The fog creeps in on little cat feet...
Hindsight is 20/20
A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction
Author: Sanjuno Shori Niko
Summary: Sephiroth thinks far too deeply about the social dynamics of billeting super soldiers.
Timeline: What is done is here.
=/=
(In which Sephiroth walks through walls.)
The Shin-Ra SOLDIER Barracks were deceptively named. They were not, in fact, barracks at all. Instead they were a series of housing and apartment complexes. Say what you would about Shin-Ra, the Company could learn the lesson if it was costly enough. Regular troopers were barracked in units of twenty-four, with officers of the Regular Security forces in single rooms or apartments according to rank and inclination. SOLDIER had given them trouble from the beginning. Mako enhanced super powered warriors did not play well with others when they were packed together like so many action figures. After the third re-build of the barracks, Shin-Ra had finally gotten a clue.
SOLDIER had houses. Sixth and Fifth Class, otherwise known as the graduates from the Cadet program and those few Regulars who passed the SOLDIER Exam and entered with some rank of their own, were in dorms. They had to share a room, but they were rooms large enough for two men to live in comfortably. Fourth Class, being the rank given to those who had reached a level of stability after the initial SOLDIER treatments, were given similar dorm-styled rooms to themselves. Third Class, being the rank at which a SOLDIER was ready to begin taking SOLDIER level missions, shared four bedroom houses. Second Class were placed two to a house, and the much touted First Class SOLDIERS were provided with private homes by the Company. A fact for which Sephiroth, who had been a very irritable fifteen at the time, was absurdly grateful for. It was almost enough for him to feel guilty about that first explosion… but not the second. Or the third. It had gotten him what he wanted eventually.
Sephiroth had chafed at exclusionary treatment when he was younger, but he was not above taking advantage the perceptions other people had of him for his own benefit. A good tactician took his advantages when they came, no matter how annoying he found them. Honestly, the privacy he received was a worthy trade-off for the distance hero worship placed between Sephiroth and the mostly-ignorant masses.
Several minutes after arriving at his house, Sephiroth had finished locating the newest surveillance devices that had been placed around his domicile while he was gone. Sometimes they left him alone, but they always planted new bugs when he left the city for a mission. Five horribly expensive little annoyances crushed under his heel, Sephiroth wrapped the remains in a piece of bathroom tissue and flushed the whole bundle down the toilet. After a second sweep to be certain nothing had been missed, Sephiroth locked the doors and windows, drew the blinds and shut the curtains. He liked his privacy yes, but it was not paranoia if they really were out to get you. Thus the blackout curtains on every window. No lights, no movements… no way to tell for certain if anyone was home.
Sephiroth grabbed a pre-packed bag and picked up Masamune, heading down into the basement. Standing on a cleared patch of cement between furnace and water heater, Sephiroth took a deep breath, concentrated… and disappeared.
Sephiroth landed in a crouch a level below the SOLDIER Housing Complex. Pleased green cat’s eyes gleamed in the dim lighting of the maintenance tunnel as Sephiroth looked around. Satisfied that he was unobserved, Sephiroth continued with his trek home. It took half an hour to cover the distance, even with the ability to teleport, but Sephiroth showed no impatience. Impatience led to mistakes, which would endanger that which he protected.
The General’s destination was a small, upper-middle class neighbourhood on the outside edge of Sector One. Mother had laughed when they found the listing for a house in Venus Gospel Oak all those years ago, and Sephiroth could appreciate the humour. Unless one knew Mother, it was impossible to make the connection. It was a gated community, quiet, with friendly but distant neighbours. Populated by the kind of people who knew the names of those who lived on their street and waved when they passed by, but minded their own business. They respected the privacy of others and did their best not to be rude and pry. It was, in fact, a completely normal subdivision.
A secretive smile lifted the corner of Sephiroth’s mouth as he made his way to the last place anyone would suspect fugitives to hide. Everyone knew the ‘Valewind family’ were ideal neighbours. The husband and eldest son were Company men, and the wife was busy keeping the house and home schooling three precocious triplet boys. A quiet snort escaped Sephiroth. If only they knew the truth. It was a monumental task, making sure his brothers kept their hair black when they played outside and remembering to do the same for himself. Although they did not suffer nearly so much as Mother did. Sephiroth imagined the need to maintain a female appearance in front of neighbours was a constant source of irritation for his more temperamental parent. It was bad enough that it was necessary to shrink down Masamune for the trip home. Sephiroth refused to leave his sword behind when he visited, but conceded to leave it in the house after he arrived.
