A/N~ This is a co-op story written by yours truly, and Crystalline Ice! It's going to get pretty intense, so I'd love it if you read it! Well, you're reading this so I assume you want more than the author's note :D Like in my othe rstories, bolded itallics mean it's a flashback. Enjoy!
Two women sat on top of a tall building overlooking a degenerated town. There was complete silence, and the girl on the right seemed to be disgusted or worried at the state of the town, the other seemingly oblivious.
The girl on the right wore a light-blue, tight-fitting body suit that was decorated with a red armband and black gloves and boots. Her hair was a shiny black and fell over her shoulders, hiding half of her face. Her brilliant green eyes held something gentle in them and just by looking into them you could see that she had wisdom far beyond her years. She seemed passionate and sweet, but sometimes lackadaisical to her own problems.
The other girl wore a suit the same as her friend's, but it was light-green and a bit looser. Her eyes and face were the same as the other girl's, but she seemed to be a bit older. Her eyes seemed to always twinkle mischievously, and the way she held herself and her light brown hair told you that she was strong and kind, but sometimes militant and zealous.
"Olsen?" the girl in blue asked quietly.
"Yeah, Raine?"
Raine fiddled with her hands shyly, not wanting to upset her sister.
"Are you sure that we'll be able to get into ShinRa?"
Olsen didn't look at her, just kept her face to the sky.
"I'm sure we will. We may be girls, and they may choose to ignore us, but can they really? I mean, we got to the top of their building without anyone noticing. We just have to wait for the next helicopter, and seem to pose a threat. I know that we can do this together, sis'."
Raine looked away from her sister to her hands, tightening them slightly.
"Yeah. Together…"
Olsen Melbourne hadn't put much thought into her hasty plan. That was how it always was. Had been. Olsen would get an idea, and then whine to her sister until the younger girl agreed to come along. On one occasion, she had even used her sister as bait, and that hadn't worked out so well. But it was also the reason why they were now sitting on the edge of the ShinRa corporation building, high above the main city.
This time, Olsen was not planning on abusing her sister in their mission. They were going to work together on this. With Raine's creative new body suits, it had been easy to reach the top of the building, and Olsen was reassessing her plan. What would ShinRa's reaction be to seeing two young women lounging on their rooftop like the beach of Costa Del Sol? Not friendly. Well, it had been the company's own fault for not agreeing to let Olsen join in the first place. After being rejected at the desk, of course she had to find other means of getting them to pay attention.
"There's a chopper coming." Olsen said, nodding in the direction of the Northern sky. Slowly, the chopper blades became audible, and Olsen had decided long ago not to back down. She felt for her weapon, relaxing as she weighed the chain in her hand before slipping it back into his Hollister. Though it would be a bad idea to start a fight, it would also be a chance to show off her skill. And that's what SOLDIERs looked for. Skill.
The chopper closed in, and Olsen sat up and rose to her feet. The wind buffeted her hair backwards, and her headband strained to keep her thick locks in place.
"Fancy ride." She commented to her sister. "I bet their weapons are just as nice."
"Yeah," Raine said, trying to seem nonchalant about being obviously in danger. She didn't like her sister's plan, and she probably never would like any of them ever since that day in Banora.
Olsen lead a tiny, three-year-old Raine over to a clearing in the surrounding forest.
"Okay, Raine, you stand here while I wait for the monster that everyone's been talking about to come," Olsen said, running back to hide in the bushes.
Of course Raine understood nothing about what was going on, so she just sat down in the clearing and played with the doll that she brought everywhere.
A long time passed and Raine was getting tired, as it was late at night and she was only three.
"Olsen, Raine wants to go home!" Rain said cutely, but Olsen only shushed her and told her to wait a few more minutes.
A few minutes passed, and little Raine was on the verge of crying. She sniffled, forgetting her doll and standing up.
"Raine wants to go home NOW," she demanded, and Olsen ran out from behind the nearby bushes and went over to her.
"Shut up, Raine! Don't you want me to catch the bad monster that's hurting everyone?" Olsen hissed.
"Raine wants to go HOME!" Raine screamed, and suddenly a loud roaring was heard from not too far off, and both Raine and Olsen froze.
