Yuffie wondered what had she brought herself into. She was sandwiched between Vincent and Aerith. Not practically.

She recalled the event which put her in the situation she was in that moment. Aerith, yes. Aerith had called her that evening saying she would come over to her place. In a bored fashion she slipped out of the comforts of her loveseat and her door was pushed open before she had the will to reach the knob. "Aerith?"

She was standing with her arms crossed with her finger tapping on the upper right arm. "You're sooo slow!"

"You're just fast." Yuffie yawned and soon came to realize Aerith was wearing one of her best outfits, which was generally pink. "'sup?"

"I feel like dancing."

"By all means, please. But not here—" Aerith took both her hands and pulled her on circles around the living room.

"Yuffie, I said I feel like dancing!"

Yuffie struggled to make her stop and when she failed, she yelled. "Aerith, can you just tell me what's going on?!"

"Did you know I planted that bug in Tifa's phone? No, you don't. I did it right after you gave me the bug yesterday's yesterday. Oh, I'm so brilliant. And Cloud's back! I saw Fenrir right outside her home!" Aerith laughed as she slapped Yuffie's back hard.

So Cloudy boy returned. That was like, only around twelve-ish hours since she had told Cloud about Tifa. This could get interesting. Yuffie paced back and forth, holding her chin, listening to Aerith.

"And their texts were cute I almost choked."

Yuffie stopped and turned to her. "I thought you bugged…tapped, whatever, her phone."

"I meant her cell. Phone. Cell phone." Aerith pushed her bangs up and to the back, sighing in frustration. "What difference does it make?"

"Ew."

Aerith looked at her funny. "What?" she asked.

"How old are you to play this silly game?" Yuffie raised her finger in the air, making a circle.

Aerith began twiddling her thumbs and playing around with her braid end. "It isn't silly. I just want to go to where Cloud is…"

"That aside, what you did was like … voyeur."

Aerith felt her cheeks heat up and she tried covering both of them. "Yuffie!"

"That is disgusting." Yuffie grinned widely seeing Aerith try to find words for an excuse of some sort. "Aerith, you're a bad girl. Like, bad-bad. To think that you…" – she paused, holding both her hands to her heart and her expression twisted from horrified to dejected – "oh, you pain me."

"I wasn't—I mean, I didn't… You're starting to sound like Tifa, you know that?"

"Perv."

"Argh! Now that you mention it, it does seem dirty." Aerith exhaled sharply as she walked to a sofa, deliberately clicking her heels loudly all the way. She plopped herself on it, one leg on the armrest and another on the floor. "I waited for so long but it seems Tifa never contacted Cloud even once. I was hoping she would. Then I'd get his number and we can chat day and night."

Oh boy. Yuffie hadn't expected that. She had Cloud's number, which she got from Vincent, whom Cloud gave discreetly should anything happen back there. "Let's go," she said.

Aerith glanced away from the hanging mobile she had gazed within that while. "What?" she asked, her eyebrows shot up behind her bangs.

Yuffie motioned her head to the door. "You wanted to see him, right?"

"I wanted to see them, but him, mostly. So you'll come with me?" Aerith sat up straight with a free smile showing both rows of perfectly white teeth.

"I was under the impression you'd drag me into this the instant you barged in." Yuffie rolled her eyes and she sighed inwardly as she let Aerith squeeze her.

"Thanks, Yuffie."

"What are friends for?" She patted Aerith's head, almost tiptoeing up to her.

"To mess around with."

"That's what you think. You drive. I forgot to renew my license. Been taking buses and trains."

"If you weren't such a lazy bum, I would've made you drive. Shall we?"

Yuffie laughed opening the door for her so that they both wouldn't have to squeeze through it. "'course."

So everything was fine and dandy, they spotted Reno's car parked in a distance, not too far away from a mall—until they met Vincent. He was wearing a smart outfit—which reminded her vaguely of Reno, also without the tie. Aerith came up to him, all cheery ever since they were in the car. As she greeted him, she smiled widely. "Hey, Vincent. What are you doing here?"

