Disclaimer: Same as always, no own, no sue, everybody happy.
Author's notes: This story is disturbing and because I add more characters from the original game it doesn't mean there will be less OCs. Bear with me and tell me what you don't like if there is something you don't like. Also, I'd like to thank my only reviewer. You made my day Oh, and feel free to add some of your own suggestions, I'm sort of blank right now.
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Chapter four: Insert Zack
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Tubes... There were tubes covering his entire body. Liquid green dripping from containers into tubes that were connected with his own bloodveins. Mako... It hurt... Terrible, terrible pain. He could make out a form on the table beside him. Long silver hair. Sephiroth? Oh, yes, of course... His friend didn't want him to go alone. It stung like hell. He wanted to reach out, but... Only moving his little finger hurt more than a kick to the balls. Shit... Why was his phone ringing now?
Ryu jolted awake, soaked in sweat and gasping from the livid nightmare he had. He still could hear his phone ringing, though, so he reached over and grabbed it.
"Yes?" He barked, slightly angered, but mostly relieved. He could still feel the pain.
"Wow, grouchy, are we?" Soft tenor, slightly mocking lilt to the voice.
"Zack? What the fuck do you want now, asshole?" Ryu was decidedly NOT a morning person.
"Just called to tell you that I'm coming home for a while. Been forced to take a break. I'm getting on Seph's nerves, ya see. Oh, and Aeris kicked me out."
"Hn..." He could imagine that. "Wait, what? You're coming home?" Ryu's mind wasn't slow, usually. However, he wasn't usually woken up at... He looked at his bedside watch. 4 AM.
"Yep, coming home. Won't you be happy to see me, darling?" Zack's voice was chipper as usual. Fucking morning people.
"Sure, ass. But... Ah, shit... I've got visitors... Or... Just one." Ryu placed himself back down on his bed and stretched up to grab the bars of the headboard.
"Ohhh... Broken up with Roka? Or are ya havin' an affair?" Zack's voice was slightly teasing. As always.
"Zack? Don't you have anything on your mind except sex and other people's relationships?"
"Don't worry, Ryu. I won't tell her."
Ryu frowned and rubbed his forhead. He could feel a migraine coming up. "Look, Zack, you've just woken me up from a nightmare and... Don't you think it's a little early to start bombarding me with questions and shit like that?"
"Ryu, I just called to tell you I'm standing outsite with no key to the house. It's locked and I can't get in. Could you please come down and open?"
Ryu rolled his eyes. Of course the shithead had forgotten his keys in Midgar. That only happened like... Nearly everytime he came home!
"I'll be right down, you jackass..." Ryu hung up and stretched. Ah, well. He couldn't go back to sleep anyway. He stood up and pulled on a pair of loosefitting, black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. Scratching his head, he made his way down the stairs and over to the large oaken front-door. He could make out a spiky head through the window. Great. Just bloody, fucking wonderful.
He pulled open the door to find Zack standing outsite, smiling like an utter idiot. "Are you going to stand there all morning, or are ya going to come inside. It's fucking freezing!"
The spikyhaired SOLDIER walked past his taller friend and brother in arms and dumped his bags on the floor. "So... Nightmare? Wanna talk about it? And who's your mysterious guest?"
"Yes, nightmare, no, not right now, coffee first. And the last you'll find out soon enough. I'm not gonna tell ya." Ryu closed the door and turned around, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring gruffly at his friend. He surmised that he didn't look very intimidating, even with his superior height, due to his rumpled appearanse. He probably looked like he'd had a good tumble in the sack. However, he moved so wildly around in his sleep that he always ended up with a severely ruined hairdo. He envied Sephiroth, who managed to look perfectly intimidating even wearing PJ's. Even if he looked like a girl. He definitely did not want Sephiroth to hear that he ever thought of him as a girl though. He'd be dead in a matter of seconds.
"So... Coffee?" Zack was smiling up at him. Ryu gave no answer.
"Oy! You awake up there?" He waved his hand in front of Ryu's eyes. Still no answer.
"Fine, you asked for it." With that, Zack picked him up and flung him over his shoulder. Ryu was heavy, but nothing he couldn't carry. Zack was strong, after all.
"Hey, put me down, you imbecile!" Ryu said, quite amiably, really, considering the situation.
"No can do, sir. Need ta have a coffeemaker. I'm useless in the kitchen. If I hadn't roomed with you before, I'd be dead now, or living of the cafeteria-food. And thankfully, now if got Sephiroth. He's a great cook. I'll be sad when he leaves me for some chick."
"I have feet, I can walk." Ryu grumbled.
"I know you can walk. You just didn't look like you were up for the challenge back then." Zack entered the kitchen and gently put him down. And earned himself a slap across the head for his effort.
"Do you even KNOW how heavy you are? And now you slap me? Bitch!" Zack teased and extended his tongue.
Ryu grinned. He could play along for now. "Oh yeah? Is that the tone you take with me, young man? I have a pair of perfectly good scissors lying around here somewhere, and I am not disinclined to use them. I wonder how your tongue will taste, fried, with rice and sweet'n'sour sauce..." Ryu made a dreamy face, as if he was imagining the taste of the dish he had just thought up.
Zack barked out a short laugh. "Hah! I knew it, Wutainese people are cannibals!"
Ryu arched a delicate eyebrow and stared him down. Zack was still not intimidated. He needed to work on his intimidating skills.
"I'll make coffee, then. Sit your ass down and don't ruin my kitchen!"
