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sunfalldown · 7 years

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Not again, not again

Well, my first attempt at writing a multichapter fic was a big failure, but I have a mildly good feeling about this one.

So, looong story short, @blackpaopu made the best Zack/Cloud fanart I've seen in my life, a Zakkura LiS AU and I needed to write a fanfic. It's been a long while since they posted this, but, to compensate, I have ideas to write a whole big fanfic about this. Let's just hope I can make it.

That said, thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy it :'3

Chapter: [1/??] Title: Ordinary Series: Final Fantasy VII Pairing: Zack/Cloud Rating: Mature for Major Character Death (future chapters) Word count: 1349 Brief tags: Life is Strange AU, Modern Setting AU, Aged-up Characters

Summary: What Cloud is prepared for (or maybe not so much): His teacher nagging him on participating on the "Hard Work" photography contest.

What Cloud isn't prepared for: His best friend getting shot right in front of him.

What Cloud isn't aware of: He has the chance to prevent that from happening.

You can read it under the cut or in AO3!

A nudge on his right side; a sudden thing that made him flinch a little, but it helped him to wake up. Blinking a couple times, he realized he had been just about to doze off. Dammit.

Tifa, sitting next to him, looked at Cloud, a concerned look on her eyes. Cloud had been dozing off, so she had nudged him to wake him up and he immediately straightened on his seat. He whispered something about the classroom being too hellishly hot for him to stay awake during class, and Tifa answered with one of those “Don't pretend like you didn't go to sleep until five in the morning” expressions of hers. Cloud was about to answer that, telling her that he had found a really cool series on Netflix which he absolutely had to stream all at once, but--

“Mister Strife,” a voice called him. “I guess this must be something you know by heart, judging by how you're chatting about it with your classmate. So, tell me, what was I saying before?”

Cloud went from Dammit to Oh shit . His teacher had just noticed he wasn't paying attention and now Tifa was innocently whistling, like she hadn’t had anything to do with this. Well, he was the one that had fallen asleep, but still.

“Okay then. Let me give you a hand,” Mr. Sephiroth started. “I was talking about photographers who portrayed marginal people and their situations. Would you give me an example of someone who did it?”

Again, blank. He did have a book of photography right in front of him, but it wasn't like he could just peek inside of it. For teachers like Sephiroth, that was as bad as not giving an answer altogether. Maybe even worse, because it was “analogue to cheating” or something like that.

“Sergio Larrain,” a female voice answered from his left. “The chilean photographer started his career portraying children living under bridges in his home town. He also took photographs of fishermen and stuff like that.”

“Very well, miss Kisaragi,” Sephiroth praised her. “And, mister Strife, I expect my students to listen to my class, or to be respectful at least. Think of that the next time you decide to talk in the middle of a lecture.”

“Y-Yes.” Cloud felt himself shrinking in his seat. God, he wanted to die.

Yuffie nudged his left arm playfully. Cloud didn't look at her at first, but when he got a second nudge, he turned his eyes to her and saw she was smiling apologetically. Straightening on his seat again, Cloud wanted to tell her that it wasn’t like he was mad at her... but it was better not to say anything, just in case Sephiroth could hear them again. He didn't want any more trouble. So, instead of talking, he just nudged Yuffie back.

Sephiroth was, indeed, talking about photographers that had portrayed marginalized people and their situations, pointing out different examples and techniques. Cloud tried to listen to him the best he could, but in the end, when the bell rang, he could only recall three or four sentences at most of what his teacher had said. He was still sleepy, his mind still hazy because of how hot the room was. How in the world were Tifa and Yuffie listening so attentively?

After the bell rang, Cloud yawned and started packing up his stuff. Tifa and Yuffie waited for him, the three of them ready to go for a snack, but, yet again--

“Mister Strife,” Sephiroth called him again. “We need to talk.”

And now, Cloud went from Oh shit to Fuck...

“Ehh, we'll catch you later?” Tifa asked.