"Hey," he said. He glanced at Yuffie, who was avoiding his gaze by staring at her perfectly manicured fingernails, and kept his stare for a few seconds or so. "Nothing much. I have just finished meeting with my client. You?"

Yuffie could feel her stomach—her whole guts shrinking. That 'you' sounded like it was really meant for her.

"We're here for Cloud. He's here. I look at something small and I get something big all cause of this gadget I fixed on Tifa's cell."

"I see."

Aerith motioned her head towards the building. "Wanna come along?"

"I suppose I could." Vincent glanced at the main door and switched to Yuffie. "Ladies first."

Heck, no. Leviathan says you're dead, Yuffie. And Vincent's sooo gonna decorate your head with daisies and all that, she thought. Yuffie played around with the edges of her shirt as she made a straight face walking between Aerith and Vincent. With the clashing vibes around her, she could guess whose was stronger and disturbing; the man to her right.

"So Yuffie, why are you here?" he asked with the look which threatened her with consequences unimaginable.

"I'm just … with Aerith."

Aerith poked her head out from behind. "In actual, Yuffie and I are going to see Reno and Tifa, but to be more precise I'm dragging her to see Cloud. Didn't know he'd be here—oh, could you two give me a minute or two? Nature calls."

"But Aerith, you can't leave me here with him!" Yuffie's words fell on deaf ears as she watched her friend disappear into one of the shops.

"And he's here because of what?"

Yuffie gulped a large amount of spit. "Well–I have an idea what."

"Right."

"And it involves me being awol a couple of days ago."

Vincent nodded as he hummed, signaling her to continue.

"Alright, I give up. I got that bug by accident. And I thought I'd utilize it for amusement purposes only so I let Aerith use it. Before you say it, I admit, I have no life in free afternoons." Yuffie gritted her teeth Vincent, at the metallic item at his ear, to be exact.

Vincent gave away one of his rare chuckles. "You noticed. The lie detector they just developed is remarkable."

"I know. Next time, I'll make something that nulls it. And you can't have it." Before going to the restroom she was eyeing before, Yuffie stuck her tongue out before crossing her arms in a huff.

In the last few seconds the door was close to shutting, Vincent made sure she heard, "I'll be at the atrium."

Yuffie entered the ladies' restroom with her face slightly flushed, and she was greeted by Tifa with her hands on her hips, hissing, "By accident, Yuffie?"

Aerith raised her hands and shook her hands. "I didn't tell her, I swear. I just said we'd be hanging out at the mall."

"You were just too loud outside." Tifa pulled her hair up and tied it up meticulously to a neat ponytail. "Too close and too loud." Tifa pressed the hand soap dispenser and began to wash her hand thoroughly.

"So we're cool? You don't need me pop in and say hi in the theater?"

"Oh, come on. I don't need your help." Tifa flicked Yuffie's forehead. "Yeah, we're cool. Just don't do it anymore. What do you think you'll do if someone just do crap on your privacy?"

Yuffie brushed her bangs slightly. "I'd probably use one of the multiple ways I could kill him with something small by accident," she said.

"Accident." Tifa hummed as she rolled up the mascara, which she produced from her bag, slowly on her eyelashes. "Perfect. Now give me an arr." She raised Yuffie's chin a little.

"Ah?"

"Cute one, Yuffie." Tifa patted her head, laughing. "I see Vincent will like that."

"You're kidding." Yuffie rolled her eyes. "But I mean it, Tifa. Someone could choke on a coin or two," she said, shrugging.

"You could toss it to the hands someone more worthy of it. I don't want any accident here."

"Yeah, yeah, I get'cha, Tif. Later, girls. Oh, and Aerith, don't make it too thick. You'll look like a clown." Yuffie made her lasts steps towards the exit turn to skips as she whistled it's a small world tune.

Aerith pursed her lips as her cheeks turned a shade darker. "Yuffie!" She screwed her face a little, turning to Tifa. "Tifa, do I look like a clown?"

