Chapter 9

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Alan, Noah and James looked pissed, you didn't have to see their faces to confirm that. Their hands were in fists, and probably were aching to use them.

You had expected Alan to be a get, but all it took was for him to get some fresh air and he was calm. "[M\N], sorry we could have handled it better."

If anything, you were proud that they were able to hold back. Whatever those soldiers said to them must have been very insulting and yet they acted calm and collected. If Alan felt like that, you were sure the others didn't feel the same. They probably were even angry with you because they were not allowed to fight back.

"I don't know what they said but," you paused and looked at everyone of them. They glanced at you, slowing their steps. "We'll make them eat their words a the competition."

Their eyes widened, they didn't know why you guys were here. But they did not ask as to how you knew. That though made the trick, a smirk, a proud smirk made it to their faces.

"[M\N]!" Zack voice called out, and he seemed to have been running.

You all stopped and turned around, and sure enough he was jogging to catch up with you guys. He wasn't the only one though, a group was trailing behind him. Cloud, Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal walked calmly behind him.

Once he reached you, he stopped and offered a smirk. Though he didn't exactly receive a friendly greeting from your group. They had a good reason to, they knew that Zack had been the one to invite you guys only for him to not show up.

He didn't say anything, and the last thing you wanted was to face him longer than necessary. Who could have though that you would ever feel like that when it came to Zack Fair. "What?"

There was a certain edge to your voice but Zack didn't seem to mind. The others soon joined you all, Sephiroth smirked, he had been able to hear your question. "Why leave so soon?"

"Why should we stay?" James fired back, walking forward to stand to your side. He crossed his arms across his chest, sending them a glare. But when Sephiroth glared back at him, he looked away.

That's probably the reaction they wanted, that's probably why they came here to humiliate you four. The King wanted to four of you to be together, to support each other and for a good reason. Back in Lucio it was no different, the soldiers didn't welcome you four like comrades. No matter what you all did or how strong you four were, they would never see you as equals and it simply because of age.

Here, it was no different specially since word had traveled to other kingdoms. Four young men had survived a war, not an easy feat. So it really wouldn't come to a surprise if they did the same. "Right," the silver haired man smirked, his eyes boring to your own eyes. "What can you expect from a couple of children."

"I couldn't agree with you more," this time you received surprised looks from your companions, "It's exhausting dealing with a bunch of children so we will just leave." Slowly Sephiroth's smiled disappeared only to raise an eyebrow in amusement.

Angeal laughed slapping Sephiroth on the back. “Now this is a first." Sephiroth rolled his eyes, "that was a nice comeback."

Zack had his moth opened in shock, if anything, you were the first one to stand up to Sephiroth. Besides, he had seen you unaffected by his glare, others would have cowered in fear, or maybe it was because you didn't know who he was? He glanced back at the others, Genesis was reading his book but there was a smile on his lips, Cloud was silent. It wasn't unusual, but since you had arrived to the kingdom the blond male hadn't stopped staring.

His eyebrows were furrowed as if trying to discover something. His eyes scanned your face, as if he had found it familiar. This time Zack did the same curious as to why Cloud was staring at you much.

Short [H/C], [E/C], you had a smaller frame than the rest. Even for your age you looked smaller, but it wasn't surprising really. The four of your were orphans and poor, so your nutrition had a lot to do with that.

The longer he stared at you, the more be began to see some kind of familiarity. But he couldn't quite figure out why. Had he seen you before? The moment you glared at him was a good sign that staring too much wasn't good. So he looked away feeling embarrassed that he was caught staring, though he wasn't the only one. Your eyes trailed to Cloud and sent him the deadliest glare he had seen.

Alan finally decided to ask, mostly because he seemed to be curious. "If you don't mind us asking, why is everyone so surprised by us?"

Because quite honestly there were a lot who were about the same as you guys. Like Zack and Cloud were just two years older than you, the same age as Alan. James and Noah were 18, just a year older than you.

