Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't know Final Fantasy VII. Big surprise, right?
*No stealing stories, thanks.
A/N: So, I've been going through a Final Fantasy VII obsession, and decided to try my hand at a fanfic about it. Hope you enjoy!
Reno sat lacing up his boots quickly, getting ready for a mission. Beside him sat Zach who, rather unfortunately, was tagging along with Reno. Unfortunately for Shinra, that is. If they were lucky enough, no one would die on the mission, especially Reno. Zach… well, they could spare him at least.
Zach quickly tugged on his second glove, and with his usual energy (and immaturity,) he leapt to his feet, and grabbed his sword. Swinging it high above his head with a war cry, he narrowly missed clipping Reno's head with the end of the blade. Reno jolted back in surprise, and anxiously felt his head, making sure his hair was still spiky and intact. Zach continued bouncing around the room, striking slightly awkward karate poses and swiping through the air with his sword. Why Angeal gave the idiot a sword like that to wield was beyond Reno's imagination at any point, but it was seemed insane when Zach decided to act stupid. Which was most of the time, really, but still? Either way, Zach appeared not to have noticed that he very nearly sliced his friend's head in two. Reno, slightly annoyed (which was saying a lot,) sputtered in indignation.
"Watch it, man! You almost gave me a haircut!" He pointed at his head to emphasize his words. At this, Zach stopped pretending to be a ninja long enough to take one look at Reno's exasperation and burst into laughter. He leaned on his sword, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't worry, I've almost-killed lots of people before. Besides, someone seems extremely touchy today." He raised his eyebrows at Reno, who suddenly became quite focused on his still untied boot laces. Reno shrugged his shoulders, imitating Zach.
"Just want to look good on the job. Besides," he said, wondering if he would regret mentioning Elena after this, "Elena would beat your head in if you killed me."
At the mention of Elena's name, Zach shook his head with a rueful smile, and sat down beside Reno.
"Elena? Dude, I think she'd kiss me if I killed you by accident. Besides, aren't you into her or something?"
Reno shrugged again, turning his attention to his gloves.
"Can't help it if she's kinda cute. Even when she's trying to kill me. You've got Aerith, so you got nothing to complain about."
Zach leaned back against the wall and smiled. He stared off into space for a minute, no doubt thinking of his brunette girlfriend. He nodded his head.
"You got a point there." Zach turned to Reno with a goofy grin. "Want some advice?"
"Sure, whatever." Reno rolled his eyes. Following advice from someone like Zach could be potentially dangerous. Of course, Reno was pretty good at avoiding trouble, or at least the consequences that followed trouble.
"Complement her. Tell her she's pretty or something. You can't lose when you tell a girl she's pretty."
Reno pushed Zach's shoulder, causing the black-haired SOLDIER to fall over.
"Man, if I told her that, she'd kick my butt."
All the same, thought Reno foolishly, what harm would one complement do?
Five hours later, Reno stood outside the Shinra building, drinking a cup of leftover morning coffee. It had no better taste than drinking sewage water, but at least it was caffeinated. The mission had left his reflexes slow and his body tired. Drinking a sip of the gritty stuff, he saw Elena come towards him, headed for the main entrance to the building. As she approached, he stopped to look at her; her blond hair blown askew by the breeze, her pale face bright in the light of the sun. He took a deep breath.
"You're pretty." Silence followed his words.
Elena didn't even look at him. In one swift movement, she punched Reno in the jaw, causing him to turn his face away from her. Taking advantage of this, she then proceeded to round-house kick him in the thigh, pushing him over when his leg collapsed. With a dull crash, Reno hit the pavement, groaning in pain. Elena didn't even flinch; she just kept walking away as if nothing had happened.
Aware that his pride had just been royally crushed, Reno made no move to get up right away. After a minute, he managed to reach his cell phone out of his pocket, noticing thankfully that it was intact despite the hard fall. He slowly dialed in a number. After a few rings, Zach's voice sounded on the other line.
"Hey, Zach here."
Reno sighed.
"Hey, man."
"So did you try it?"
"Yep."
"And?"
There was silence for a moment, before Reno responded.
"She kicked my butt."
"..."