Midgar High School

Why was I here? I knew I was invited... but I didn't really feel like I was welcome. Elena wasn't here yet, but it had been days since I'd seen her. I couldn't help but feel a little resentful, because it was Re and I first. But as soon as that Shera girl came in...

So I was just hanging around the outside of Aeris's house. Watching people file in. No one that I knew or cared about. Of course, I didn't really care about many people...

Red. Bright red... Reno?

I squinted. It was Reno. But that car wasn't his. And... oh no.

Reno patted a camera and laughed. "Okay so I throw you at Galian and take pictures. Scream good."

That bastard actually smiled. "Right, pushy little shit." He ran his hand over his hair. "I'm going to stay out here for a bit, get some air."

Reno thought a moment and sighed. "Look, don't you go back over there, it'll be fine. Just, stick around here. Got it?"

"Go inside, I'll live."

Reno shook his head. "You aren't going to make friends being a bastard, you bastard."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes then. "I think your friends wouldn't be too keen on us walking in together. Everyone's probably worried about you. How many damn times did Elena call you?"

Reno grimaced. "It'll take explaining, but I mean, what else can ya do but say sorry?" He didn't press further though and went inside alone.

So he was alone now. I thought about brooding in silence, like I always do. I thought about running in after Re and slapping him. And then I thought about slapping Sephiroth.

But words came forth instead.

"What do you think you're doing?" I said, my tone far more aggressive than I'd ever heard myself. It scared me.

It must have shocked him too; he titled his head at me. For Sephiroth, god of the school, he looked rather haggard. He watched me approach, still leaning on that expensively sleek car. After a long sigh and a look over at his home he looked back at me. "I really don't know."

Of course he didn't know. I mean... this wasn't his world. He didn't belong here. No matter his deified status; he wasn't welcome among the common folk.

And when did I start sounding so damn much like Rufus?

"Stay away from Reno." I said it. So soon, so boldly.

"I've been trying to." He stated, simply, almost, hell, it WAS honestly.

"Reno's very gullible sometimes. He'll be nice to you. But don't think..." fuck his honesty, he was getting exactly what he deserved, "Don't think it'll last. He'll figure out what you are."

"He's not as stupid as you seem to think he is." Sephiroth responded. "I've been honest with him, I-" There was something too different about him. He was like a fish out of water, like… like he was weak. "I just don't know, Tseng."

"Good! I hope your brain gets so mixed up that..." you can't have him you bastard "that... you really turn into the monster I KNOW you are!" My hands were shaking. The beatings would come; they always came... is this how Reno felt all these years? The inevitable as he opened his mouth, freeing and shackling himself?

He didn't get angry though. He didn't yell, he didn't even move from against that car. "Reno can think for himself, not like he'd ever do a damn thing he didn't want to anyway." He stood then, throwing that thick chest out and holding his arms to the side. "You want to hit me? Go ahead and do it, I earned it. I can't take it back or fix it, so what can I do but change from here on out? You don't know me, no one does." He was going to add "but Reno." I think we both know that, but he didn’t.

So this was power. I could hit him, he was at my mercy. Years of torment, years of feeling so damn inferior... and I had the upper hand. What would Rufus do? Take the shot. Maybe pull a secret weapon out of his sleeve.

But what would I, Tseng, do?

I pushed. I pushed him out of my way so I could run inside. But I stopped at the door. I could have hit him... I could have... He was still there, looking at me strangely.

"Tseng?" He asked, it wasn't quietly; he wanted to be heard, to be understood. There was a struggle going on with him, but why he bothered to make any changes was beyond me. It made me angry, and I couldn't place why. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Nothing had made me angrier before in my life than what he said. Sorry? SORRY? It was almost like the apology that Midgarians gave the Wutains after bombing the hell out of them. It WAS that again. I would always be Wutai... quiet, conquered, and bitter. And I could feel all the generations of my family screaming in my head about honor.

So I decked him. Right under the chin.

I don't know what I expected him to do. Turn into dust, fall down? I more expected him to laugh. His head snapped to the side, he knew how to take a punch, here I though he only knew how to throw them. He took a step backwards with the blow and snapped his neck before looking back at me. One hand went under his chin then. But he didn't retaliate. "You should start hitting back. You've got one damned good right hook." Was all he said to me.

Had I... proven something?

And for all the power I had just then, I had hit the great and mighty Sephiroth... I felt sick. Really sick. I wanted to go puke in the bushes. I wanted to find Reno. I wanted to talk to Elena. Dammit, where was she? And... and... my head swam.

And then it struck me. What else did I have to fight? This was my greatest enemy, the behemoth of my youth. This was... Sephiroth. Sure, he leered at my best friend, but I'd... had I even been there for him? All this worrying about Rufus, whom I don't even know about anymore... What could I say to... that?

"Apology accepted." It left my mouth before I had chance to reign it in. And it felt just. The worst part was... it felt just.

He nodded. Nothing more nothing less. I didn't know what was going on, but I would have to ask for more information. This was still Sephiroth. No matter what had changed he didn't divulge information without need. Maybe he did, but only to certain people. One person. Just a nod, I don't think I wanted anything more.