“Buy me a really strong coffee,” Cloud asked, while handing her his money. “Or, really, anything that will wake me up.”

“Deal!” Yuffie said, while she and Tifa left the classroom together.

Cloud walked towards his photography teacher. Part of him wanted to run like hell was chasing after him, and part of him was excited about talking to him. However, he wouldn't feel comfortable with neither of those emotions being stronger than the other one.

“Am I in trouble?” was the first thing that went out of his mouth.

“No. This time I will let that slip. But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about with you, Cloud,” Sephiroth answered.

Cloud noticed it. How Sephiroth called him by his first name. He noticed it.

Sephiroth was one of the most recognized teachers in the school. Being a professional photographer published in various magazines and having a doctor's degree in pedagogy, he was the kind of teacher whose name was featured in the school advertizing of their arts program. Known for being strict and having a highly professional attitude, the fact that he was using a student's first name, meant only that he acknowledged them as possessing talent and potential. It was a honour.

Now, all Cloud could feel bubbling within himself was pure excitement. Mister Sephiroth was acknowledging him. Mister Sephiroth was acknowledging him . What did he want to tell him?

“Oh, um...” Cloud averted his eyes. Stuttering wasn't usual from him at all. “Then, what is it?”

Sephiroth let a pause extent between them. Contrary to Cloud's shy attitude, Sephiroth's eyes focused solely on him. Cloud could have sworn he had felt those eyes over him.

“I wanted to talk about your participation on the 'Hard Work' Contest that's coming up.”

Cloud felt himself froze. This wasn't praising, Sephiroth was not about to praise him. He was about to get called out for his lazy ass. Fuck .

“I've been expecting you to put up a submission for it,” Sephiroth said. “But you haven't showed me any signals that you've been working on it, have you?”

“... Not exactly.”

Cloud did have a couple of pictures that he could handle for that. Well, if “a couple” meant one single crappy photograph he took of his neighbor mowing the lawn, that wasn’t even appropriately framed and was altogether crappy. God, he had only shown that to Tifa and even she had said it was a bad picture.

“I don't understand why you haven't taken initiative on this project. The contest is a big chance to show your skills to the world. There might be a big talent within you, but you are not showing it. What is the point of having it, then?”

Cloud felt his cheeks blushing. He really didn't want to be lectured right now. Less from Sephiroth.

“I just... need a bit more time. I haven't found something that inspired me, that's all.”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow to him. “Mister Strife, let me tell you; you are not blessed at the art of deceiving. Stick with photography.”

His blush grew hotter. He had just been sassed. Great, that was exactly how he wanted his morning to go.

“For the meanwhile,” Sephiroth continued. “Please consider the opportunity you are being handed with this contest and take it seriously. Dismissed,” and, with that, Sephiroth turned back to his desk.

Cloud took that chance to, slowly, but with a lot of feeling, walk out of the classroom. He was sweating and his mouth had gone dry. He felt anxious and really out of his zone of comfort. It was like that everytime he talked to Sephiroth.

He didn't know exactly what he felt about Sephiroth, but it wasn't the usual feeling a student felt for his favourite teacher. Yuffie had, once, joked about how Cloud was on cloud nine for Sephiroth, totally pun intended, and, blushing, the blond guy had considered it an option. Tifa, on the other side, had talked about how uncomfortable she felt around their teacher, like his sole presence meant danger. That, Cloud had thought, was also a possibility. But Yuffie insisted on the 'you just fell for the protagonist of a BDSM novel' thing because she loved to tease Cloud.

Casting those thoughts aside, Cloud took his cellphone and earphones from his pocket. Putting his music on shuffle, he walked through the hallway. He had to meet Tifa and Yuffie at the cafeteria, after all.

#final fantasy vii #cloud strife #sephiroth #yuffie kisaragi #tifa lockhart #fanfiction #multichapter #mature #alternate universe #life is strange au

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