A/N: Here's chap 12! Seira's dream will be revealed in the next chapter so just wait for my slow writing pace.
Big hugs and thanks to Anexi and bibx for the long and flattering review :p
Enjoy and please leave a review to tell me how the story is going on!
Disclaimer: I don't and never own Reno and the other FF7 character except my own OC's like Sei, Rayne, etc.
"I can't live with a…a killer."
Reno who was too caught in his rage didn't notice the brunette's obviously wavering voice and attempts to avoid eye contact with him. His hands balled into fists, veins slightly protruding out of his pale skin. He slammed the door behind him and sped up through the crowded road, ignoring passer by's curses and gasps at his reckless driving.
Sei just stared at her lap and flinched at the door's poor fate in Reno's hand. The cover on top of her leg suddenly became damp as hot fresh tears streamed down without permission from her burning eyes, some collecting on her chin before dripping down and some directly poured down from her cheeks. She led out a half hearted laugh and quickly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "Some dust entered my eyes."
Tifa who had been watching behind the door stepped in and pulled the younger brunette into a motherly embrace. She patted Sei's back and cooed, telling her to calm down and take a rest.
The now wailing girl hugged back and mumbled chains of words as if it was a mantra which could heal the two broken hearts. "Sorry…I'm so…so sorry…Reno." Yes, she had helped him deal with his past but now she was the one who had broken it and healing it again wouldn't be an easy job.
Tifa finally succeeded to make the younger brunette lie down and grabbed the confused Sorcerer out of the room, leaving the still sobbing girl. "Doc, let her stay here first, I'll tell Cloud to bring her to your place when she's better."
"Okay, just…take care of her." He said before descending down the stairs and leaving Tifa who was still staring at the closed door of the crying brunette.
The next few hours was awfully peaceful, she had told Denzel and Marlene to make no noise for Sei neechan to rest and after 5 times of eavesdropping the door in 2 hours the room was finally silent.
How those words pained him. 'Killer' a title which had stuck to him for more than half a decade. He took a sharp turn and drove to the main street of Edge, to a bar called Johnny's Heaven after realizing that returning to his apartment would be a hell wrong decision
His apartment was the place that he rather stay away from for now…it was the place where they had spent most of their times together, the place where her presence lingers the strongest, he would've immediately lose his sanity and went berserk if he went home now, and since he was off duty, all of the damages he caused would be bailed out from his own wallet and he rather chose to spend it on drinks rather than renovating his apartment.
The Young Turk swirled the bike and stopped abruptly with a screech, just inches away from the makeshift fences of the open bar. It was a small bar which consists of a stall and some tables and chairs. But what made it famous among the Turks was because of its not so bad menu and how empty it gets most of the time. Unlike Seventh Heaven which was always full at business hours, which mean more stares from drunkards muttering behind your back.
Reno strode in, glad to find the bar empty as usual.
"Hey, Reno! What is it today? Usual?" A redhead bartender shouted out behind the stall.
"Make it double." He replied without looking to his attendant and walked to a table with a familiar back facing him.
"Job is done?" He sat next to the bald Turk and asked, receiving a nod from him. The redhead leaned back on his chair and sighed.
"What's wrong?" The usually silent Turk asked, breaking the silence which he worshiped for the first time in his life.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Reno cocked an eyebrow, looked at his partner and began to comprehend his face behind the trademark shades. After all these years of being paired up with the bald Turk in different kind of missions, either hard or easy, seems like the only lesson that the redhead learned was how to read expressions behind shades and nothing else.
"…" Rude was serious, with a little concern written on his face and didn't show any hint of a reply to his partner's obvious question.
Reno cursed inwardly to himself, for letting himself figured out that fast by his partner. If Reno could read Rude's expression like a poem which just needed a little interpretation to be understood, Rude could read Reno's expression and body language just as easy as reading an open book.
"Here you go! Enjoy." The bartender cheered cheerfully, breaking the awkward silent between the two Turks before placing an empty glass filled with a chunk of ice and a fully filled tumbler on the table.
The redhead poured the amber liquid to the 3 inches tall glass and took a sip before running his hand through his fiery red locks in agitation. "A lot happened…" He sighed as he enjoyed the burning sensation in his throat.
"Seira…?" Rude cracked a word with his low but strong voice.
He brought the transparent glass to his lips and stopped. "Yeah, she…she hates me." He emptied the whole glass in one gulp, trying to erase her still vivid voice from his head. "I can't live with a…a killer."
Rude responded with a raised eye brow and stared at the redhead with a look that Reno had subtitled as a What-the-fuck? Look.
"What? Don't believe me? She said it herself, can't live with a killer like me. Ask your ex-crush ass killer or gramps if you don't believe me."
