Hello, all! This is my first attempt at a FFVII fic, so I don't know how well this will go :\ It parallels Crisis Core (Zack Fair's story, if you didn't know), but introduces an original character-- a girl. So, without further ado, here's chapter 1!

*UnderdogAngel

-Chapter 1-

Zack

The slums of Sector 5, I thought as I looked around. The streets were bleak, as always. The only pretty feature that I could see was the ruins of an old church, a few of the stained glass windows still in tact. When the sun shone through them, it was beautiful. Okay, so having my one-track mind and short attention span, I did find other things about the slums that weren't bleak. They just weren't necessarily...part of the scenery. Yes, I was talking about the people. More specifically, the girls. Hey, I'm a guy. Give me a break!

SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair at your service. Things at that point were pretty slow around Shinra. Lots of training and no assignments. In other words: bo-ring. I walked around Midgar when I had nothing better to do at Shinra, usually. The Turks were all over Sector 8, so I tried my best to stay clear of there. The slums of Sector 5 seemed like the next best place to me, since there was less chance of any other operatives spotting me and asking why I wasn't training. I had had enough of training. I was ready for some action!

I guess I just hadn't prepared myself for the action I would stumble upon in the humble, bleak slums of Midgar. It was just another ordinary day, of course. I thought that making 1st would make my life a lot more exciting, but it didn't happen overnight. Well, I guess you could say it did, but it's a long and complicated story.

Banora had been bombed to remove all evidence of Shira interference. Because of my help, I had been promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class. Like I told Director Lazard, I thought I'd be happier. But...a lot had been happening. Maybe it was because I felt like I shouldn't have been promoted for the reasons I had been. Everyday, I wondered where Angeal was, and why he had decided to leave. I also wondered about Genesis. I was often tempted to ask Sephiroth what he knew, but he didn't seem inclined to "chatting" with me. Just as well. I was best left to wonder on my own. It gave me something to do, anyway.

Most of that part of the city was in ruins, like most of the slums, so of course I first saw her behind a ruined building. I heard something like blows landing and grunting. It sounded like a girl, so (because of my heightened SOLDIER instincts) I ran around the side of the building to stop it.

I drew my sword and skidded to a stop. "Hey! Wha-"

Someone disappeared as quick as lightning, hiding in a hole in the wall. I stepped further around the corner and looked around. Other than a make-shift punching bag swinging lazily from a tree, nothing else moved. I sheathed my sword. "Weird," I said to myself.

I stepped over to the hole where the person had disappeared. I peered inside. No movement. "Uh, hello?"

No answer, but I thought I heard quiet breathing. I stepped in farther. "Hello-?"

I was cut off by a katana being swung at me. I quickly drew my sword again and blocked it. After I shook off the initial shock, I focused long enough to find out who had attacked me. I felt my eyes widen.

Holding the hilt of the katana pressed against my sword was a...a girl. She looked about my age, too. She had thick brown hair that fell just past her shoulders, and bangs across her forehead. Sunlight from one of the skylights in the plate glinted off round, silver stud earrings in her ears, not unlike the one in my left ear.

She looked at me, her bright, bright blue-green eyes filled with something that looked like a mix of hate, surprise, and just a hint of fear. Okay, I thought. It's not an anti-SOLDIER operative. That I know of. Maybe I can talk to her.

"Hey, hey," I said. "No need to be hacking off any limbs today."

Her glare softened a little, and she stood, still holding her katana out. Her eyes ran up and down me, then stopped, locking back on mine again.

I pulled my sword back, and sheathed it on my back. I held my hands out. "It's okay, see?"

She didn't seem to believe me. "Who are you?"

She speaks, I thought. "Zack," I said. "Zack Fair."

"Why are you here?"

I shrugged a little. "Curiosity?"

She looked at me, as if trying to see into my mind. It felt...weird, to say the least. "No one sent you?" she asked.

"No one," I assured her.

She gave me one final, long look, and then lowered her sword. "Then I guess I don't have to kill you." She slid her sword into a sheath at her hip.

"Um, thanks?" I said.

She laughed softly once, cracked a small smile, then walked over to the so-called punching bag.

"Would you have had to kill me if I'd answered otherwise?" I asked as she steadied the bag's swinging.

"I suppose," she simply said.

"Um, why?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it." She turned to face me. "Especially with someone I just met." She walked back over to the hole in the wall, but didn't go inside.

I knew what I would usually say to a girl (especially such a pretty girl like this one), but this girl seemed...different. Plus there was the chance that if I said one wrong thing, she'd attack me again, so...yeah.