"Uh-oh!" Olsen exclaimed, picking up her crying little sister and running away as she saw the very large Guard hound that had stopped in front of them.
The hound threw a fallen branch at them with its teeth, blocking their escape. It stomped up to them, its hot, reeking breath blowing in both of the girls' faces.
Raine stopped crying, as she was too scared, and Olsen fell over, dropping her little sister as the monster roared.
The hound reared it's head, ready to devour the two quivering girls, when something sliced through it and it dropped to the ground, slain with ease.
Olsen stared up at a teenage boy with auburn hair as he picked up her little sister. He then helped the girl up, and comforted the crying three-year-old in his arms.
"It's alright. Your parents sent me to find you. They're very worried about you," the boy said.
Olsen squinted at him through the darkness, and then recognized the boy as Genesis Raphsodos.
"Oh, no! I'm sorry to bother you like this, mister," she quickly apologized, not wanting to get in any further trouble for not showing respect to the person who not only saved her life, but was the son of the richest man in town.
Genesis shook his head, allowing her a gentle smile.
"It's alright. Just be more careful, you could have gotten your little sister very hurt, or worse," he said. "Now, let's get you two home."
Still holding little Raine, Genesis took Olsen's hand and led her out of the dark forest and back home.
Raine shook her head to clear those thoughts as wind blew strongly in her face, whipping through her shiny black hair and mussing it slightly. She stood up, stretching slightly, and watched as the chopper descended slowly for landing.
"Please don't get me almost killed this time, Olsen," Raine pleaded quietly.
Olsen sighed and smiled down at her sister. Raine's black hair was hiding most of her face, but Olsen knew what her expression would be like. Blank and pensive.
"Come on, sis'. That was ages ago." She said, guessing the memory that her younger sibling was absorbed in. She wished it hadn't scared her so badly, so she wouldn't remember it so vividly. She's put her sister in danger, she knew, but it wasn't like she let the monster kill her. "Besides, if you can't protect yourself by now, you might as well go back home and eat Dumbapples." Her red lips curled into a sly smile. "You could bake pies again for your savior." She teased, and silently laughed as her sister turned red, though still expressionless. After that man had saved them, Raine asked their mother to help her bake a Dumbapple pie for him. He did love those weird fruits.
The chopper landed and the blades started slowing down, but not before the doors were thrown open and a group of men filed out. But they were nothing like Olsen had expected. They were all dressed in Infantry uniforms, and mostly ran past them without pause. A few heads turned, but Olsen and Raine did not command the attention like the older sister had planned.
Finally, a SOLDIER came out of the chopper, yelling at the others to move along, threatening them with push-ups and various forms of work outs. Then, his harsh eyes fell on the two girls.
"And what in Gaia do you think you're doing?" He demanded. Olsen grinned at him.
"We scaled this building of yours, you know that?"
"I don't care how you got up here- what are you doing up here now?" He shouted.
"We want to join ShinRa." Raine piped in, as she rose to her feet. The leader glared back and forth between them.
"Well then, why are you out of line!" He continued. And suddenly, they were being ushered inside the building along with the members of the Infantry.
"Hey!" Olsen protested as she was stuffed into an elevator, leading down. "Gah- Raine! Just- urg! Meet up when-" But the doors closed before she could finish her sentence.
Things were not going as she planned at all.
Raine remained silent, as usual. She was pretty short, so she was unable to see over the infantrymen's heads as they rode down the building in the elevator. If she could see Olsen, she would probably glare at her with a look that said "I told you so," but unfortunately for Raine that was not the case.
Raine was the kind of person who liked empty, lonely spaces and white walls. The shiny elevator walls that reflected everything definitely was not cool, and the crowded space made it ten times worse.
Raine quietly struggled with herself, and just when she thought she was on the verge of insanity, the elevator doors opened and she and Olsen were shoved out of the elevator. Raine noticed that the infantrymen stayed behind, and Raine and Olsen were on a floor they hadn't been on before.
Raine glared over at Olsen.
"What have you gotten us into?" she said, sighing.
The doors closed behind them before Olsen could decide that she would rather be crammed among ten others, than singled out in that open, air-conditioned room. A young man dressed in expensive white looked over his shoulder as they Olsen and Raine stepped into the room. As Olsen took another step into the room, he turned around completely and started walking around the desk.