In a suit and tie, all-but unarmed, hair shifted to black and bound back in a braid, and sunglasses changing the angles of his face, Sephiroth was nigh on unrecognizable by the average civilian. Those who worked with him regularly would see through it, but the Silver General never left the Shin-Ra complex unless he was on a mission. Everyone knew that.
It was laughable. People, be they civilians and Sephiroth’s so-called commanding officers alike, considered those who fermented rebellion and acted to sabotage the Company as providence of the slums, and so that is where anarchy was sought. There was enough discontent below-Plate that there was always someone to pin the blame for whatever had gone wrong on. Enemies of Shin-Ra were criminals or Wutai insurgents, and they hid in the shadows. They did not live openly, not above plate, not in quaint little suburbs, and were certainly not good natured neighbours with small children. They blinded themselves with media-perpetuated stereotypes, and the very visible unsuitability was what made the location of their hiding place perfect. The safest place to hide from Shin-Ra was right in the Company’s backyard.
“Hello, Mr. Locket.” Sephiroth smiled at the gate guard as he handed over his residence pass.
“Hey, Ross. Rough day at the office?” The pedestrian security gate opened without fuss. Ross Valewind took the train in to work, rather than drive, and Mike Locket had to admire the younger man’s dedication.
“You could say that.” Sephiroth nodded as he took his pass back and quickly walked on. He rarely felt comfortable lingering outside the gate, as kind as the security staff were. Masamune was hidden under Ross Valewind’s long trench coat, but there was no need to tempt fate should the Mini spell fail to hold.
The door of his destination was a relieving sight. Sephiroth let himself inside, stepping out of the dreary evening into warmth and light.
“Niisama!” Loz’s happy shout alerted the rest of the family to Sephiroth’s arrival. “Welcome back!”
Sephiroth shut the door behind him, shedding overcoat and fedora. The hat was his mother’s idea of a joke that Sephiroth continued to wear because it was amusing, and no one who knew him would suspect the Silver General of succumbing to such juvenile humour. Smiling as the rest of his family shouted greetings from various rooms Sephiroth shucked his boots and sighed in relief as he let his hair fade back to the usual silver. It was not much of an effort to hold the small transformation, but it did start to itch after a while.
“I’m home.” Sephiroth nodded a greeting to his father, followed by shaking his head when the older man raised a questioning eyebrow. Warmth filled him at the words he had spoken, growing warmer as his father smiled softly and pressed a hand to Sephiroth's shoulder.
“Welcome home.” Vincent patted Sephiroth’s shoulder, and then motioned him down the hall. “You are just in time for dinner.”
Yes, it was good to be home.
=/=
Woooooorld building. A bit of insight into how HITT!Sephiroth thinks. A little bit of hinting on the magnificent bastard shenanigans he gets up to in order to manipulate the staus quo. Yada yada. XD
I'm still sloooooowly working my way through typing up my fic notebooks. There are four full notebooks. One in progress. I expect that by the time I finish typing up the next notebook I'l have filled two more. Eh, I write a lot. A LOT. Especially when I'm stuck someplace without WiFi.
Does anyone else have trouble uploading new fic to FFNet? I'm pretty much all about AO3 right now, simply because I can't update at FFNet. It's annoying. Still, AO3 being sorta invitation only means the quailty of fic is high. I very rarely find anything worth reading on FFNet these days. It's sad.
As a forewarning, I might dissappear for a few months at the end of the year, depending on how the situation resolves itself. My mother is moving to New Zealand and I'm applying to the New Zealand Animation College. If I get in I'll be gone from the last week of December to the start of February. Wish me luck, lovelies. XP
=/=
HERE THERE BE DRAGONS!! (I'm still accepting bribes, if anyone's interested. XP)
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A Final Fantasy VII Fanfiction
Author: Sanjuno Shori Niko
Summary: Sephiroth thinks far too deeply about the social dynamics of billeting super soldiers.
