I am a fan of Cloti as well! Oh, come on Cloud! Just open up to Tifa, okay? She loved you soooo much! Aerith is Zack's, so forget about it!

are u basing Kain's dad of Richard Highwind from FF2?

Very interesting so far. Would like to see more, definitely.

Just one thing; Didn't Serah meet Snow already on their first day at lunch when Fang brought him over?

Aww...Lightning's lonely without Kain Can u make this fanfic a love triangle? Becuz i love high school fic with love triangle/square! Pls!

Yay new chapter! I hope Lightning doesn't kill Snow. XD

And lets hope Kain is doin' okay after all this mess going on.

I suggest you watch a FFVII walkthrough. I very much cheat in the Cloti and Clerith shipping wars by shipping on pairing in one fandom and another pairing in a different fandom (so I get my fill of both, yay XD), and thus I like to sit happily on the fence and claim I get my cake and eat it too. But it seems like you're missing something rather important about Cloud and Tifa:

Cloud joined SOLDIER strictly so he could become a hero to Tifa. To me, that speaks volumes and volumes and volumes about how much he cares about her. He was anxious to impress her, to have her see him in a heroic light. Case in point: have you gotten to the Duodecim report about Cloud? The report pretty much highlights this fact as more proof XDD

Cloud's issue is the mindfuck that happened to him in Crisis Core - and it's directly connected with Zack Fair. The experiments, the severe Mako poisoning he suffered, and getting the buster sword passed onto him after Zack's very violent death and watching him die. It's never quite said, but I'm guessing the Mako poisoning made him believe that he was a lot of things Zack really was, as well as taking on Zack's dreams and such. And then inevitable PTSD made him into an anti-social ass in the beginning of the game.

Aerith plays into this. Aerith even says flat out to Cloud in the game that she reminds him of someone - she's referring to Zack. (It's something I find hilarious, because Cloud and Zack are such polar opposites by the time FFVII hits).

Cloud's problem is like what you said: He needs to speak up and be more coherent on what he wants. Cloud also suffers from an identity crisis.

Truthfully, I find that Cloud is by far THE most screwed up protagonist in the FF universe when it comes to emotional stability. I used to not like Cloud until I got to the whole sequence in FFVII when Tifa is helping Cloud try and find the real him, and we get to sort out all of the flashbacks and go through his memories. Then I shamelessly went, "D'aww"

I see him as a very shy and quiet kid - when it's said that he gets into fights, I've got it in my head that it was because he never says anything, which leads the bullies and such to go, "Are you ignoring me? Hey, don't turn your back on me!" Cloud not responding gets him pulled into fights.

Phew! If you know more about FFVII than what you've mentioned in the AN, or you simply want to continue bashing on Cloud for catharsis (I know how it is - I can't stand Ginny Weasley), then feel free to ignore all I've said and continue on merrily.

"A wild Caius has appeared!" That made me laugh, nice one. XD That's rather apt for him in his game anyway. You never know when Caius will go 'poof' in front of you. I tried using the tactic that wherever Yeul is, Caius was never too far behind. Worked out ok, except in the tower where you fight Adam. XD

And I totally forgot to add:

I approve of Cecil and Rosa smirking and going into giggle fits when talking about Kain's love life. You're familiar with the cutscene where Cecil thinks Firion wants to talk to Lightning because he's got a crush on her right? XDDD Cecil would totally play matchmaker and be giddy while doing it. I think Rosa would join in on the fun too. XD

Oh jeez, so you're putting in Kain's daddy issues too? XD Ricard Highwind was apparently a strict tough ass and Kain felt he could never live up to his dad's expectations.

And as far as Lightning's XIII-2 personality, I'll give you this:

Lightning is probably a bit depressed in the game, thus making her subdued. I'm rather convinced that she saw the end of the world and was plotting for a way to give everyone hope and create a new future that went beyond Caius's plotting from day one.

So I guess what I'm saying, is that I don't entirely consider Lightning's XIII-2 personality to be her real one. Of course, this is only a matter of opinion. If you don't want to deal with her hothead attitude (which is the reason why you chose to go with what Lightning was like in XIII-2, I imagine), then I'd suggest going towards what she's like for the third of XIII. She's certainly tougher and more defiant, yes - but it's also when she becomes more open. If you want a starting point to refresh yourself with should you decide to go with fixing up her personality a little bit, I suggest starting by watching cutscenes of the XIII gang when they land in Gran Pulse, as well as cutscenes of Lightning and Hope post the Hanging Edge. Lightning starts to become more open and willing to connect with others after she willingly takes on Hope as her "apprentice." I believe that happens after she gains Odin as her Eidolon.

Anyway, do continue. The social life in a high school varies, and you have seemed to be ok so far with everything. Just keep in mind that not all high schools heavily divide themselves into cliques like a lot of the teen movies do. While my high school certainly had their jocks and their drama kids, they weren't clear cut and solid lines. Everyone intermingled. I knew kids who played sports and liked working on the school play, for example. And plenty of kids that played an instrument and did sports.

And I am shamelessly here for Lightning/Kain goodness to make me squeal like an idiot fangirl. So like I said, do continue. :)

Serah really has a lot of friends! How can she remember so much people?

Tifa finally snaps. Understandable.

Should I expect some angst next time? Kain, don't worry, you have your friends and Lightning to help you **

That was interesting! I wish you'll upload sooner, I really like this story! w

I like how this story's going! Especially how you

Included lightning's rival from XIII-2! haha is he going to be a love rival to Kain or something? I hope you update soon!

Ps I'm also just too lazy to login

What a cute story! Can't wait for more *w*