Chapter 10: Rematch

The next few days were rather slow and torturous ones for both Reno and Rude. While the red head had officially gotten settled in to his new living space, having been supplied with clothes and his own bathroom materials, he began to wonder if he'd been better off in a solitary cell. Both males had to cope with the habits of the other, for Rude, it was Reno's arbitrary whistling as well as being up at sporadic times late night and early morning and then later falling asleep at indiscriminate points during the day. There was also other odd little habits Reno had specifically resulting from the red head's constant need to entertain himself.

Like rearranging the room and everything in it, including Rude's sock drawer. Or taking anything that wasn't nailed down while they were out and about and hiding it under his bed for possible later use. Or drawing on Rude's head in black marker to see what he would look like with hair. If Reno had to complain about anything, and he did, it would be the big guy's snoring.

He even told Rude he was surprised the room didn't cave in on itself with how loud Rude was at night and that the guy was probably compensating for how quiet he was during the day.

Despite all the problems between them, the pair didn't really have any fights creating an illusion of tolerance. Truth was though, Rude simply didn't allow most of what happened get under his skin enough to retaliate and Reno would eventually get bored of whatever he was doing and stop anyway. All in all, perfect harmony. At least it was until one morning a week after the redhead moved in.

This morning started a bit later than normal as Reno had stayed up until the early morning before finally crashing. Rude was grateful for the extra sleep he was able to receive, but the number of extra hours he was kept awake didn't even out. So like usual, Reno got up, finished his whistling morning routine and then Rude was finally allowed to go take his shower.

During his stay, Reno had come to realize how far away from Rude he could go before the distance limit kicked in. Since there was nothing of interest for him close enough to risk it, he just resigned himself to staying in the room until the bald Turk finished.

As he lay back on his bed listening to the cartoon playing on the TV and staring at the wall, a knock sounded on the door. Curious he got to his feet to see who it was. To his delight, when the door opened a pretty young shapely girl stood in the hallway looking slightly embarrassed when she saw him there.

"I-I'm sorry, I must have the wrong room," she muttered blushing slightly. "I-I'm looking for Rude."

"Yeah, he lives here," Reno said with a smile as he leaned against the door frame. "I'm his roommate."

"Oh… I see," she said with a relieved smile. "Is he in by any chance? I have some mail for him."

"He's currently busy, but I can get it to him," he replied, giving his smile a crooked tilt.

The girl blushed even harder and mumbled. "Well, I suppose that would be alright. Let's see…" she began fumbling in her mail bag and accidentally spilling some out onto the floor. She cursed softly as she hurriedly picked them up off the floor. "Here it is," she said handing it to him. "Please see that he gets it."

"No problem," Reno said taking the letter. "And don't be so nervous. I don't bite… unless you want
me to." He almost laughed at the blush that rose to her cheeks. She must really be fresh if she was that easy to embarrass. "What's your name?"

"Um… it's Melissa," she murmured, looking rather flattered he would ask.

"Cute name, it suits you," Reno murmured his smile growing. "How long have you worked here?"

"I just started up a few weeks ago," she admitted nervously. "But, I'm really glad that I got the chance to meet you um..."

"The name's Reno," he told her easily brushing a bit of hair out of her eyes. "Even when you're not working, feel free to come visit. You'd get rid of all my boredom."

The girl giggled lightly at this her already red face darkening at the touch and comment. "Well, I'd better get going," she stuttered taking a step away but keeping her eyes focused on him. "I, I hope I can see you again later. Maybe for a walk..."

"How about dinner?" Reno asked.

"Uh...maybe," she stuttered. Then she turned and left almost tripping over herself as she went.

Reno grinned after her before going back into the room and shutting the door. "Oh, yeah, I still got it," he thought, mentally patting himself on the back. He had learned over the last several years of watching Blay pick up chicks in bars that a large percentage of girls went for guys who gave off that bad boy vibe. Whether for the thrill or to punish their parents. Either way, Reno knew it didn't take much. Just a little smooth talking, an inviting smile, a small moment of physical contact, and 9 times out of 10 you had their interest. He was about to toss the letter onto Rude's bed when he caught a glimpse at the person it was addressed from. It was a girl's name. Normally Reno wasn't one to snoop, but he had to admit he was curious.