Timeline: What is done is here.
=/=
(In which Sephiroth walks through walls.)
The Shin-Ra SOLDIER Barracks were deceptively named. They were not, in fact, barracks at all. Instead they were a series of housing and apartment complexes. Say what you would about Shin-Ra, the Company could learn the lesson if it was costly enough. Regular troopers were barracked in units of twenty-four, with officers of the Regular Security forces in single rooms or apartments according to rank and inclination. SOLDIER had given them trouble from the beginning. Mako enhanced super powered warriors did not play well with others when they were packed together like so many action figures. After the third re-build of the barracks, Shin-Ra had finally gotten a clue.
SOLDIER had houses. Sixth and Fifth Class, otherwise known as the graduates from the Cadet program and those few Regulars who passed the SOLDIER Exam and entered with some rank of their own, were in dorms. They had to share a room, but they were rooms large enough for two men to live in comfortably. Fourth Class, being the rank given to those who had reached a level of stability after the initial SOLDIER treatments, were given similar dorm-styled rooms to themselves. Third Class, being the rank at which a SOLDIER was ready to begin taking SOLDIER level missions, shared four bedroom houses. Second Class were placed two to a house, and the much touted First Class SOLDIERS were provided with private homes by the Company. A fact for which Sephiroth, who had been a very irritable fifteen at the time, was absurdly grateful for. It was almost enough for him to feel guilty about that first explosion… but not the second. Or the third. It had gotten him what he wanted eventually.
Sephiroth had chafed at exclusionary treatment when he was younger, but he was not above taking advantage the perceptions other people had of him for his own benefit. A good tactician took his advantages when they came, no matter how annoying he found them. Honestly, the privacy he received was a worthy trade-off for the distance hero worship placed between Sephiroth and the mostly-ignorant masses.
Several minutes after arriving at his house, Sephiroth had finished locating the newest surveillance devices that had been placed around his domicile while he was gone. Sometimes they left him alone, but they always planted new bugs when he left the city for a mission. Five horribly expensive little annoyances crushed under his heel, Sephiroth wrapped the remains in a piece of bathroom tissue and flushed the whole bundle down the toilet. After a second sweep to be certain nothing had been missed, Sephiroth locked the doors and windows, drew the blinds and shut the curtains. He liked his privacy yes, but it was not paranoia if they really were out to get you. Thus the blackout curtains on every window. No lights, no movements… no way to tell for certain if anyone was home.
Sephiroth grabbed a pre-packed bag and picked up Masamune, heading down into the basement. Standing on a cleared patch of cement between furnace and water heater, Sephiroth took a deep breath, concentrated… and disappeared.
Sephiroth landed in a crouch a level below the SOLDIER Housing Complex. Pleased green cat’s eyes gleamed in the dim lighting of the maintenance tunnel as Sephiroth looked around. Satisfied that he was unobserved, Sephiroth continued with his trek home. It took half an hour to cover the distance, even with the ability to teleport, but Sephiroth showed no impatience. Impatience led to mistakes, which would endanger that which he protected.
The General’s destination was a small, upper-middle class neighbourhood on the outside edge of Sector One. Mother had laughed when they found the listing for a house in Venus Gospel Oak all those years ago, and Sephiroth could appreciate the humour. Unless one knew Mother, it was impossible to make the connection. It was a gated community, quiet, with friendly but distant neighbours. Populated by the kind of people who knew the names of those who lived on their street and waved when they passed by, but minded their own business. They respected the privacy of others and did their best not to be rude and pry. It was, in fact, a completely normal subdivision.
A secretive smile lifted the corner of Sephiroth’s mouth as he made his way to the last place anyone would suspect fugitives to hide. Everyone knew the ‘Valewind family’ were ideal neighbours. The husband and eldest son were Company men, and the wife was busy keeping the house and home schooling three precocious triplet boys. A quiet snort escaped Sephiroth. If only they knew the truth. It was a monumental task, making sure his brothers kept their hair black when they played outside and remembering to do the same for himself. Although they did not suffer nearly so much as Mother did. Sephiroth imagined the need to maintain a female appearance in front of neighbours was a constant source of irritation for his more temperamental parent. It was bad enough that it was necessary to shrink down Masamune for the trip home. Sephiroth refused to leave his sword behind when he visited, but conceded to leave it in the house after he arrived.