"Not really. More like a pouting demoness," she said, laughing after Aerith landed a sharp slap on her arm. "Ouch."

Aerith proceeded to wipe off some layers of blusher she had overdone. "Are you sure with no help? I mean, my altruistic nature is still kicking in. Seeing Yuffie almost bite her fingernails worry me. We've done them not too long ago." She happily flashed hers, covered in menacing hot pink. "See?"

"I'd like to say that's her fault for that but it seems fun having Vincent on her tail. Besides, Aerith, I like to do some things on my own. Thanks, though."

"Well, if something happens, give Barret a call. I'm gonna have my hands full. One with Yuffie if she went over the top and one with Cloud if I can help it." Aerith gave her a quick hug before tossing the crumpled, used piece of wet tissue and exiting with her heels clicking.

Tifa gave one last check on her overall look. "Good luck." She sighed. "You'll need it." She exited with a cheery face and headed to the atrium where she knew her friends were there and where they would split up.

Oh look, a mouse.

The rodent then found its fate in the mouths of the hungered creatures.

Oh, yeah.

Those things started to make their way out of the manhole, making weird noises as they did.

…A set of screams.

Damn, their sound effects are bordering to sound dirty. There goes another victim; a pigeon this time.

…And another.

Here comes the antagonist to save the day. …And he charges by himself to the group of zombies. He probably doesn't know the difference between bravery and foolhardiness.

Ahihihihihi!

What the hell was that, a banshee? Reno had guessed right when a woman in torn white something with medusa's hair-lookalike hissing on her head. Hair or headgear, he couldn't guess.

You have nowhere to run pretty boy! All these darlings are my creations! Surrender your skin or I'll feed you to the zombies!

Wait, what? Skin? Odin, just how retarded was that? The hero fights and gets tossed into a closest manhole by accident. Think of all the crap the zombies made. Then the evil boss screams in rage and orders the army to find the—oh, what the heck. Reno sighed in the middle of another screaming 'aaaah'.

The female population in the theater had displayed a good amount of mock fear. Every now and then Reno winced, afraid his eardrums might burst. It was reducing his concentration for the movie drastically until it he was completely detached. He knew what real fear was; the feeling like the object itself was staring at him, his nerves failing him, limbs petrified in spot and a heavy anchor chained around in his heart which was thumping loud enough for him to hear. Fear doesn't always make one scream. That he witnessed from Tifa who was gripping his hand from start to finish.

Although it was unnecessary for the lame movie, it was worth it.

Yep, worth it.

Seeing Strife glaring at him every now and then was worth it, too. Man, everything felt great. Tifa then excused herself and Cloud followed her in a couple of seconds after.

That looked like a bad omen.

Cloud handed her a warm canned drink. "What the hell was that?"

"Scary movie?" She drank passed the drink from hand to hand before she decided to gulp it down.

Cloud turned his back on her and waved his hand dismissively. "I told you not to go out didn't I?"

"Cloud." Tifa lowered her drink. Was that where the conversation going?

"I promised Zack—"

Tifa shot a glance at him and back at her hands. "Zack as a life on his own. I do, too."

"—that I'd take care of you."

Tifa snorted. "He asked you that? I never guessed. He was always indifferent around me."

"That's not the point here. Why is it Reno? If it's someone else, I could think it through."

"That's what you're always about, isn't it? From the beginning you made sure he would forget and I did, too. Well, you know what? I'm tired of it. I can manage on my own." She crushed the can in her fist.

"Tifa."

"If I'm stuck and have no way else, then I'd be sure to call for help. Why can't you trust more?" Tifa shoved the metal scrap to his hand and rushed to one of the small exits.

Cloud was absolutely pissed when he found out that Tifa and Reno were together. Discovering Tifa defiantly went out with someone - despite his advice before he left - had made him twitch his eyebrow. Seeing that someone was the redhead, in whose drink he spiked, he let out a feral growl between his teeth. And he was not pleased when Tifa turned to Reno during the scary bits. At all. But above all, Cloud never liked to see her cry. Though he'd prefer a strong girl who'd cry occasionally – other than ones who have fair complexion like Tifa – he'd never taken a liking for tears when it came to her. "What have I done?"

