satisfied with it." Yuffie all but sang, pulling a few shirts out of her closet. "These belonged to my brother but he died in that car accident."

Cloud grimaced at the mention of Yuffie's brother's death. Zack was a good lad and a great friend. Whenever people started to bully him or even teased him, old Zack would always come to the rescue with a large grin on his face. And Cloud missed that face. He also missed the warm feeling which Zack would give him. It was a sad thing when the raven-haired boy lost his life trying to save Cloud in that car accident.

If he hadn't, Cloud would have died three years ago instead of his late cousin. Yuffie didn't blame Cloud for it or even her parents. They knew that Zack wanted the blonde to move on with his life and lived the twice of his years happily. And the blonde cherished it very much.

"So, you'll do in them. Put on these jeans and shirt with this coat on now."

Cloud nodded curtly and followed what Yuffie told him to do. Then, the girl appeared with a mirror and Cloud's jaws dropped to the ground. He was awe-struck. Standing before him in the mirror was no one other than himself, a side which he couldn't picture himself in. yuffie had did an most amazing job on his hair so they now had spike pointing in lots of directions.

As for his face, Yuffie had gotten rid of his glasses so his bright deep-sea blue eyes were now visible to everyone. It was a simple transformation but Cloud felt like a new teen with a new purpose in life.

"See? I told you!" She smirked in satisfaction. "By the way, get rid of your normal clothings and where something like this for a change. Zack would like you to have his clothes too since you were his best friend. Besides, you needed it."

Cloud wasn't able to express his thanks enough. "Thanks. But I can't wear them to school."

Yuffie slapped her forehead in defeat. "Come on, Cloud! Uniforms aren't compulsory. I think you're the only person who was stupid enough to follow that rule. No wonder you get pick on that much. Wear them or you'll find your love notes plastered on every walls on the school."

Cloud soon found himself glaring at the girl for the next two hours.

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Review ne? My second KH2 Fic Got this idea while I was thinking of a new inspiration for a HaoYoh oneshot but somehow turned KH-ish.