"Now…what is this?" Olsen glared at the young man, and crossed her arms.
"I thought that would be obvious. We're applying to the SOLDIER program, just like those others in the Infantry. But they saw it fit to drop us off here instead." Her glare hardened, and the young blond stopped in his tracks. "Must have been a simple mistake. One that can be easily corrected." She said, emphasizing each word like a threat. She adjusted her weight onto her right leg, so the chain whip on her belt was in plain sight. But the man was as cocky as she was, and not easily intimidated. He circled his desk and sat back on the front of it.
"This kind of situation is usually reserved for my Father…The President, you know." He told them, and emphasized the last few words just as Olsen had. Making it a threat. His green eyes drifted past the older sister, to the younger. Olsen caught his lingering stare, and quickly stepped in front of Raine.
"Watch where you're gawking." She warned. She wasn't usually so protective of her sister. But this case was different. She wanted this man's attention on her, and her only. Unseen forces were at work, but for the time being, it just seemed she was determined to keep her sister innocent and safe. "If you keep up that stare, you'll be staring at me, inches from your head."
But he instantly smiled.
"I may not mind that." Olsen's dark hair seemed to rise up like an angered chocobo's feathers would.
"Why you-"
He waved his hand, and lifted the phone on his desk to his ear. After a pause,
"Yes, two girls here are supposed to be along with the other recruits." He gave a short laugh, and his eyes flashed back to Olsen. "Yes, I imagine they can handle it…The General, you say?" His eyes scanned the two girls, then fell on Raine behind Olsen's shoulder. "Yes, they can fit one more. I'll send the other," His eyes flashed back to Olsen. "To the Turks floor." A nod. "Yes, sounds fitting." Then he hung up and clapped his hands together.
"Fixed things?" Olsen asked.
He nodded happily.
"Yes. Now, you will be escorted to the lower level of the Turks, while the lady in blue there…she will meet up with the other infantrymen to have the first meeting with a General of ours." Olsen realized this would mean separation from Raine. But her sister was capable, and they had many backup plans…at least, a place to meet if things went awry. The man pushed away from the desk and beamed.
"My name is Rufus ShinRa. I will be taking you to the Turks floor myself." When Olsen glared, he just smiled and tapped the inside of his coat, where a weapon surely was fitted. Olsen nodded and looked to Raine.
"Remember the meeting spot. Otherwise, keep your guard up. I've looked through the roster already and there's only one other woman currently a SOLDIER. The men will be…anxious."
Rufus led Olsen to the elevator, waited for Raine to join them, then let the doors close. A few floors later, the doors opened and Rufus waved Raine forward.
"Go on then, you shouldn't keep the General waiting. He hates those tardies." Olsen took one more glance at her sister before the metallic doors closed again.
Raine stared at the doors as they shut, and then looked in front of her to see a hallway leading to a pair of large doors. She bit her lip nervously and started picking at her suit, wishing she didn't look like a prostitute. Well, a prostitute that could kill you in various ways, but a prostitute.
"I knew I shouldn't have let Olsen take the measurements," Raine told herself after realizing that the suit wasn't going to magically become looser. She walked slowly to the crowd of infantrymen outside the doors, glaring defiantly up at the man who had shoved her into the elevator.
He smirked, and allowed her to take a place among the men. She stood as far away from them as possible, but of course they would take notice of her. Who wouldn't?
Raine ignored them the best her could, but when the one next to her poked her in the shoulder a few times, she was forced to look at him.
"What?" She asked him, and he stopped poking her, deciding instead to stare at her with wide eyes.
"What?" She hissed, and he opened his mouth to talk, but the guy next to him beat him to it.
"Are you really going to try and join?" he asked, curiosity obvious in his voice. Raine sighed and nodded solemnly. The two guys turned to each other, one snickering and the other shaking his head.
Raine glared at the empty space ahead of her, desperately wishing she had not agreed to her sister's demands. 'Why? Why, why, why, why, why?' She berated herself internally. She jerked her head up as the doors opened, and the guy in charge led the infantrymen and Raine into a large room.
A man with silver hair stood before them, not quite paying attention to them yet, and a few more stood in what looked like an observation room. The man in front of them finally looked toward them, studying each member of the infantry, and stopped on Raine, staring at her with curiosity.
