Disclaimer- I own absolutely nothing from the Final Fantasy VII franchise.
(A/N) Alright, this one's for all the die-hard Reffie fans out there but before I start, I would like to give kudos to GlassMermaid for writing the fanfic Embitterment and to BruHaeven for writing the fanfic Hostage. I thoroughly enjoyed both and frankly, they inspired me to write this :) I encourage my readers to check out both stories.
This story will be multichaptered and long so bear with me.
Enjoy!
"Love is a serious mental disease."- Plato
Reno slouched over the always-polished desk in Rude's office. He noticed it was bare of anything unessential aside from a picture of the Turks. It wasn't much of a surprise, seeing as Rude wasn't a personal type of guy. Reno raised his heavy eyelids to join the two l-shaped fingers in front of his face. Before Rude had the chance to flick the paper triangle in between the space, a knock on the door interrupted them.
Reno muttered an 'ehh' of allowance, his features unflinching, and a polished shoe tapped the tile inside the room. Reno could tell the shoe belonged to Tseng because it was light but it didn't clack like Elena's heels.
"Hard at work, I see," Tseng remarked.
"What work?" Reno replied.
"I wouldn't expect you to do it if there was any to be dealt with anyway."
Reno scoffed and looked back to Rude but he had put the folded paper down and was listening intently to Tseng, which gave him no other place to direct his fading attention to.
"Rufus sent me to tell you that you can take the rest of the day off." Tseng informed.
"Fun…" Reno lay back in the chair; arms crossed behind his head, and rested his feet on Rude's desk, staring out the window.
Three years ago, it would have been rare for Rufus to let even the most dedicated Turks leave the office early but after Meteorfall, all the robberies, all the arson, all the killing, everything just… stopped. And though it would seem great to most people, it didn't appeal to Reno at all. Dealing with the crime and being amidst all the action is why he took this job. Now, the average Turks life is uneventful and every day was routine: Come to work, screw with Elena, get yelled at by Elena, nag Rude, and get sent home early by Tseng. Repeat.
Reno heaved an inward sigh and dropped his feet from the desk before resting his elbows on his knees and looking over to a stoic Rude.
"Are you gonna come with me or head home?"
"I… think I'm going to head home." Rude answered. You didn't need to see through the sunglasses to know he wasn't feeling up to par today.
"Alright then," Reno seemed indifferent as he pushed himself up and out of the chair. He crossed his arms and looked down thoughtfully, then shrugged and strode past Tseng. Raising an arm, he muttered "See you tomorrow, yo," and closed the door without looking back.
Tseng shook his head in the slightest. Though he always thought Reno's antics were annoying and unnecessary, even crude most of the time, the absence of his childish pranks and remarks made this place dull and unlively. If a creative mind like his had become uninspired, Edge was really beginning to become almost too peaceful.
Reno shoved his hands in his pockets and forced himself to walk the similar path he followed everyday. Raising his head to the bleak gray sky, touched only by mile high buildings that desperately needed repair, his eyes shut and his feet paused as droplets of rain began to fall.
"Normalcy sucks," he groaned.
Just then, a shadow flashed across his face and his body tensed. He turned and cut his eyes at the sight he was met with.
That damned ninja.
Her face soured from a mischievous snicker to the expression a 4-year-old getting caught stealing cookies would wear on their face. Her eyes widened when she discovered he had drawn his EMR as did his when he saw her arms were cradling numerous orbs emitting a soft glow. His materia!
"The hell?" he half blurted, letting his thoughts flow to his speech. He was amazed at her stealthiness. Yeah, she was a ninja and yeah, she had the speed, flexibility and all that but she couldn't usually keep her trap shut long enough to actually sneak past anything effectively. It only infuriated him more when he realized she did have the upper hand. Without materia, his weapon was next to useless.
She carefully read his expressions. From confusion, to realization, to aggravation. The blatant cockiness welled up inside her again.
"Tough luck ginger," she grinned and stuck her tongue out through her teeth.
"GINGER?" he snapped at her and lunged forward. She threw a tiny gray pellet against the wet concrete and a sudden film of smoke obscured Reno's vision, tears filling his eyes to the brim.
"God dammit!" he managed to rasp curses at the non-existent girl through the outburst of his violent coughs.
Where did she go? He ducked into a narrow alleyway and leaned against the side of the nearest building until he could finally breathe again. All I wanted was a drink…An idea dawned on him. Tifa!
He flipped open his PHS and dialed the number of the bar. He coughed a final time before he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.
"Strife Delivery Service," What a clever name, Cloud. "You name it, we de-"
"Tifa," Reno cut her off.
"Reno…" her voice was apprehensive, "Something is wrong?"
"The ninja is staying with you guys, isn't she?"
"You mean Yuffie?"
"Yeah."
"Well she's just visiting but yes. Why?" The 'why' was dragged out with skepticism. He couldn't tell if she was defensive of Yuffie or curious as to what the girl had done this time.
"Don't worry about it."
"Re-" he silenced her with a flip of the phone, knowing she was going to be pissed when she saw him but he didn't have time to explain. 7th Heaven was about 3 blocks away.
The door slammed open, violently forcing shrieks from the bell attached above the frame. Tifa snapped her head up too see a tangle of crimson hair and panting escape a deep scowl.
"Where… is she?" Reno's words were staccato and full of malice.
"What the hell Reno! You're scaring away all my customers. What is going on?" Her eyebrows furrowed upward in a mix of anger, confusion, and concern.
Reno heard the voice of the girl who caused all of this up rise from behind him and quickly snapped around.
"I'm right here! Gawds, I swear you are SO loud," she calmly grinned at him.
"Don't get brave kid. Just give it back!"
She closed the distance between them to the point where her nose almost brushed his.
"What if I don't want to?" she challenged.
"Then I'll have to pop that head off that skinny, little body won't I?"
"You couldn't even touch me, Turkey," she scoffed.
"Listen brat-"
"Don't call me a brat, ya jerk!" she yelled.
"I swear if I e-"
"STOP!" Tifa interjected, clamping Yuffie and Reno's mouths shut with her gloved hands.
"Both of you calm down for two seconds and listen to me," her eyes seemed to glow a deeper red as she spoke slowly.
"Yuffie, you give Reno his materia back," Yuffie's muffled protests were incomprehensible under Tifa's grip, "And Reno, as soon as you have it back, get the hell out of my bar. As for the both of you, I wouldn't dare make a scene in here again. Do you understand me?"
Reno and Yuffie nodded in unison.
"Good," she released both of them and shot Yuffie a motherly glare.
Yuffie huffed and reached into several of her many pockets, pulling out glowing spheres and reluctantly placing them in his outstretched hands one by one. She finally crossed her arms and pouted at him.
"Yuffie…" goaded Tifa.
"Fine," she sucked her teeth and handed Reno his Earth materia.
"Now go Reno."
It pained him to turn around and leave while Yuffie still had that smirk on her face but he managed to go without embarrassing himself further.
There's your first chapter :)
Reviews are welcome and appreciated.