In a suit and tie, all-but unarmed, hair shifted to black and bound back in a braid, and sunglasses changing the angles of his face, Sephiroth was nigh on unrecognizable by the average civilian. Those who worked with him regularly would see through it, but the Silver General never left the Shin-Ra complex unless he was on a mission. Everyone knew that.
It was laughable. People, be they civilians and Sephiroth’s so-called commanding officers alike, considered those who fermented rebellion and acted to sabotage the Company as providence of the slums, and so that is where anarchy was sought. There was enough discontent below-Plate that there was always someone to pin the blame for whatever had gone wrong on. Enemies of Shin-Ra were criminals or Wutai insurgents, and they hid in the shadows. They did not live openly, not above plate, not in quaint little suburbs, and were certainly not good natured neighbours with small children. They blinded themselves with media-perpetuated stereotypes, and the very visible unsuitability was what made the location of their hiding place perfect. The safest place to hide from Shin-Ra was right in the Company’s backyard.
“Hello, Mr. Locket.” Sephiroth smiled at the gate guard as he handed over his residence pass.
“Hey, Ross. Rough day at the office?” The pedestrian security gate opened without fuss. Ross Valewind took the train in to work, rather than drive, and Mike Locket had to admire the younger man’s dedication.
“You could say that.” Sephiroth nodded as he took his pass back and quickly walked on. He rarely felt comfortable lingering outside the gate, as kind as the security staff were. Masamune was hidden under Ross Valewind’s long trench coat, but there was no need to tempt fate should the Mini spell fail to hold.
The door of his destination was a relieving sight. Sephiroth let himself inside, stepping out of the dreary evening into warmth and light.
“Niisama!” Loz’s happy shout alerted the rest of the family to Sephiroth’s arrival. “Welcome back!”
Sephiroth shut the door behind him, shedding overcoat and fedora. The hat was his mother’s idea of a joke that Sephiroth continued to wear because it was amusing, and no one who knew him would suspect the Silver General of succumbing to such juvenile humour. Smiling as the rest of his family shouted greetings from various rooms Sephiroth shucked his boots and sighed in relief as he let his hair fade back to the usual silver. It was not much of an effort to hold the small transformation, but it did start to itch after a while.
“I’m home.” Sephiroth nodded a greeting to his father, followed by shaking his head when the older man raised a questioning eyebrow. Warmth filled him at the words he had spoken, growing warmer as his father smiled softly and pressed a hand to Sephiroth's shoulder.
“Welcome home.” Vincent patted Sephiroth’s shoulder, and then motioned him down the hall. “You are just in time for dinner.”
Yes, it was good to be home.
=/=
Woooooorld building. A bit of insight into how HITT!Sephiroth thinks. A little bit of hinting on the magnificent bastard shenanigans he gets up to in order to manipulate the staus quo. Yada yada. XD
I'm still sloooooowly working my way through typing up my fic notebooks. There are four full notebooks. One in progress. I expect that by the time I finish typing up the next notebook I'l have filled two more. Eh, I write a lot. A LOT. Especially when I'm stuck someplace without WiFi.
Does anyone else have trouble uploading new fic to FFNet? I'm pretty much all about AO3 right now, simply because I can't update at FFNet. It's annoying. Still, AO3 being sorta invitation only means the quailty of fic is high. I very rarely find anything worth reading on FFNet these days. It's sad.
As a forewarning, I might dissappear for a few months at the end of the year, depending on how the situation resolves itself. My mother is moving to New Zealand and I'm applying to the New Zealand Animation College. If I get in I'll be gone from the last week of December to the start of February. Wish me luck, lovelies. XP
=/=
HERE THERE BE DRAGONS!! (I'm still accepting bribes, if anyone's interested. XP)
♥
♠
♥
♣
♥
♥
♠
♥
♣
♥
♥
♠
♥
♣
♥