Name: Akemi Hikari
Appearance: she has long orange hair that falls neatly at her waist; she has curves in all the right places.
Past: she has been Rude's friend since they were kids, she used to train under Sephiroth until he became a traitor.
*Rude's POV*
"RUDE!" Akemi yelled as she latched herself onto my back "I'm bored! I don't have any clients till the afternoon..."
"Akemi, you're still doing that?"
"Duh" she smiled "Either that or I join some form of battle group, there aren't many now that SOLDIER disbanded" she chuckled "Maybe I could join the Turks, any spaces open?"
"None... looks like you're out of luck" I carried on walking with her still clinging to my back
"Soo... where you going?"
"To meet my partner"
"You said something about that before, what's his name again?"
"Reno"
"Reno... what's he like?"
"He's loud, annoying, and a lot like you relationship-wise."
"What do you mean, relationship-wise?" I felt a sudden glare on the back of my head
"Well he won't settle down and is with a new woman every night" she dug her elbow into my back causing me to fall over in pain
"I can settle down if I want to and I'm NOT a SLUT!" she yelled as she unsheathed her katana from her back blocking an attack from behind us "NOW WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" she kicked him causing him to go flying into a billboard
"Don't kill him Akemi, that's Reno" I stood up fixing my glasses "I never called you a slut"
"You implied it"
"Sorry"
"Well... I'll forgive you if I can beat the crap out of your man-whore, please?" she battered her eyes and I sighed in defeat
"Just don't kill him" she smiled as she turned to the red-head who charged towards her
"But if I killed him there'd be an opening... I could get a better job" she taunted as she blocked Reno "Hey Man-whore" she smiled "Your zipper's down" I sighed as I watched Reno get beaten up and taunted
"That's enough" she nodded as she sheathed her katana and latched onto my back again. "Reno, stop"
"What?! Rude, she attacked you" he glared at her as she stuck out her tongue
"Rude, he's scary..." she pouted acting like a child causing me to chuckle
"You can stop the act too" she nodded as she threw a card at Reno
"Bye Rude, Man-whore" she waved as she disappeared.
"Akemi Hikari?" Reno read the card that she had thrown at him "She's a whore, how do you know her Rude?"
"She's not a whore. She's the sort of person who can give a man 'pleasure without taking her top off' as she likes to say"
"Yeah right" he scoffed "So how do you know her? you a customer?"
"No, we've been friends since we were kids"
"Really?! You had friends?" he laughed "Just kidding, how come I never met her before?"
"Because she hates men like you" Reno looked up at me confused "A playboy, a man who uses a woman for sex. That's why I kept you apart"
"Isn't what she's doing the same?"
"Quite the opposite, she does what she does so that men won't go looking for a woman to sleep with."
"You sound like you're on her side" Reno huffed
"I am, that's why" we walked into the training room "Let's train"
*Akemi's POV*
"Nothing to do..." I sighed "And now Rude's with that annoying, sexist, chauvinist handsome pig, what?! He's not handsome!" I mentally scolded as I paced around her house waiting for my first client when the phone rang "Hello... Alright... Thank you for calling" I hung up and sighed "Another cancelation" though it wasn't long until the phone rang again "Hello... yes I have an opening in about ten minutes, would that be alright? ... Thank you I'll see you then" I hung up and began setting up the room for my customer, but something about that voice sounded familiar. Ten minutes later there was a knock at the door I straightened her ruby red cocktail dress that I was wearing, before opening the door to see Reno leaning against the post just outside my front door "Reno, you're my ten 'o'clock?" He nodded
"Not that I believe in any of it" I twitched as I brought him inside, offering him a seat.
"Then how about a wager; if I can satisfy you without taking my top off you'll do whatever I ask"
"And If you can't you'll sleep with me" he smirked as I clenched her fist,
"Fine" I hissed. Slowly I walked over to him and began massaging his shoulders "Just sit and relax" I purred seductively. "Reno..." I gasped "Reno..." I moaned in his ear while seductively massaging his shoulders and lower back, "Reno" my lips traced his ear "do you want me?" I panted as I breathed heavily into his ear 'this will be easier than I thought' I smirked as I snaked my hands around his neck and down his chest tracing every crease in his skin, causing a small gasp to escape his lips "I win" I purred, opening his eyes he looked down and cursed, I had definitely won. "Meet me here tomorrow at noon for your... punishment" I giggled he paid and left in an extremely grumpy mood. The next day I rang Reina and asked her to come round, we were talking about my latest form of punishment.