He looked back at the bathroom to see if Rude was going to exit any time soon. After a moment he figured he had time and tore open the letter. "Let's see what kind of girl you're protecting there baldy."

The letter he pulled out was hand written with a smooth gentle swirl to each letter. It read:

Dear Rude;
It's been a long thirty months since you left home. Don't worry though, mom and I have been doing well. Thanks to the money you send every month I've been able to go back to school and mom's been able to stay at home to take care of things herself now. Oh, just last week, mom met someone at the beach. He's a real charmer, but I doubt anything he says is sincere. Maybe it's just because of what dad was like but I'm skeptical about this one.
Anyway, how's working for Shinra? Have you been able to make any good friend's yet? I know you hate talking to people but try not to be too distant. Oh, my school is sending me to Midgar for awhile as a transfer program. Maybe we can meet up while I'm there. I really miss you.

Your Loving Sister,
Nina

So it was his sister… hell, no wonder the guy had been so pissed at his comment. That was assuming the girl in the photo and the one who sent this were the same person. This one letter certainly spoke volumes on the big guy's back story. Thirty months… That was roughly 2 and a half years, and from the sound of things, the guy hadn't been back home since. Either because he couldn't or because he didn't want to.

It also sounded like the dad was no longer around, nor was he missed. The most intriguing part of the letter though was the last few lines. His sister was coming to Midgar.

He heard the bathroom door behind him open and quickly, spun around hiding the letter behind his back. "Hey, buddy," he greeted with an overly friendly smile. Rude paused, frowning suspiciously at the red head. "What are you hiding?"

"Not a thing," Reno told him trying to slip the paper nonchalantly into the waist band of his pants. Rude heard the soft crinkle of the paper in the teen's hands.

In irritation he held out his hand. "Give it," he ordered. He had no clue what it was, but the fact that the boy was trying to hide it was enough to make him want to know.

"No...I don't think so," Reno said taking a step back. He needed a place to hide the letter long enough to make it look like baldy had opened it himself awhile ago. Rude took a step closer and Reno decided to run for it.

In an instant he was at the door, had it open and flew through the opening with Rude hot on his heels.

Reno dashed down the hallway, almost plowing into Cissnei who was leaving her room. "Oh,
hey, Reno… how are…"

"Hello, goodbye!" Reno said dodging around her. Rude pursued him to the end of the hall where Reno made a hot dash into the Turk lounge area where Talli, George, and Haruto were playing some sort of card game. The red head was across the room in seconds and leapt over the table, missing George's head by inches.

"What the hell!?" he shouted.

"Lucky your short!" Reno shouted back as he ran out the other door into the adjacent hallway. As he continued to run, he glanced over his shoulder to see Rude was still giving chase. Though he wasn't as fast as Reno, nor could he maneuver quite as well, so the distance between them would keep growing until… suddenly Rude slowed and then stopped.

The reaction was instantaneous. Reno felt the vibration in his ear started up until his limbs started to go all twitchy on him and he was forced to stop too. Crap, if Rude really wanted he could just push a button and have Reno floored in seconds. He let out a few choice swears. This just wasn't fair.

Grudgingly, the teen turned around and headed back towards Rude stopping the moment the vibrations stopped. "You're a real ass using that," he grumbled in irritation.

Rude didn't answer but held out his hand once more. Reno sighed. Slowly he held out the opened envelope and letter that was still out of it.

"You were gonna kill me anyway, so I thought I'd try to hide it before you made me mincemeat," he muttered as Rude walked over and took it from him.

"You read it," he accused glancing at the name on the letter. It wasn't too obvious but he began to sweat a little at the thought of Reno having read it.

"Yeah…" There was really no point in denying it, and even less in saying he was sorry. The silence that followed was long and uncomfortable. Rude just stood there, staring at the letter. It was like he was so angry he didn't know what action to take.

Then finally, without looking at Reno he demanded, "Why?"