Reno stepped up next to him. "You screwed up, that's what."

"I was just…" Cloud tossed the empty can to a red bin.

"I wouldn't know since I don't have any siblings. Cissnei or Elena might count but … if I were to be in your shoes, I'd go easy on her. She's a big girl."

"… Guess so. Actually, I vowed to punch her first boyfriend in the face."

First? So he was her first? He didn't have time to celebrate. "Dude, can you get any more overpro—" A fist connected to his jaw and he couldn't evade on time. "What the fuck, man!"

"…Tch. And miss on purpose."

"You're not even missing it on purpose! You intend to hit me!"

"Whatever. I was serious about that oath. Don't you have better things to do? Like go after her for an examp—" Reno swung his fist to Cloud's head. He evaded that one neatly and retaliated by giving a frontal kick which Reno caught.

Reno snickered. "Wheelbarrow. However gay that looks like."

After exhaling a hiss, Cloud leapt and somersaulted with his free leg, kicking Reno in the process. "Bastard. You've been eyeing her. Since I noticed you start going to our performances."

Reno blinked, brushing off the dusts on his front. "So that's what it is. The cat's out of the bag. You knew she's my target."

"Damn right, I knew. Your uniform gave it away. Whose stupid idea is it to go hunting people with a dead giveaway?"

"A client's request. Your band's rival. Said kill Tifa Lockhart. As for the stupid—" Reno ducked a horizontally launched kick, that which he had seen Tifa used twice against him. "—idea, 'twas mine!" He backflipped a few times away from the combo of attacks Cloud was sending, before crashing into set of dusty mannequins in a corner. "Damn."

Cloud leapt forward to him, wringing the front of his shirt. "Reject it. After all, you should have some rules –"

"I did, moron. Told Vinny I'd quit it," Reno said quietly as he raised his head and sighed heavily. "The more I watched over her, the more I couldn't do it."

Cloud said nothing as he walked to him slowly … and punched his stomach in a swift succession. "What're you waiting for? Go after her before you lose an arm or a leg. Make sure she's home before two," he said, heading to the main doors after he picked up his jacket.

"Dammit, he pulled his punches till the last one," Reno said, rubbing his pained stomach as he jogged to the small back exit.

Tifa eyed left and right of the alleyway. From where she was standing only a lone light bulb blinked back at her above a chained door a few steps in front of her, moths flitting to its white surface. The light only managed to illuminate a small section of the area. To her left was what she assumed a dead end and to her right was her only exit, lit pale orange by a streetlight. For a moment she stood on her spot, fisting her hands and switching her gaze from the light bulb, to the road on the right and finally to the sky. It was veiled faintly by clouds, leaving holes here and there free. Not only Cloud or Reno needed to cool their heads off, she, too needed it.

For the first few steps, she forced her legs forward, wary of the claustrophobic air around her. Tifa, you shouldn't go to the dark. Who knows what might jump on you. Cloud had told her that countless times when they were kids.

She shouldn't have used the back exit, moreover, left her jacket inside. Sucking a deeply a portion of air and exhaling it slowly, she let her tension relax, feeling the suffocating sensation slowly wash away from her.

For the first few steps, she forced her legs forward, wary of the two source of light she was at the same time closing in on and increasing the distance from. Somewhere after she had begun to walk firmly in the dark she heard the door she had abandoned, open and close. She turned her head rapidly to it, letting out a small gasp as she hid behind some crates.

No one, nothing—but there was something 'off'. A cold presence in the dark. Tifa hid back and planned her next step in a rush of heightened emotion—whether to just casually walk away or run for it. It was then she heard it, a slight shuffle and a low half-whisper right behind her.

"Hey, you."

It was clearly a male's.

.

.

.

a.n. Yes, took me long enough to reach the word cinema, right? Sorry bout that. Dx I've been away for so long. I'm going to hide now. …I'll get back here once I've sorted out everything.