foreigner's journey

Chapter 339 Memory Fragments
who am I?
I'm Claude Strife, Shinra's 1st Special Forces, a respected and powerful fighter.

This can be seen from the battle uniform that only 1st fighters can wear on his body.

and then?Why am I here?
I seem to have made an appointment with someone. I want to come to Midgar to open an all-purpose house and make a lot of money by my own ability.Now in Midgar, it is to achieve this goal.

But... who was the agreement with?

Just thinking about someone makes my head ache like crazy.

Even if he has gradually adapted to the pain and no longer curls up on the ground, the pain will still make him hold his head and groan after all.

The pedestrians around seem to be watching him?Indeed, the special forces of the Shinra company would show such a weak expression, which surprised them, right?

Leaning on the railing of the station and slowly sitting down, slowly rubbing his temples to relieve the headache, he suddenly heard a familiar voice——

"Claude!?"

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After hearing Tifa's exclamation, the onlookers looked back subconsciously.

Seeing that Heather was also there, the onlookers who had gathered at Qifan Street Station began to disperse.A few non-local residents glanced at Heather in fear after whispering a few words in their ears, and then quickly left the scene.

Heather didn't care about Tifa who was trotting over in a hurry, but put her hands in her pockets and looked at the male protagonist in the original game.

This is a young man with blond hair as frizzy as spikes. He is not very tall, about 172 to 173. The muscles on his body, especially his arms, are very strong. He only wears Shinra's top-ranked 1st. Only special forces are qualified to wear special combat uniforms.

If it is special, it should be his delicate face that can be called "beautiful" and the blue pupils that can only appear after soaking in Mako.Of course, the giant metal epee that was as huge as a door panel tightly held in his hand was also the main reason why the onlookers were daunted before.

Tifa told Heather a long time ago about her past, her hometown called Nibelheim, the fire that burned everything, her father, mother, and several boys of the same age who had a good relationship with her in her hometown.And the boy with the blond hair in a ponytail, Claude Strife.

Right now, things are not 'good' for Claude.His eyes seemed to be difficult to focus due to pain and other reasons, his forehead was slightly sweaty, and he just sat slumped in the corner of the station, his special combat uniform was stained with dirt and looked dirty.

He tried his best to concentrate, looked at the figure who was anxiously running towards him, and seemed to search his memory: "Are you... Tifa? Is it really you, Tifa?"

"Claude, what's wrong with you?"

Tifa half-kneeled in front of Cloud, and found that her childhood friend, whom she hadn't seen for seven years, was in a very strange state, as if it was a symptom of demon poisoning.But if Moko is poisoned, shouldn't he just lie paralyzed on the hospital bed and can't move?
With a clang, the huge metal epee hit the floor tiles of the station.

Claude covered his head with his hands and closed his eyes tightly, veins appeared on his forehead, and severe pain hit his brain wave after wave.

"Yes, I am... Special Forces Claude... 1st soldier..."

He murmured in a voice hard for others to hear:

"The special forces who left Shinra Corporation...to make money...Midgar..."

Not far away, Heather watched all this with her hands in her pockets.

Tifa was getting more and more worried, and reached out to Cloud's sweaty forehead.Before actually touching it, Claude suddenly raised his head as if waking up from a nightmare, picked up the epee on the ground and stood up neatly, looking at Tifa with lake-like blue pupils: "It's been five years since I saw you." , Tifa, why did you come to Midgar?"

He seemed to be in good condition, and he didn't have the previous confusion-like symptoms of demon poisoning at all.

five years?Obviously it's seven years since we saw each other, right?
Tifa looked at Claude suspiciously, then turned to look at Heather for help: "Brother, this is..."

Heather patted Tifa on the shoulder, then walked between Cloud and Tifa, and stretched out her right hand to the former: "I am Heather, Tifa's senior brother and guardian."

"Cloud Strife, Tifa's...countryman."

Claude hesitated for a moment. He was indifferent by nature and didn't intend to pay attention to this man, but the other party was Tifa's senior brother, and it seemed that he had taken care of Tifador in Midgar.After thinking for a while, he still held Heather's outstretched hand and shook it, then separated immediately.

"Don't stand here and talk, go back and talk."

Heather saw that there were still passers-by looking at him from a distance curiously, so she reminded her.

Received a hint from Heather's eyes, Tifa asked, "Cloud, do you have a place to live in Midgar?"

Claude shook his head slightly: "I just came here and haven't found a place to live yet."

"Then let's go to Seventh Heaven to stay temporarily, the lounge there just happened to be vacant. Can you, brother?"

Tifa looked at Heather, who nodded, "Since it's your fellow countryman, it's fine."