"Don't you think this is going a bit too over the top?" She asked as she started setting up
"No" I stated bluntly
"You're going to get an awful reputation; no man's going to want to come near you" there was a knock at the door
"Should I care? They don't come for me, and I can't see any man wanting to take me as his wife" I walked over to the door
"You don't exactly try" I opened the door to reveal an extremely irritated Reno
"Come in Reno" he went in and sat on the chair
"Aww, can't we leave this one as he is, he's quite fine" She received a sharp glare from me before she covered his eyes with a blindfold
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Working, so just shut up and cooperate!" he grunted while cursing beneath his breath "Right, Reina is going to change you, don't worry she works as a medic so don't fuss. I'll be going now shout me when you're done" I was about to leave when I turned to warn Reina "Don't let him leave" I turned as I caught a glance of his muscular abs causing my cheeks to burn red as I entered my bedroom. After a few minutes Reina called me back through into the room, opening the door I hesitated before peering over to Reina who smiled stepping to the side, sat on the chair was Reno, his hair had been washed thoroughly and his skin had been matted with make-up. He was wearing a short, dress which doubled as a thin body suit
"What do you think?"
"You've out done yourself" I smirked, now you'll live life the way we do, see how you like it, Rosetta. I walked over to Reno untying his blindfold "Reno, for this week you will live the way we do" he looked up at me
"What do you mean, 'like we do'?" I smirked
"Like a woman" Reina moved the mirror so he could see what had happened
"What the hell?!" he screeched
"Realistic isn't it?" I chuckled "Don't worry, the worst case scenario is you get raped" my smiled faded as I turned to Reina, "Thank you so much"
"No problem, now we're even" I nodded as Reina looked at her watch "I have to go, my shift starts soon"
"Alright, thank you again," I smiled as she left; "now you're going to come with me, Rosetta"
"Fine" he huffed as we headed to the local bar. "What are we doing here?"
"I'm running errands" I walked inside "wait here" he huffed as he stood by the door when a large man walked in, as he walked past he grabbed Reno's bottom squeezing it causing Reno to jump back
"What the hell are you doing?!" he cursed as he realized he didn't have a weapon
"Just having a little fun darling" the man reached for his leg when I tapped on his shoulder "Grr what now can't you see I'm busy?!" he turned round to be met with my fist in his face
"Come on Rosetta" Reno cursed as he followed "What's the matter? I'm sure you've done that more than once, right?" he paused as he realized he had, probably when he was drunk, but that made no difference to us girls. "RUDE!" I yelled as I ran up to my best friend
"Akemi and..." he snickered "Reno?"
"Your girlfriend did it to me" he huffed
*Reno's POV*
"I'm single thank you very much" she stuck out her tongue, no wonder, with that attitude. I glared at her as her phone rang "Oh" she looked at the message and her facial expression changed dramatically, what... "Rude keep an eye on Reno" she ran off quickly leaving me confused
"What was that about?" Rude carried on walking, what wasn't he telling me? "Gah! If one more guy stares at my butt I'm going to kill him!" I hissed as Rude chuckled. Suddenly a loud ringing filled the air, Rude answered his phone I leaned closer to hear a panicked voice
"Rude, is this Rude? Please help, Akemi... She's... She's unconscious... she said to ring you if I needed help... please! He's coming!" she hung up
"Reno. Come on" He ran towards the housing district, when he stopped outside a house
"Wait up, heels are murder!" I took a breath "Who's house is this?" before he could answer there was a loud scream I rushed in to see Akemi stood in front of another girl with a cut across her arms and a large slash across her cheek "Akemi!" I yelled
"Reno" she whispered "protect Mina" and with that she fell to the floor. Rage overpowered me as I clenched my fist
"How could you!" I punched and kicked the man who had been beating Akemi up until he was unconscious. I was about to kill him when I heard a voice
"Akemi! Akemi!" a voice pleaded, I turned to the girl knelt by Akemi's side "She needs a hospital!" she cried tears flowing from her eyes, Rude picked her up and carried her to the nearest hospital where she was taken into surgery. The three of us sat outside when I asked
"What... happened?"
"Akemi... protected me" Mina sobbed "She always takes my beatings... even though I beg her not to" she cried even more, she did that to protect her...
"Why doesn't she fight back?" I cursed
"Because the last time she fought back, he almost killed Mina" I looked from Rude to Mina who looked at her hands "Akemi hates men who use women because of him, Mina's husband is that sort of man" I clenched my fists, Damn Damn Damn! Because of that... I looked at my hands...