Angeal smiled. "Well, I understand why you four must be curious as to why you have become the sensation." But his eyes instead of looking at the male, trailed to you. "First of all, everyone was surprised that King Regis decided to recruit young men, and well from what I gathered, the majority were not from Lucis. I believe just two were born there, but he was so willing to accept you all into his home and as his people."

Again you felt Zack and Cloud's eyes on you, but you refrained from looking at them and instead focused on Angeal. If anything, said man was proving to be the most reliable one here. "Did people really thought we wouldn't survive the war, is that why everyone is so surprised?"

Finally you asked, your companions turned to face you. "Is that really it?" Noah and James asked the same question, puzzled and surprisingly enough, disappointed.

Finally Genesis stopped reading, which was surprising since it was way too dark for him to read. "Yes, soldiers are sent to war but mostly those who have more years of training and experience. No one was expecting King Regis to send you all to war with only four years of training, no experience of battle skills and so young."

He made King sound so inhumane, and since the others didn't seem like they would say anything about the matter you sent them a glare. "Is that what people believe? That he just sent us all?" You crossed your arms across your chest. "We went to war because we made that choice."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, and you were not sure why. "Well, that's what people think. That's one of the reasons why people were so unhappy with him." Instead of hearing Sephiroth's voice, it was Zack who responded.

"[M/N], is right though." Alan confirmed. Noah and James did the same.

"I'm not sure whether to call that bravery or stupidity. But with most of you dying, I'll call it stupidity." As expected from the silver haired male.

You barely had the time to restrain Noah, while Alan spring into action and restrained James. If he hadn't, you wouldn't have been able to hold them back.

That was probably what Sephiroth wanted. "Calm down." You growled trying to pull the male behind you, but he continued to try to attack the older male. Having enough, you gathered as much strength as you could and pushed him back. He stumbled a little almost falling backwards. You redirected your glare to him, to James and then if possible, you hardened your glare even more. How much you wanted to let Noah hit and break Sephiroth's nose, but no matter how much you also wanted to him yourself, you couldn't.  You all just arrived and the last thing that you wanted to get into trouble already. Besides, only just three days and that was a the time you had to stay. Three and then you guys would go back home.

That was suck a low blow, to speak of them in such a way. Angeal was serious, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared at Sephiroth.

Whatever he was about to say to him, you didn't stick around to hear him. You had enough, and you were refraining from lashing out. You didn't even glance behind to see if Alan and the others were following but from the hurried steps, they probably did. However, they soon caught up to you and instead of stoping, they sent you a glare and continued without you.

"[M/N], hold on." Angel shouted trying to stop you, but since you didn't stop, he ran and then stepped in front of you making you halt. "I apologize, this was definitely not the reason why I wanted to speak with you." By the look on his face, he looked to sincere.

"Now what? What do you want?" Despite not being the one with the insults, you couldn't stop with that reply.

"Again, I'm really sorry. I just wanted to welcome you, I can only imagine the hardships you four have to face and for our soldiers to do the same to you, it must not be easy." He glanced at you, and then over your shoulder. The others were still standing there, and he could see Sephiroth staring intently at you. Cloud and ack were doing the same, but their stares were different than Sephiroth's.

Oddly enough, his words helped you calm down. Taking a deep breath, you nodded. You couldn't really blame him for what Sephiroth said, although he could have said something. "Thanks..."

"Anyway," his eyes returned to your face, and smiled, "I do hope you four enjoy your stay despite what happened. If during your stay here, if you guys have any questions or need any help I am more than happy to help a fellow soldier."

It was nice seeing that smile, and honestly you found yourself mirroring his smile. "Thank you, I appreciate it. Now if you don't mind, I have to go." By how things turned out, the others were not happy with you, so you will probably have to talk to them.

The male nodded. "Of course."

And so, you were gone. Angeal watched you walk away. He stared at your back longer than he thought. Slowly he turned to face his friends and frowned, what the hell just happened? Why did Sephiroth act in such a way? He had not seen him act like that. Although Zack had been staring at you, Cloud had been silent the whole time. There was definitely some going on with him.

Whatever it was, soonest or later he would find out.

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