Reno dug his toe into the ground, thinking it over. "I dunno… you don't really talk about yourself that much… hell, you don't really talk at all. Not that I mind, I respect you got your secrets. But I won't lie, I was curious as to why I almost needed a new dental plan and ended up spewing my lunch all over the cafeteria floor."

Rude's frown deepened significantly. "Obvious."

"Okay, I admit, maybe I did deserve it…" When Rude directed his glare onto him he held his hands up. "Alright, I deserved it!" Reno exclaimed. Then he sighed and swept a hand through his red hair. "But so we're clear, I wasn't trying to piss you off." Rude stood silent for a moment as though contemplating this statement before turning and walking off without another word. Reno exhaled heavily, feeling for the first time in a long time guilty for what he'd done.

He watched the bald Turk walk away until the vibrations started again. Then he realized that he should probably follow to keep from collapsing again. So, with a sigh, he began to follow the Turk slowly back through the hall and into the TK where Rude collapsed into one of the easy chairs; the letter having vanished from view.

"So, where was the fire kid?" Talli asked with a laugh trying to lighten the suddenly depressing atmosphere.

"Eh, somethin' like that," he answered glancing over at Rude. The man completely ignored him as he stared at the TV...or at least faced the TV. Feeling it was better not to bring it up at that moment, he went to sit on the couch, but a hand gripped his arm and before he knew it he was over the back of the couch and on the ground.

"You are not going to be sitting back and relaxing after nearly kicking me in the head," George told him sitting back down. "Next time don't go running like a lunatic through here."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Georgie, if ya wanted to feel taller all ya had to do was ask and I would've laid down for ya."

Talli gave a bit of laughter and threw out her hand when George made to get up again. "Stop bein' a sourpuss, George. The kid didn't mean any harm."

'She must not know me very well,' Reno thought in bemusement. 'Either that or she's looking really, really hard for that silver lining.'

"You two have some sort of falling out?" Haruto inquired, glancing between the bald Turk and the red headed teen.

"Naw, we were just having a playful game of tag," Reno replied, getting up off the floor.

He made his way over to the kitchen area where Monty greeted him with a chipper 'hello!'.

"I'm really growing attached to that little guy," Talli commented glancing over at Monty.

"You like it?" Reno asked sliding over to where she was sitting. "I could have him do other things you know. Whatever you want."

"Boy, you need to quit while you're ahead," Talli laughed. "That little guy is cool and all, but you ain't gettin' anything out of me."

"Can't blame me for trying," Reno laughed.

"If you're going to do that, save it for when you're alone," Haruto stated shaking his head. "We don't really want to see it."

Reno was about to retort to him when the door opened and in walked Cissnei. "So this is where you were tearing off to," she said spotting Reno next to Talli and Rude sitting guardedly in his chair. "So, what happened?"

"We just really wanted to get in here for some awesome food," Reno explained walking over to her. As he went he noticed Haruto shaking his head in disapproval. "Sorry I didn't stop to say hi, but I really needed my Cocoa-Chocos."

Cissnei smile and covered her mouth to suppress a giggle. "So that was it. Well, it's good to know you both are getting along so well."

"Yeah…" Well, at least he'd managed to dodge all of the awkward questions. He really didn't want the others involved in this little spat.

As the day went on, the other Turks left the TK one by one, until once again it was just Reno and Rude. The red head could tell the bald guy was just as angry now as he was a couple hours ago. Feeling like he should offer some sort of apology, he turned to the Turk.

"Hey, you know I… H-Hey!" The moment Reno opened his mouth Rude had risen out of his chair and walked out of the room. "Aw, come on, don't be like that!" Reno groaned in frustration before following the guy.

The entire way the Turk was silent as stone save for his heavy footsteps. Several minutes later they were in one of the many work out rooms. Rude went straight to one of the punching bags and started to pummel the thing with his fists.

Watching the guy go at it, Reno supposed he should be grateful that wasn't him. Yet he'd almost prefer another one of the guy's punches over being completely ignored. Wanting something to do, Reno began doing some stretching. No sense letting his muscles go stiff.