"Reno" I looked up at the girl "Are you... Reno?" I nodded as she knelt in front of me "Please protect Akemi!" she pleaded "I'm not strong enough to protect her like she protects me" I nodded as I told her to stand
"Don't kneel before any man" Rude looked at me "That's what Akemi wants, women to stand on their own two feet"
"You're a man?" she giggled
"HEY!" I sighed "I lost a bet with Akemi"
"I see" she smiled, but that changed as the doctor walked out of the surgery
"Are you here for Akemi Hikari?" we nodded, how was she? Was she ok? "I'm afraid some of the glass penetrated the rib cage causing minor lacerations to her heart and her left lung. As well as loosing lots of blood from the external wounds. I'm afraid we only just managed to stabilize her condition, she is yet to wake. It will only depend on how strong she is" I clenched my fist
"Damn it" a hand was placed on my shoulder
"She'll be fine" I looked up to Rude "She's been in Comatose before, she'll pull through" I saw the doctor shift slightly
"What is it?" I asked as I turned to the doctor "Why did you just shift, as if you were ridden with guilt?" I asked as he looked to the floor
"Her medical files were all retained by Shinra, only some of the brief medical history was available. I'm afraid the chance of a previous comatose patient recovering for a second time is well... unlikely" Shinra again... I watched as the doctor walked into another room
"Why did Shinra withhold her medical data?"
"She's a previous member of SOLDIER" I froze "She worked under..." he looked over to the window
"I'm going to go" Mina whispered as she said goodbye, I turned back to Rude
"She trained under Sephiroth, back before that incident" Sephiroth "Reno, go home and change, I'll look after her for now" I nodded as I left for home. Akemi...
*Akemi's POV*
"Fire" Not again... "Flames" Don't do this... "Sephiroth!" I yelled. My body wouldn't move I watched as my friends were slowly burned to death and I couldn't help at all, tears streamed down my face, Angeal, Genesis, Zack, Cloud, Rude... they were all burning, I couldn't do a thing
"You're such a bitch" I turned to see Reno stood in the flames "Why do you even bother?"
"Reno..." he walked closer
"Nobody wants you to come back"
"Say it's not true"
"Nobody"
*Reno's POV*
"Come on... it's been two weeks already, wake up" I held her hand "I need you to come back" I wasn't sure why, but you're all that I've been thinking about lately. I squeezed her hand "Please" I rested my head on her bed as I felt my eyes close.
"Reno" Akemi "If you don't want me back... I won't" No I want you to, I need you to! Why can't I speak? Damn it! I shot upwards into a familiar hospital room, I reached for my head
"A nightmare?" suddenly there was a loud beeping and doctors rushed into the room
"Get a crash cart, she's flat lining" Akemi! "Someone get him out of here!" I was shooed out of the room as the doctors closed the blinds
"Akemi" Please be alright. After a few minutes the doctors left the room, I looked in to see her lying on the bed, she looked pale as if she was on the brink of death, but at the same time she looked peaceful, as if for once she was at ease. "Akemi... I'm sorry" I kissed her cheek as I moved to the window opening it slightly
"R-Reno" a feeble voice spoke. I turned to see Akemi's blue eyes looking at me
"Akemi!" I ran to her side when I noticed that she was crying "what's the matter?" I wiped the tears from her cheeks
"Sorry, I came back after all" she closed her eyes "even though... you didn't want me to" her breathing slowed as she fell asleep. You're wrong; I wanted you to come back.
*Akemi's POV*
The next morning I woke up to the smell of flowers, looking to the side I saw a bunch of flowers with a card picking up the card I read the message "I'm sorry I couldn't stay till you woke, I was called into work. So I'll drop by later" I dropped the card "Reno" I stood up ignoring the fact that my legs had, like last time, forgotten how to work. I pulled out a dress and changed into it, pulling my hair up into a ponytail. I walked out of the hospital handing in my slip as I headed out. Walking past a newsstand I realised I had been out for almost three weeks. Looking up I saw the sky "Why did I come back?" I walked towards my old home, I climbed up into the dusty room which was my bedroom, since I wasn't allowed in the Shinra barracks I spent my time here. I sat on the bed causing dust to fly around, Coughing I looked around to see my old SOLDIER uniform, "Seems, so long ago" my attention turned to the blade leaning against the wall, I slowly walked to it, picking it up I sighed "SOLDIER first class, seems so phoney now" I sat on the ground curled up in a ball as I cried for everyone that I had lost. I wiped my eyes as I looked at the mirror, my dress was stained with blood. I took it off and changed into the SOLDIER uniform that had been preserved in plastic for years. Gah... my body has stayed the same all this time! I sighed as my uniform once again hugged every curve. I reached into the pocket pulling out an old letter, it was about the SOLDIER's K.I.A in that incident and about the cover up... they wanted me to be part of the cover up, originally I planned to refuse, why would I want to live in the town where my mentor went mad? Though I ended up going as an excuse to find out why. I never found out what caused his reaction... I'm not certain if I ever will. My thoughts were interrupted by a beeping noise coming from the drawer opening it I saw my old SOLDIER phone "That thing still works? What the hell did they power them with?" I picked it up answering the call
"So you are there after all"
"Rude, how did you remember this number?"