The man stepped up to the first young man in the line, asking him where he was from, what his name was and why he was here. 'Shit,' Raine thought to herself. She fought with herself over an explanation as to why she was here, and eventually threw something together just as the man stepped in front of her.
"And you, I assume you know the questions by now," he said, his voice smooth and chilling. He stared down at Raine, who was a meager five feet, and waited patiently.
"My name is Raine Melbourne, and I am from Banora. As to why I am here, well… It is my older sibling's dream to join. Any dream she has I'd be willing to go to the ends of Gaia for to make it come true. Besides, she gets in trouble a lot and I want to keep an eye on her," Raine said, adding the last sentence quietly.
Raine forced herself to look up at the man before her, seeing his eyes narrow in consideration before stepping away. She nearly sighed in relief as he continued his small speech, and when it was done he told the man in charge of this group of infantrymen to lead them to the infantrymen quarters.
Raine was about to follow them, but a man with auburn hair came rushing down from the observation room and stopped in front of the General, speaking to him for a moment. The General nodded, and called out Raine's last name before she could escape.
She turned to the two men, suddenly very nervous.
"Yes, sir?" She asked timidly.
He looked at the red-haired man and nodded. The man walked up to Raine, staring down at her intimidatingly.
"Do you remember me?" he asked.
Raine stared up at the man, trying to get his face to register in her mind. After a moment of nothing, she slowly said,
"No, I'm sorry. Do we know each other?"
The man grimaced, and then sighed.
"I didn't think so," he said, shaking his head. "I lived in Banora too."
Raine narrowed her eyes as the memory of when she was three rushed to her again. Her eyes widened, and she looked back up at the man.
Auburn hair… Light blue-green eyes… Wait, could it really be...?
"…Genesis?"
Olsen instantly felt that Raine had gotten in on the better half of the deal. Rufus ShinRa stood much too close, and was not quite intimidated enough by Olsen for the girl to be satisfied. And no matter how she looked at him, he would always smile back.
When the doors opened with a little 'ding!', Olsen was the first out, despite not knowing where she was off to. Though it became apparent after the first few steps. It was a large, open room, with a padded boxing ring and a dozen punching backs and human dummies scattered around the room. In the ring, a man in an infantry suit was thrown to the ground by a tall dark and heavy man. By his scream, and the echo of the slam, it sounded rather unpleasant. The man limped away.
"Well, let's go on then." Rufus encouraged her towards that very ring until she was in line with the others.
"This is what you wanted me to do?" She clarified.
"Yes it is." He said with a happy nod. He seemed to be looking forward to this. The last man was thrown out of the ring by a tall, dark, and muscular Turk without breaking a sweat. He dropped at her feet before groaning and forcing himself up. He saw Olsen and frowned.
"You a nurse? 'Cuz I've got this arm and it feels broken."
"Back off or the other one'll be the same way." She said, before shoving past him and onto the ring. The dark man made a comment about etiquette until she took off her shoes. Apparently that was some tradition, but she didn't feel like the tall man before her should care much about formalities, when he was about to throw her down. Once a sufficient crowd had gathered, the dark man swung a haymaker punch at Olsen.
She ducked, and threw a uppercut into his exposed ribs, and the crowd started shouting out rules that she was apparently breaking. The dark man, who was not at all phased by her punch while Olsen felt she had smacked a brick wall, explained that he was the attacker, and all she could do was dodge or grapple. Olsen's only experience in grappling was, well, not much. She tried to copy the moves of the people who went before her, but found they were just as insufficient as they had appeared. But thanks to her limber frame, she was able to keep away from the man as she devised a strategy. She tried to trip him, but that would have been as effective as tripping a tree, then got around him and jumped onto his back. She wasn't able to get a chokehold on him, but he did fall to his knees, and Olsen got a hold of his other arm and tried to get him off balance. Instead, the man simply tugged his arm down, and Olsen flipped and landed painfully on her back. She had her foot ready to kick him in the groin, remembered the rules, and instead jabbed him in the thigh, if only to let him know that she could.
Someone in the corner laughed.