Once he was finished he returned to his feet and decided to try talking to the bald Turk once more. "So, are you still...?" he tried to ask but a more solid hit on the bag that actually moved it back about a foot. "Oh come on. We're kind of roommates so there's no avoiding each other. Isn't there some way we can settle this and just move on?"

At his question, Rude's punching stopped and he looked over at the scrawny teen. "Rematch."

"Haha...I guess that may work," Reno laughed. He watched Rude move into position and his smile died for a moment. "Wait, you're serious?" He watched Rude tighten his position and prepare to attack. "Okay fine, whatever let's get this over with."

The fight was quite different from the first. Neither male had an ulterior motive beyond besting the other. Also there was a lot more room to move, so both were able to fight to their fullest capacity. Rude used his strength and technique while Reno pulled out all the stops on his speed and dexterity. They moved all about the room, both exchanging blows, both switching between offense and defense. While Reno's hits didn't do nearly as much damage as Rude's did, he was able to land quite a few more. He would flit around in a random pattern, zip in, land a hit, and then retreat to a safe distance.

A few times, Rude was able to guess where the red head would go, and would manage to land a glancing blow before the red head escaped his reach. Once he'd even almost managed to get Reno into a hold, but the kid slipped out of it at the last second. After a little more than an hour of this, both had burned out their energy. Since neither wanted to be the loser, both tried for a last ditch shot at his opponent. Rude went in for a punch, Reno a kick. Both connected, and the two flew apart. They landed on the floor across the room from each other, both covered in sweat and panting heavily.

"You're...really good," Reno panted. He was exhausted after their little bout, but a huge grin was spread across his face.

"You too," Rude replied. He wasn't panting nearly as hard, but his limbs felt like lead and he couldn't really move much.

"You know, I think I get why you've been so ticked at me," Reno murmured. "Well...at least I think I've got an idea. See, I was gonna be a big brother once."

Rude was surprised by the sudden change of topic. Why was he talking about stuff like this anyway? Well, he wasn't about to stop him so he just grunted to show he was listening.

"Yeah, my mom was pregnant with a little girl when I was about 10. But I never really got a chance to see what it was like," Reno continued. "A chunk of the plate fell off before she was born and crushed our house. Heh, good thing I was running a muck at the time."

Rude was rather taken aback by this news, and even more so Reno was willing to share it. "Sorry," he mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

"Ah, don't be," Reno told him easily. "I got over it… besides, it's probably just as well it didn't happen. I would have made a lousy older brother."

After a few beats of silence, Rude pushed himself up into a sitting position. "How so?" he questioned.

"What? You don't think so?" Reno asked, his head popping up to look at him. "I'm not exactly what you'd call roll model material. I don't care about means or morals, I just want to have fun whenever and wherever I can get it."

He lifted up the upper half of his body. "Plus, I probably would have given her a hard time. Tease her, play pranks, you know… though if anyone else would have tried I'd probably kick their asses."

"…That's normally what big brothers do," Rude said following a brief pause. And who knew? With a little sister, Reno might have turned out differently from what he was now.

"Eh, you're just tryin' to make me feel better," Reno laughed. Rude just shook his head. "So, ya still ticked at me?"

"No, just don't do it again."

"Sounds good to me pal," Reno laughed getting to his feet along with Rude. "So...about your sister comin' to Midgar..."

"No."

"What? What's wrong with just saying hi?"

"You don't just say hi."

"Oh come on, what could I possibly do?" Reno asked. "I can't go anywhere without you, so it's not like I can really do anything without you knowing about it."

Rude turned away from him. "I don't plan on seeing her."

Reno gaped at him. "You can't be serious." When the Turk said nothing he demanded, "Why the hell not?"

"Not your concern," he rebuffed before walking away.

The red head sighed exasperatedly. "Geez, what's his deal?"

Unable to do anything else, Reno followed him, not planning on letting this go any time soon.

CM: Awww, they're bonding! Yeah, it's easy to see this pair still has a way to go before they can work in tandem. What sort of issues does Rude have with his family, and might Reno be able to help or just make it considerably worse?

Thank you all for continuing to read and an extra thanks for the reviews that keep us going. :D