"Just do, Reno's worried as hell about you, he's already torn the town apart looking for you" I walked into my garage pulling the sheet off of my bike "Why did you run off?" I loaded a mako sphere into the power core and sat the rest in the storage compartment under the seat
"I hate hospitals" I lied as I pocketed my money
"Don't lie to me" I tied my old katana to my waist
"three weeks... I lived that nightmare over and over again... fire everywhere, everyone I cared about burned in flames... while I watched... then Reno would say Nobody wants you back" I paused "nobody cares" and with that I hung up, climbed onto my bike and sped out of Midgar towards Banora's ruins.
*Reno's POV*
"Was that?" he nodded "Where is she?"
"She went to her house from her SOLDIER days... it's down in Midgar"
"Well then let's go!" I pestered as we climbed into the chopper. When we arrived the house was still standing surprisingly we walked in Rude checked downstairs while I checked upstairs. Walking into the bedroom I looked around to see her dress on the floor, so she had gotten changed, I turned to see some photographs there were pictures of Akemi with several SOLDIER's including Angeal, Genesis, Zack and Sephiroth. There was another with Akemi on Sephiroth's back she looked so full of life, there were pictures of her with members of the Turks too, Rude, Tseng even Shuriken, though she started going by the name Cissnei around that time.
"They were close, at the time there were rumours that they were in love"
"Were they?"
"Yes, but not in the way most people thing, they were like siblings to each other"
"Did you find her?"
"She took her bike"
"The thing has fuel?"
"She uses Mako Spheres"
"Those things have years of use" I sighed "Where'd she go Rude?"
"I don't know, but I know where she'll turn up"
"Where?!"
"Nibelheim, where it all began" he paused "Reno... Akemi, what do you think of her?" I paused
"I guess, I love her"
"That's all I wanted to hear" we headed over to Nibelheim where we waited.
*Akemi's POV*
I stood from the two grave markers and climbed onto my bike, heading towards Nibelheim. I stopped on the outskirts of Midgar just to glance at the Buster Sword "Zack" I bowed my head before carrying on. I stopped outside of my assigned house in Nibelheim, parking my bike out of sight I walked into the small shack. I dumped my bag down when I heard a noise from the other room, unsheathing my Katana I brought it to the neck of one of the intruders
"Woah, Calm down"
"R-Reno" I stumbled back "Why are you here?"
"Could you lower your sword?" I nodded as I sheathed it and backed away
"You shouldn't be here" I turned when he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him
"Stop running away" he held me close to him, I could feel his chest rise and fall with every breath
"Why, why do you care" I sobbed into his jacket "You don't even care!" I let the tears fall "Nobody cares!" he stoked my hair
"I care, Rude cares. Akemi I love you" I gasped
"No you don't" I pushed him away "I'm just another toy to you" I ran out of the door
"He hasn't looked at another girl since you were in hospital" I turned to Rude "He spent every day by your bedside, holding your hand, talking to you"
"I'm not worth it" I started to walk away when he yelled
"You're not Sephiroth!" I froze "Stop living in the past, you need to think about your future"
"But..."
"Akemi!" I turned to Reno who walked towards me I felt his hands cup my cheeks as he forced his lips on mine, I found myself feeling weak as I kissed back tears rolling down my cheeks as he pulled away and held me close to him "You're not a toy" he wiped the tears from my cheeks "Don't cry"
"Reno..." I stepped backwards "Do you want to ride back with me?" I smiled "Or with Rude in the Chopper?"
"I'll ride with you" He smirked "See you later Rude!"
"Don't worry" I smiled as I hugged him "See you in Edge"
"See you later" he walked back to the chopper as I beckoned him back inside
"You look good in uniform" He kissed my neck
"Not now" I gasped "Rude's expecting us back" he nodded
"You're right" he kissed my cheek
"My bike's round back" he nodded "Let's go" we climbed onto my bike and he wrapped his arms around my waist "Hold on tight"
"I'm never letting go"
"I'll hold you to that" I smirked as we headed home.