"Haha, she thinks she's a spider monkey, yo!" The dark man got off of her and tried to help Olsen to her feet, though his gesture was slapped away. Olsen's glare turned on another Turk in the crowd. A young man with a messy suit and flamboyant red hair. His arms were over the railing as he looked in, making him look even sloppier than he must have normally looked. When Olsen glared at him, he grimaced.
"What's that look for? Just thinking aloud."
"Well keep your thoughts to yourself." Olsen snapped, trying to hide her limp as she walked off.
"Well, Jeez. I don't remember any of those moved in the training courses. You can't even take something from one class into the real situation."
"That's because I haven't taken any classes in grappling, you moron." She continued. The dark man behind her finally spoke up.
"You haven't taken any classes?" She sighed, then drew her hand over her head to fix her messy hair.
"No. I arrived at ShinRa today to join the SOLDIER program. I was under the impression that this was an exam of some sort, to assess your skills." The red-head and dark man exchanged glances.
"No classes?" The red-head asked. Olsen almost showed him right then that she didn't need any classes to efficiently beat him to death.
"Actually, I've taken dozens." She said sarcastically. "But seeing how none of those techniques even got him to his knees, I improvised."
"Ohh…" The red-head said, leaning back and staring at her. "…Oh."
"What!"
"I like her." The dark man said. Then he shuffled his feet and rephrased it to, "I like her improvising." The red-head nodded.
"Yeah, we could use improvising like that, yo." Olsen frowned at them. "This wasn't a class for beginners, but I guess you're not a beginner." He said. Olsen looked over her shoulder to smirk at Rufus, but the blond was already gone. The red-head spun around to see her.
"Name's Reno. That's Rude. Welcome to the Turks."
Raine was confused. Very confused. Genesis was here? Why didn't she remember him leaving? Why ishe here?
Suddenly, Raine's throat felt a little dry. She swallowed nervously, backing away in a desperate attempt to get away from all of the embarrassment.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Genesis called, and Raine muttered a quick apology before she said she had to leave and ran away from the situation.
Raine's cheeks stayed a bright red the entire way down the hallway to the elevator. Gaia, she thought she was going to die of embarrassment.
"Really? Awesome! We have to go check it out, man," she heard a man say to another.
"Yeah she's on floor 15. I hear she's a babe, " the other replied enthusiastically as they walked into the elevator.
Raine frowned. No doubt it was Olsen who was on floor fifteen. She walked up to the elevator and pressed the button. After a minute if came up, and Raine stepped in and clicked the button for floor 15.
The elevator came to a stop after a moment with a little 'ding!', and Raine stepped out and looked around. She saw her sister talking to a couple of men, and so Raine quietly walked over to Olsen, waiting for them to be done.
"Name's Reno. That's Rude. Welcome to the Turks." She heard the red-head say.
Raine tapped her sister on the shoulder before they could say anything else.
"Olsen! I can't believe you. This is all your fault," Raine accused, her cheeks heating up once more as she felt the two men's eyes on her.
"Wha-?" Olsen choked out, surprised by her sister's anger. "What do you mean?"
"I don't want to be here anymore! I'm really considering just dumping you here and going back home," Raine spat. "If you weren't my sister, I would."
Olsen sighed, putting her hand on her head and scratching it in thought. The red-head behind Raine eyed Olsen, and then put his hand on Raine's shoulder.
"Chill out, baby doll," Reno drawled, patting Raine's shoulder a bit.
Raine glared at the offending appendage, and then at who it belonged to.
"Get your hands off of me," she warned, not in the mood to be calmed down. Raine was always like that when she got angry. Probably always would be Reno blinked, not phased at all. He'd seen the reaction before. He just ha dto play it cool.
"Like I said, chill out- Agh!" Reno was cut off by Raine grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back. Playing it cool had not worked.
The two shuffled around for a minute, Raine dead serious and
Reno trying to get out of her grasp. Rude looked on, slightly surprised but mostly amused, and Olsen shook her head and sighed.
"C'mon, sis'. You're gonna hurt him," Olsen said, putting her hands on her hips.
Olsen knew that the rare moment when Raine lost her temper, she always looked for a fight. It helped her release that anger that she kept pent up inside of her, so Olsen never objected.
But in this case, Raine might accidentally kill her new friend, so she was calling her off.
Raine looked over at Olsen, realized what she was doing, and let go of Reno, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye.