The three people have different thoughts, one has chaotic memories and no clue, one is full of worries about old friends, and the other is just a pure fun person who looks on with cold eyes. None of them has the mood to continue chatting here and walk towards the seventh heaven.

After returning to the bar, Heather found that Barrett and Marlene had returned early.

Barrett is still the same, except that the lower right eye is left with a permanent claw scar due to the attack by the demon wolf, and an arm-type rotary machine gun is installed on the fractured part of the right hand. Barrett is the only weapon of this specification. Such a burly body can be used.

Marlene is four years old this year, and she is sitting obediently on the bar stool humming to Barrett, a new song she learned in kindergarten today.

Seeing that Heather and Tifa had returned, Marlene jumped off the bar stool excitedly and ran towards them.But before she ran a few steps, she saw Claude following the two of them, and she turned around in fright and ran back to Barrett.

"Oh, Heather! Tifa! You're back, I'm so hungry...huh? Who is this kid?" Barrett also noticed Cloud, and couldn't help asking.

Claude was not interested in talking to him, but just looked around at this spacious and cozy bar.It seems that Tifa is doing well in Midgar, with a stable job and a place to live.

Seeing that Barrett, who was ignored, was about to get angry, Heather took off her coat and threw it on the table beside her, explaining to Barrett, "His name is Claude, and he is from Tifa's hometown. By the way, why did you come here?" ?”

"Come here for a meal, and besides, Marlene has been clamoring to find the two of you to play." As soon as he interrupted Barrett, he forgot that Claude ignored him, and turned to Heather and laughed: "Eat at noon what?"

"Look at what ingredients are in the refrigerator."

Heather went to open the refrigerator and dug out some frozen chicken and potatoes and carrots:
"The idiots from Xue Beng are looking for you, and they seem to want to persuade you to give up that stupid plan...Curry rice, do you want to eat?"

"Want to eat! The curry rice you made is amazing!" Barrett nodded quickly, and then responded: "Those idiots from the association, don't bother with them. Tifa, your fellow countryman just came to Qifan Street, right? Where is he going to live, I can help him find a cheap one, but it needs to be shared with others."

Tifa looked at Claude inquisitively after hearing the words: "Claude, do you plan to live in Qifan Street for a long time?"

Claude nodded: "The environment here is not bad. I plan to open a master house here to deal with all difficult disputes and monster attacks. I am a former 1st fighter, and I still have strength in this area."

"Shinra fighter? Or 1st?" Barrett, who hated Shinra like a sea, stood up and walked to Claude, looking down at him: "Boy, Shinra lackeys are not welcome here!"

"Go get your ears fixed. As I said, it's [former 1st fighter]. Because I don't like Shinra's way of doing things, I've already quit." The latter sentence is Cloud's explanation to Tifa .

Tifa nodded, not knowing what to say to this fellow townsman whom she had a crush on for a while.

Speaking of hometown?The hometown has been burned, and all those familiar people are dead, even Claude's mother Claudia, even if it is said, it will only add to the sadness.

Talk about the experience of these years?Claude's memory seems to be a little bit wrong. He clearly said it was five years after he hadn't seen him for seven years. Let's observe it first.

At this time, she noticed Heather in front of the stove, and the latter gave her a wink. Tifa immediately understood what he meant, and turned to Cloud and said, "Sorry, I'll make lunch first. Cloud De, sit down for a while, if you don’t know anything about Qifan Street, you can ask Barrett, he is very familiar with this place. Barrett, please.”

After handing Claude to Barrett, Tifa trotted to Heather's side, and said in a low voice while processing the ingredients: "Brother, Claude's memory seems to be..."

"Don't talk about past experiences to stimulate him, and help him recover slowly. Memory symptoms can never be cured all at once."

Heather glanced at Barrett who was staring at Claude, then lowered her head and cut potatoes:

"Didn't Barrett vacate Room 203 in Tianwangzhuang? Tell Marle, let Claude live in it first, it should be no problem to postpone the rent for a while."

Tifa nodded obediently, washing carrots in front of the sink.She is so familiar with Heather's character that outsiders can only describe it as 'cold'. This time, she takes such care of Claude because he is from his hometown, right?

At this time, the door of the bar was pushed open again.

"Really! I went to the kindergarten, and Dimo's restaurant, and I couldn't find Barrett at all..."

Jesse grumbled as he walked in, followed by Biggs and Wedgie.

However, the complaints suddenly disappeared.

Not because he found Barrett, but because Jesse saw Cloud.To be exact, I saw Claude's exquisite face that could be called 'beautiful'.

"Okay, so handsome!!"

Screams echoed through the bar hall.

　PS: The setting of FF7RE is used here, that is, the plot where Cloud was bumped into by Tifa as soon as he was exiled in Midgar.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)