She looked at me when I didn't say anything. (Actually, I was noticing how muscular she was. She was wearing a tank top and cargo capris, so her muscles were pretty visible. Like I said before, one-track mind and short attention span.)

I felt utterly shocked when she started laughing. I was even more shocked when I thought that it was a cute laugh. "You should see your face," she laughed.

"Wait," I said. I tugged my gloves on, then twisted the earring in my ear, thinking. "Did I...miss something?"

"Am I really that threatening? That I can scare someone like you?"

"Who said I was scared?"

"Oh, well, it must the fear in your eyes that confused me."

I looked at her.

"I can read people...Zack, was it?" She looked at the wall, smiling. "I must be getting better than I thought." She tugged down on her gloves. "Hiya," she said, extending her hand. "The name's Kiku. Kiku Oshiro."

I raised an eyebrow, but shook her hand. "I'm confused," I said.

"You look it, too," she said.

"Are there two of you?" I asked.

"Nope," she said. "My mom used to say that she had enough on her plate handling one of me. Sorry I got all 'worked up'-" She made air quotes here. "-before. I just have to stay on guard, you know? Can't be too careful these days."

"Got that right," I said. She smiled and picked up a water bottle off the ground. "Was that you I heard before? Hitting that?" I asked, nodding towards the bag.

"Yeah," she said. "I come out here when...when I need to clear my head. Or something."

"I take it it's a secret?" I asked, smiling a little.

"And if you tell anyone..." she said, putting her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"I won't," I said. "Cross my heart."

"Hope to die?" she asked.

"Hope to die."

She nodded. "Very well, then."

She looked at me. "That's a...pretty spiffy sword you got there," she said.

I glanced over my shoulder, then unsheathed it. "Thanks," I said. "Yours isn't bad either."

She absentmindedly touched the sheath, running her hand over it. "Got it a while back." She spoke as if she were remembering something, her voice heavy with some emotion I couldn't put my finger on. "It's pretty much my best friend." She looked at me. "You ever meet any Shinra operatives called SOLDIER?"

I decided to play dumb for a moment, remembering that I hadn't actually told her I was a SOLDIER myself. "Maybe."

She unsheathed her katana and looked at her reflection in the blade. "What do you think about them?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well... I guess you could divide the people down here into two groups: Those who are anti-Shinra, and those who are pro-Shinra."

"So...which are you?" I asked.

She half-smiled. "I guess I'm...pro-Shinra." Her answer surprised me. "I know there are girls in the Turks and all that, but I'd rather be in SOLDIER." That surprised me even more.

"Why?"

"Being a Turk is all well and good for some, but I... I don't know, I guess I love fighting. But...don't they get some kind of special...surgery or something to enhance their physical capabilities?"

"So I hear," I said.

"Some people are scared of them... Say it's not natural to love to fight." She sheathed her sword again.

"Sometimes...fighting is your only option."

She looked at me, as if I'd read her mind. She shook her head and looked at the ground.

"So...I take it...you're not afraid of SOLDIERs?"

"You kidding?" she asked, looking back at me. "They're awesome!" I couldn't help but smile at that. "Heroes to children and protectors of peace."

We were silent for a moment. "Well...actually..." She looked at me. "I'm...with SOLDIER."

Her eyes widened. "For real?"

I laughed a little. "You are looking at a newly ordained SOLDIER 1st Class," I said proudly.

"That is the most awesome thing ever!" I couldn't remember a time when someone had actually greeted a member of SOLDIER this way. It was...refreshing. "So, I take it that sword is 'standard issue'?" she asked, making air quotes again.

"Yeah," I said. "I think of it as my best friend, too."

"Pretty much the only thing that'll never let you down."

Yeah, I thought sadly. Not like some people I know...

She noticed. "You okay?"

I shook it off. "Yeah. Fine."

After a moment, she squinted her eyes at me and moved closer. She stood on her tiptoes (she was at least a head shorter than me) and looked me right in the eyes.

Wow, her eyes are awesome, I thought. Her lips aren't so bad either...

"Are those eyes standard issue as well?" she asked.

I blinked a couple times, reminding myself that she was expecting me to respond. "Yep," I said. "That's mako right there," I said, pointing to my eyes as she stepped back.

"Hmm," she said, as if she were thinking. Then she smiled, her face flushing a little as she moved back. "I...I like them. They're...pretty awesome."

I looked at her for a moment, then felt myself smiling, too. "Thanks. I was just going to ask you if you had mako in your eyes."

She cocked her head to one side. "Hmm?"

Okay, I thought. That was adorable. "Your eyes are really awesome, too," I said. "I'd say more, but you might chop my hand off."