"What'd you do that for, yo?" He shouted, snapping the lapels of his disheveled suit straight.
"Raine gets a bit violent if she loses her temper, sorry. This is my fault; I'll take care of her," Olsen said. She grabbed a protesting Raine by the arm and led her away from the two men.
"What's your problem? I just made friends with him!" Olsen hissed.
Raine glared at her sister, then crossed her arms and looked at the ground.
"Genesis is here," Raine mumbled, and Olsen looked shocked.
"That's it? What in the world did you get all mad for, then?" Olsen asked her sister.
Raine shuffled her feet and then slouched, whining,
"It was so embarrassing! Not to mention that because of you, I had to meet their general. Which, by the way, happens to be a foot and a half taller than me!"
Olsen blinked, and then curled the corners of her mouth into a sly smile.
"Aww. Poor Raine! Embarrassed because she met her savior once again!" Olsen declared dramatically.
"Olsen!" Raine spat. "Newsflash; he was your savior, too!"
Olsen eyed her sister, then crossed her arms.
"Look. I've already been accepted into some branch of ShinRa. This…testing process is pretty much over for me. And you?" In a lower voice, "If Genesis really is here, then you shouldn't have a problem getting into ShinRa. Bat your eyes if you don't get to show off your combat skills. This is all going pretty much as planned, the ending at least." Olsen looked back over her shoulder at the Turks.
"Reno? Raine here, my little sister, is trying to get into SOLDIER. She ended up in the wrong place, but she's got wicked fighting skills. Can you…uhh, give her a recommendation or something?" Reno scratched his head and shrugged.
"If she fights me or Rude here," He said while pointing his thumb over his shoulder at his tall companion. "She's good, I'll write a nifty letter, yo."
"See?" Olsen said, while taking her sister by her shoulders and leading her into the ring. "Just show him that uppercut you used to bust my lip last week!" Reno frowned, but followed Raine onto the mats and made his hands into fists.
"Hey cutie? You ready?"
Raine sighed, tousling her hair a bit with her hand to set it behind her shoulders.
"I suggest not calling me that if you want to keep that face of yours so good looking," Raine said, smirking slightly.
Before Reno had a chance to respond, she ran towards him. Reno, being as cocky as he is, braced himself to catch her, but Raine surprised him by ducking under his arms and throwing him over her shoulder.
Raine turned to look at Reno, who was now on the ground with a look of shock on his face, and smiled innocently.
"Oh my. I believe I overestimated you, dear," she mocked, her smile broadening as Reno got to his feet.
"No, I just underestimated you. I'm thinking about that letter, yo. You might get it if you keep that up," Reno replied smoothly. "Now, let's try this again, yo."
Reno clenched his hands into fists, making the first move this time. He aimed a weak punch at Raine, and she pulled her arm up to catch his wrist. She frowned at him.
"Really? Don't tell me you're going easy on me because I'm a girl," she said, pouting. "I thought you'd be better than that."
Raine aimed a kick at his side- not surprised that he blocked it- and then twisted herself around and brought up her other leg to wrap around his chest, bringing Reno down like she had planned.
Raine now straddled Reno's waist, and she stared blankly down at him, waiting for a response from him.
"This isn't how I was planning for it to turn out," Reno said, grinning up at Raine. "But this is a pretty good ending either way, yo."
Raine scoffed, getting off of Reno before he could flirt with her any further. She crossed her arms after she helped him up, turning around. Raine stared at her sister impassively, pushing her hair back over her shoulder.
"Do you enjoy putting me through embarrassing situations? Because it seems like it," Raine said, lowering her head a bit to hide the bright red blush on her cheeks.
"Okay, let's break it up." Olsen said with a clap. Their practice fight looked more like a round of physical flirting to her, and Olsen didn't like it. But she wasn't sure if it was because someone she hardly knew was coming onto her sister, or if it was because her sister was attracting the attention of someone she hardly knew, but was curious about none the less.
"Give me a pen and paper, yo." Reno said with a snap, and Rude swiftly produced them from his sleeve. "I want to see both of you around here more." Reno loudly declared, and offered the letter to Raine. Before the girl in blue could take it, he withdrew it. "You know, Turks get paid better. You should join your big sis over here too." He suggested.