Zack smiled as he watched his gruff (yet pleasant) Wutainese friend wander around in the kitchen, fetching the necessary ingredients for coffee. His long, silky, black hair was flowing down his back in a rumpled and tangled mass. He looked like he'd had a good roll in the sack, yes, but surmising how incredibly restless Ryu's sleep always was, he doubted that it was the case. He had tried to sleep in the same bed as him once and barely avoided being kicked in the balls, only to end up in a ball on the floor, tangled in his bedsheets. How Roka put up with him was a mystery, but then again, it was also a mystery how Ryu put up with scary, crazy ol' Roka. With her bitching and all... Man, what a scary lady. But she was nice to, if things went her way.
He mused a little as he watched Ryu dry down the counter with a cloth, and smelled the wonderful smell of brewing coffee. He knew no one who could make coffee as good as Ryu could. Not one.
He watched Ryu pour some coffee into a couple of black mugs and carry them over to the table, seating himself on the opposite side and placing his arms on the tabletop in front of him, holding his own mug. The other one had made its way into Zack's hands and he was currently sipping it, revelling in the rich taste.
"How're things over at ShinRa?" Ryu asked, breaking his train of thought.
"Good, I guess. Seph keeps fussing over failed missions and the like, as always, and the training of the recruits goes really well. We could use our stealth-trainer, though, but he has taken a break. Apparently he doesn't even miss us." Zack said, and smiled at Ryu's frown.
"So, your girlfriend kicked you out? What's her name again? Aries, was it?" Ryu sipped his coffee quietly and looked at his friend.
Zack frowned. "Her name's Aeris and she threw me out because... I don't know, and why the hell are you avoiding my question?"
Ryu smiled, took another sip and grimaced at the burn. "I still don't understand how you can drink it so hot, man."
Zack grinned widely and leaned forwards. "I will now tell you the secret as to how I can stand this."
Ryu arched an eyebrow and glanced at him. "Pray, tell me, I am dying to know..." He drawled.
Zack grinned widely again before putting his cup down on the table and leaning backwards, balancing on the hindlegs of his chair. "I'm not telling until you answer my question."
Ryu rolled his eyes. "If I answer, will you be happy then?"
Zack nodded.
"Okay. Of course I miss you guys. I mean, Roka's my girlfriend, you 'n Seph are more or less my best friends on the Planet, however... That doesn't outweigh the shit Hojo puts me through. What he puts you through. I mean, the last time Roka was there, she came out with burns all over her body and was bedridden for days. You want me to miss that?"
Zack sent a sad look at Ryu. "It bothers you that much, huh? No, I don't want you to miss that... I mean, I wouldn't either. We miss you, though, 'specially Roka, she's all nerves when you're gone, and I guess that makes Seph and me miss ya too, because she's impossible when she's all nerves."
Ryu sat back and smiled gently. "You'd better sit back down or you'll fall. And weren't you going to tell me the secret of drinking hot coffee?"
Zack smiled. "It's because I'm the hottest being on this Planet, here."
This, of course, resulted in loud guffaws, which only got louder when Zack tumbled to the ground, backwards, and landed with a huge crack. Which again resulted in a disgruntled Tseng standing in the doorway, looking pissed off into red hot fury, or maybe cold as Shiva's ass.
"Could you school-children keep it down, here? Some of us need to sleep." He grumbled and crossed his arms across his chest.
The two SOLDIERs quickly sobered and looked up at Tseng. Zack's face bore an expression of shock while Ryu wore a lopsided smirk.
Zack's eyes darted from Ryu to Tseng and back again. "You're a guy," He said, and it looked like the whole sky had fallen on his head.
Tseng sighed. "How very observant of you, Zack. Can I sleep now?"
Zack looked incredulously at Ryu. "You're gonna break Roka's heart, man! Are you out of your mind, sleeping with a guy, and Tseng no less? He's a TURK for fuck's sake!"
Ryu sighed and glanced at Tseng, who nodded, and then turned back to Zack again.
"This here is Tseng Uzuki. He's a TURK, yes, but he's also my brother."
Zack was so shocked he could barely get his wits about him. He didn't know what to say, much less what to do, and just lay there, in an undignified heap on the floor.
"You guys are like... brothers?" He exclaimed, seeming as if he could hardly understand this.
This time, it was Tseng's turn to answer. "Yes, we're brothers. And he is not the only brother I have."
Zack frowned and looked at Ryu. "Exactly how many brothers do ya have, man?"
Ryu smiled. "Seven."
"Seven?!" Zack was utterly shocked, a fact that amused the two Uzuki-siblings to no end.
"Yep, and not only that, one of them is my twin." Ryu grinned his trademark toothy grin again.
"You're a fucking TWIN?!" Zack almost roared, his expression growing more and more shocked for each new revelation.
"Yes, and if you tell anyone about this, I'm gonna pound your scrawny ass into oblivion." Ryu said, smiling pleasantly, with a voice indicating he was talking of normal day-to-day matters.
"And I shall help, dear brother," said Tseng.
Zack sighed, "Not even Roka?"
Ryu nodded, "Not even Roka."
"Okay."
Then the two SOLDIERs went back to sipping their coffee and Tseng strolled off to sleep the day away. Along with his worries.
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A/N: So, here's the edited and prolonged version. Hope ya liked Also, I'd like to thank my new beta, Bleuwyn for the hard work she has been doing when it comes to correcting my insufferable mistakes.