Faithless Memories

New Job

Chapter 36

When Tuesday morning rolled around, Kris was up even earlier than usual. As much as she hated to admit it, she was more than a little nervous. Both Zack and Genesis had tried to reassure her. They had both seen her skills firsthand and had no doubt that she would be able to handle the Thirds with no issues. She knew they were correct, too, but that didn't stop her mind from thinking of all the worst possible outcomes. By the time she and Zack headed into the building together, he had promised to attend her first class to give her moral support. She had rolled her eyes and told him it wasn't necessary, but she was glad that he had insisted.

When they got into the lobby, Kris was shocked to see Sephiroth waiting. It didn't last long as he gestured for her to join him. As petty as she knew her next actions were, she still couldn't resist turning to see which woman was at the receptionist's desk. When it was the same scowling woman, she gave the irritated woman her best Cheshire cat smile before she joined the Silver General.

He ended up taking her to a set of offices on the 20th floor, where she had to fill out more paperwork than she expected to. Luckily, most of it was simply signing. A fact that made a distant part of her mind cringe until she at least skimmed through everything. With her scrutiny, it took longer than she had anticipated to finish, but Sephiroth reassured her that it had been expected, and just for that day, the classes had been postponed.

Once all the red-tape was cleared, he led her up to the 49th floor and into a large room filled with several mats and weapon racks filled with various weapons usually reserved for martial arts. She raised a brow at the number of practice weapons and turned to Sephiroth. "I didn't think Soldier would have that many weapons that weren't swords."

Sephiroth chuckled and gave her a wry smile. "We had to borrow many of them from the Turks. I have already been told that we now owe them a favor." Kris gave him a sympathetic look but didn't get to comment as the room was already starting to fill with many blue-uniformed men. The two of them moved to the middle of the room and waited until the top of the hour. If there were any stragglers after that, then they would be counted as late and face disciplinary action.

Once all the men were seated, Sephiroth took a single step forward. The little bit of whispering that had been going on stopped immediately. Kris had to give it to the man, he had an imposing aura when he wanted to.

When all the men were facing their General, he spoke. "You have all been sent the briefing for this training. I will reiterate a few things. First, the goal is for you to expand your skills. In that regard, you have been assigned an excellent teacher, even if she is not a Soldier herself."

"I will also remind you all that in this classroom, she will be the highest authority. If you think you can question that, then you will pay the consequences. She has been given full authorization to met out punishment as she sees fit. Anyone that has an issue with that can bring their grievances directly to me."

By that time, several of the men were wearing disbelieving looks. Having a teacher that wasn't a Soldier was unheard of. Especially a female. Some of them had seen her in action already, and many of the others had heard of her, but most of the latter hadn't fully believed. Most felt the Commander had gone too easy on her.

Sephiroth was not finished yet, and those looks were erased as he continued. "This morning will be spent showing you examples of what you can expect to learn. After today, you will be divided into four groups. Each group will have a two-hour session on Tuesdays and Thursdays to maximize the attention to each of your learning levels." He paused and looked around. "Any questions?"

There were a few men that looked like they had something they wanted to ask, but none of them spoke up. Kris could understand. If she had actually been a member of Soldier, she doubted she would ever be able to relax around the giant man. His aura when around the Soldiers was both incredible and terrifying.

When no one said anything, Sephiroth motioned toward the door, and Zack stepped forward with a grin. Kris found herself grinning back. She hadn't expected him to be her partner for the exhibition, but she was glad for that fact.

When Zack joined them at the front of the group, Sephiroth turned to Kris. "They're all yours."

She gave him a nod and waited until he was out of the room before she spoke. "You can all address me as Miss Fair." There was some whispering at her words, but none of it was loud enough for Kris to understand, so she continued. "While you are in this room, I expect your undivided attention. If I feel that you are not giving your best, we will have words. I do not think of myself as a disciplinarian, but I will not tolerate disrespect. Whether it is toward me, or your peers makes no difference."

At that, there were finally several yes ma'ams. Kris looked over the assembled men and had to quash the urge to shake a little. None of them could ever be considered small, but she reminded herself that she had been going against Zack for years and was more than capable of handling this. She stiffened her knees and nodded to them all. "Alright, I want you all to make a loose circle around the middle mat. Soldier Fair and I will be giving you a demonstration. Afterward, you will be free to ask questions. Thursday will be the start of your regularly scheduled classes."

Several of the men stood and started to shuffle to the area she had indicated, but many of the others still looked unsure. Kris frowned. "I said, move!"

Several of the men jumped at her booming command. Even Zack took an unconscious step to the side, but only one. After the shock, he gave her a grin. He was used to it, but he was looking forward to what the rest of them would think. His sister might be small, but she was only slightly less intimidating than the Firsts when she set her mind to it.

Once the men had formed a circle around Zack and Kris, they both moved to grab a staff and reentered. When they faced off against each other, Kris felt a surge of adrenaline. She raised a brow at her brother before she spoke. "Do not hold back much. I need you to at least be as fast as a Third, or this demonstration will be pointless."

Zack felt a little worried. He had still not sparred against Kris since he joined Soldier, and didn't want to hurt her. When she frowned at his delay, he nearly jumped, but he gave her a nod. For now, he needed to put his personal feelings aside. This was about more than a regular spar with his sister.

At his nod, the siblings both started circling each other. Neither wanted to be the first to move. Finally, Kris decided that they were not going to get anywhere unless she did something. She didn't have time to dawdle.

The one thing that had been consistent throughout Zack's training with Kris had been the fact that she always changed things up. There were many strikes she used that he would recognize once she moved, but he could never anticipate what she would open with. It was one of the reasons he was almost always off balance. If she got any advantage, she did her best to not let it go.

This spar was no exception. Instead of her leaping attack that added heft, she ran before skidding low and striking with a jab at one of his knees. Zack jumped back quickly. If he had still been unenhanced, he would probably be walking with a limp for a few days. He shook that thought off as she rolled past him and aimed for his open back. He spun around and managed to stop the blow with his own staff.

Both siblings jumped back and grinned. Zack had been improving before he joined Soldier, but now, the playing field was far more narrow. Kris wasn't sure that she could win against her brother for the first time, and the thought shot adrenaline through her veins.

At that point, the two of them became a blur of motion. Kris had always been faster, but now Zack was easily able to keep up. Kris laughed when she jumped and narrowly missed being hit by a sweeping blow to her middle.

Zack paused when he saw that he had almost hit her, but Kris took advantage of it and called to him while she struck at him. "Don't lose focus. You might be faster now, but that just means you're finally catching up!"

Zack jumped to the side and parried her blow. He had been holding back some, and his near strike was a reminder that he couldn't afford to lose focus. He was both shocked and awed that he didn't need to hold back as much as he thought he would. He started to get distracted by thoughts of what that meant about his sister and their past matches, but he was quickly pulled back to the present when her staff nearly took off his nose.