She laughed. "Thanks."

She looked at a watch on her wrist, then picked up a backpack from behind some old bricks. "Gotta run," she said.

"W-wait," I stuttered before she could run off (I had no doubt that that was what she'd actually do).

She looked at me, then, when I didn't say anything, smiled. "Seriously, Zack. I won't harm you in any way, shape, or form. That's all an act. Just in case."

I wanted to ask what that meant. But, instead, I said, "I was just going to ask if I could see you again."

She smiled. "I'd like that." She looked at the tree, then at the building. "We'll meet here, okay? I'm here almost every day. Just...announce yourself so I don't jump you."

I laughed a little. "Right. I'll remember that."

She smiled and adjusted the strap on her bag. "See ya, Zack Fair, SOLDIER 1st Class. It's been lovely nearly killing you."

I laughed. "It was great being attacked by you, Kiku Oshiro."

She smiled, nodded, then ran off into the slums.

As soon as she was gone, I slapped myself in the forehead. "Zack, you really are a dork," I said to myself as I headed back the way I had come. "Could you really have seemed any less cool to her? And she's really cool, too! Ahhh..."

I got a call shortly after that, telling me to return to the Shinra building. Seems they keep closer tabs on me than I thought, I mused as I headed back towards the train station.

Back at Shinra, I didn't really have any friends. I mean, Angeal had been my friend, but since he'd gone missing (betrayed us, everyone said), I'd felt very...alone. Now maybe with meeting this girl (who I couldn't seem to not think about), I could have someone to talk to again. I looked at my sword as I lay in bed that night. Someone who might even understand someone like me.

Kiku

"Kiku!"

I shoved my katana under my pillows and threw my blankets over it. "Yes?"

My father was a big man. Not big as in overweight. Big as in burly. Strong. In short: scary.

"Get out here and clean up this mess!"

"Yes, sir," I said, scurrying out to the kitchen.

"I thought I made it clear that there would be punishment if this house wasn't clean!"

I didn't answer, just got to work. I had learned to say as little as possible, and to conceal as much as possible. Less trouble that way.

Even though nearly one hundred percent of the messes were never mine, I cleaned them nonetheless. It didn't matter to him. I wasn't his daughter. I was his maid. His button to push. His bag to beat. Nothing more.

And I was sure I was a lot less.

I kept telling myself that I'd get out of there one day. Out from under the plate. I wouldn't run through slums anymore, I'd run out under the sky. I'd feel the sun for real. I'd look at the stars in all their beauty. But running away was almost entirely out of the question. Where would I go? I didn't have any friends. I kept mostly to myself. Told myself it was better that way. Less people that I would drag down with me.

Meeting Zack that day was a bolt out of the blue. Boy, I had not seen that coming. At least I proved to myself that I could still be civil and likable.

When I was a kid, I'd had friends. But after some time, a lot of them moved away. Those that didn't began to ignore me because I lived in the slums. Like it was my choice to live there. Not that I was complaining. Living in the slums had presented me with a number of opportunities. Like, for example, being able to hide almost anywhere and not being interrupted. Well, usually. Like I said, Zack showing up surprised me to no end.

And he liked my eyes. That brightened my day like you couldn't believe. My whole life, my father had always told me that he hated my eyes. That they were too happy. Too full of life. Those weren't his exact words, but they were there, between the lines. Someone like Zack (who, I must say, was very good-looking, and that's putting it mildly) telling me otherwise felt...amazing. So much so, that even my father's nightly tirade didn't get me down that night.

But then reality hit me, and I had to sink right back into the day-to-day life of me. I was just glad that Zack hadn't asked about my home life. I didn't think that I had the heart to tell him. He seemed so nice. So sweet. I didn't want to burden him with all my crap. And yet he wanted to see me again. I thought sure that I had scared him off. But I guess he was more...persistent than I had thought he was.

I also couldn't believe I told him everything about my wanting to be in SOLDIER. I also couldn't believe that he was actually with SOLDIER. That right there made my day. 'Course, I was just a girl from the slums with big dreams. Most girls like me never made it very far.

Well, we'll see how things go, I thought as I lay in bed that night, one hand on my katana (in case of a night attack). I twisted one of my earrings with my other hand. Once he finds out who I really am, I thought, what I've seen and felt, he won't stick around for long.

I didn't know whether to be comforted or saddened by that thought. I didn't know at all.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, and really make my day! It's so encouraging to know if people are reading and liking my stories! If you get the chance, hit that button down there and leave me a review! Thanks muchly! :3

(P.S.: Reviews speed up time between posts. So if you want Chapter 2, tell me so! :D)