Life Finds a Way

Chapter 43

Once they left Lazard's office Genesis led Clarissa back to his. He had her take a seat before turning to his computer. "Since it looks like you will not be taking any away missions for the short term, we need to take the opportunity to further train you in melee combat. I will not be able to work with you full time, but we can set a schedule and see what else you can do during the down time." He didn't get a chance to go into further detail when his phone rang. He looked at the screen with a slight furrow in his brows before answering it. "Sephiroth, what can I assist you with?"

His furrowed brows became a scowl when he responded to whatever the question had been. "Yes, we are both currently in my office." There was another slight pause before he hung up the phone. He looked over at Clarissa with displeasure. "Sephiroth will be here momentarily."

He barely finished speaking before there was a single knock on the door and Sephiroth entered. Clarissa stood to attention and gave him a salute when his eyes passed over her. He shook his head slightly before speaking. "At ease Soldier."

She adopted a relaxed stance but didn't move to sit again. Genesis spoke up before anything else could be said. "Am I to assume you wanted to speak to both of us, since you specifically asked about Clarissa?"

Sephiroth took one of the seats in front of Genesis' desk and indicated that Clarissa should take the other. Once she was seated he turned to her. "I received a report from the Science Department that you exhibited unruly behavior that was unbecoming of a Soldier Second Class. Director Lazard assured me that he would speak with you, but as your commanding officer I felt it prudent to get your side of the story as well."

Clarissa was feeling distinctly less happy facing Sephiroth, than she had been when speaking to Lazard about the subject. She still felt no need to apologize. "Yes sir. I am aware of the incident that you are asking about and Director Lazard has already spoken to me about it. I have been put on partial suspension until he deems my attitude to have improved."

Sephiroth raised a brow before turning to Genesis. The man shrugged. "We just came from speaking to him."

At that Sephiroth turned back to the woman next to him. "That doesn't explain what happened. I was told that you threatened Professor Hojo's life. Explain your actions."

She had a hard time concealing her smile, even underneath his stern gaze. She managed to make sure that her voice was even when she answered though. "No sir, that was not the case. Like I explained to Director Lazard, I merely stated that he would be killed someday, not that I have any plans to be the one to do so. Given his actions and general disregard for life in general, I feel like that is a foregone conclusion."

She had to bite the inside of her cheek at his shocked expression. They both turned to look at Genesis when a muffled sound came from him. He had one hand over his mouth and affected a cough. He couldn't entirely hide his smile though.

It didn't take Sephiroth long to recover. He shook his head at both people before speaking again. "Be that as it may, you are a Soldier now and must learn that you will always be held to a higher standard. Since you have already spoken with the Director I will only add that you will be watched closely. If there is another incident, harsher punishments will be the result."

She gave him a nod along with a 'yes sir'. It wasn't like she was not already being watched closely, but she was able to admit that her actions had not been well thought out, even if they had been satisfying at the time.

At that point she expected him to leave but he looked over to Genesis once again. "There was another matter I wanted to speak with you about as well." He paused and looked at Clarissa. She expected him to ask her to leave at that point but instead he merely continued speaking. "I was told that you are preparing to expand Ms. Williamson's melee skills to include duel kōdachi. Do you already have a training regimen in mind?"