Olsen rolled her eyes, snatched the paper from Reno and handed it off to her sister.
"I've got a ticket in already, this is yours." She explained. "Now hurry up and get back to the General and those Infantrymen and get yourself signed in as well!" She ordered. "We'll meet up tonight in the square, okay? Okay." She pat her sister on the shoulder and followed the rest of the Turks as they exited the training room for a briefing and to be signed in.
"But... I don't remember the floor number..." Raine said, but her sister had already left.
Raine felt like she was steaming, and she clenched her hands around the piece of paper in frustration but quickly let go in case she might rip it.
"Let's see," Raine said as she walked to the elevator. "I was heading down... And the number changed four times. So floor nineteen?"
Raine pressed the elevator button, trying desperately not to think of a certain man who could still be down there.
'He's grown so much, to... No! Don't think about him!' Raine berated herself.
She stepped into the elevator and clicked the button for floor nineteen. Just as she had suspected, she was dropped off at the same room.
Raine looked around, searching for any sign of the General as she wandered the short hallways. She stopped as she heard a familiar voice, then peeked around the corner in front of her to see the General, a black haired man... And Genesis.
'Ack! He's still here! No, I have to give this letter to the General, Genesis or no!' Raine told herself, determined.
... And it did absolutely nothing. Seeing as she was unable to approach them, Raine cleared her throat quietly, gaining the attention of all three men.
She tried to ignore the deep red blush that colored her cheeks once again as Genesis's eyes fell on her. Raine took a few timid steps forward and stopped a couple of feet away from the General.
"Um..."
That was all Raine managed to get out, and so she simply raised both of her arms, offering the very tall man the letter. The General looked slightly amused, and he took the letter and read it, his eyes showing only curiosity. The man looked up from the letter and stared down at Raine, who had her head down to hide her red face.
"I'd appreciate it if you looked at me," The General spoke softly, and Raine slowly raised her head to stare up at the defiantly tall man.
'How tall is he? Good grief... He defies all kinds of physics...' Raine slapped herself internally and forced herself to look the General in the eye.
He stared back down at her curiously, then seemed to be satisfied. He glanced at Genesis, for a moment, and then told him,
"Why don't you take Miss Melbourne to registration yourself?" he suggested, and Genesis eyed the General suspiciously.
"Alright... Come on Raine," he said, and began walking.
Raine stared at him with wide eyes, then slowly forced herself to walk after him. She didn't look, but she swore she could have heard chuckling coming from both men behind her...
The two walked for a moment, and Raine kept her head down until they reached the elevator. Her entire body was screaming at her to run away so she didn't have to be alone in the elevator with Genesis, but she forced herself to step into the elevator when it came.
There was a full minute of silence, and then it was broken by Genesis.
"I'm going to be honest with you..." he began, and Raine swallowed, looking at him from the corner of her eye.
"I don't want you here."
Raine's eyes widened and she looked at Genesis, slightly hurt.
"You don't want me here? Why?"
Genesis was pensive.
"I don't want you getting yourself hurt," he finally replied.
Raine looked down at the ground, the Leviathan-forsaken blush coming back to her cheeks.
"It's my turn to be honest," Raine said without looking up. "I'd rather be in Wutai, but my sister is here so-"
Genesis stiffened, and suddenly cast his arm out, hitting the emergency stop button on the elevator. Raine flinched, staring at the now broken glass, almost terrified.
"What are you doing?" she asked, staring up at him with wide eyes.
Genesis was still for a moment, then turned to face Raine fully. He placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head and glowered down at her.
Raine was now completely terrified, unsure of what was going on.
"Don't ever say that again. Honesty or not, I'd rather have you here than for you to be my enemy," he said slowly.
Raine suddenly stopped being terrified as her anger kicked in.
"Really? Well, as I recall you left without ever telling me, which tells me you don't really care! I don't care how well you knew me, or if you didn't care, it still hurt that you would just up and leave just when I thought we were making friends with each other," She spat, pushing him away and crossing her arms.
Genesis was silent, and he slowly pulled the emergency stop button out again, causing the elevator to jerk back into motion. He turned back to face the elevator doors and said nothing the rest of the trip.
'I can't take this. I didn't even realize I was angry...' Raine thought to herself. This was going to be very difficult.