Rude ignored his partner's comment about his ex-crush Tifa, still staying silent while taking a sip of his own drink and enjoying the phrase 'Silence is golden' while he still had the chance or more accurately 'The calm before the storm'.
"What the hell is wrong with her?" Reno shouted. His eyes half opened and his hand pointed aimlessly to his bald friend next to him.
Rude simply dodged his drunken friend's swaying hand while sipping coolly at his own drink.
The moon had switched position with the sun, stars twinkling cheerfully, ignoring the depressed male couple on the open bar below them.
"First, she said it was all okay…and then she left…me…bitch" The redhead ended his ramblings by dropping his head with a loud thud on the table and stood still. One of the three empty tumblers fell to its side and whirled down the table.
The silent Turk raised an eyebrow at the sudden silent and pulled his partner's surprisingly neat ponytail, revealing the redhead's sleeping face, a drool already forming on the corner of his mouth. He sighed heavily, released the red locks and received a loud thud as his annoying partner's head once again landed on the hard wooden table. Tonight was going to be a carry-the-drunk-redhead-home night again.
The bar was empty, Monday night had been a day off for Seventh Heaven since its reopening. Tifa stood behind the counter and Cloud sat on a stool in front of her.
"Why did she say that?" Cloud asked to his companion who had just finished telling the incidents of the evening.
"I don't know…but whatever her reason is, I'm sure she had chosen the best for both of them." Tifa sighed and replied. She also wanted to know the reason behind the young brunette's action but seeing her cry like that was enough to prove that she didn't mean her words for real.
"Tch, women." The blond muttered under his breath.
"What? Without women, men are nothing." Tifa crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared playfully to her boyfriend. They started shoving each other playfully before someone descended down the stairs, dragging them back to their previous topic.
"Sei, how are you feeling?" The older brunette was the one who was able to open her mouth first.
"I'm fine…" Sei replied, her voice turning out huskier than she had expected.
Tifa looked at the girl that she barely recognized in front of her. Seira would look perfectly fine to other people who had never met her, but for Tifa she looked like a whole lot different person or persona at least.
Her eyes were not as bright as before, her smile obviously faked, a light frown almost knitting her brows together, shoulders almost visibly slumped and her voice…her usually cheerful voice turned hoarse and low, mainly because of the crying she had went through but she looked like someone who had lost their youth, just in one evening.
"You must be hungry, Tifa will make you dinner." Cloud said to the brunette who was gazing the whole bar.
"No thanks, Cloud, Tifa, I'm not that hungry and it's almost 10-" She opened her mouth halfway and stopped hesitantly.
"What's wrong, Sei? Is there anything you need?" The older brunette asked with obvious concern on her voice.
"…Doctor Rayne?"
"He went home. I told him that Cloud will take you there once you're better."
"Can you take me now?" Sei blurted out, receiving narrowed eyes and questioning looks.
"Now? Are you sure? I think you better take more rest." Tifa's maternity kicked in to action and started lecturing the stubborn girl but before she realized, Sei's fake smile was gone and her face dropped down. Tifa opened and closed her mouth hesitantly before she stopped and covered the younger brunette's hands with her own.
"Tifa…please…" The brunette finally whispered, face still facing the floor.
"Seira, why did you say that to Reno?" The inevitable question finally came, Sei would have been ripping her fingers one by one out of habit if Tifa was not holding her hand. She straightened up and looked up directly to the older brunette's burgundy eyes.
"Why? I said that because I don't want to live with him anymore." She tilted her head and said innocently, a fake persona to cover her now empty heart.
Tifa was shocked at how good the young girl could mask her real expressions but she was dealing with Tifa here. Tifa who was used to Cloud's silent troubles made reading people's true emotion a simple task for her."…Okay, do what you think is right. Cloud will take you now." She sighed; giving up to the stubborn girl's persistent and said.
The 20 minute journey turned10 minutes with the combination of Cloud and Fenrir his bike. The ride was silent, save for the noisy wind throwing her hair in every direction possible. She couldn't see the zapping sceneries like her previous ride with the redhead since Cloud needed his goggles and didn't have any spares for her.
Cloud dropped her to the clinic and left after ensuring that she had gotten into the house with Doctor Rayne.
"Get some rest now. We can talk tomorrow." The Sorcerer instructed, ushering the brunette into a room. "This is Kyle's-I mean your father's room, you can use it as much as you like." He urged his new found grand daughter to come in and waited as she observed the room.
It was a typical boy's room which consisted of a single bed on the farthest corner of the room, a study desk across it, a small box full of colorful shining crystal orbs that they call materia and a Chocobo figurine and a picture of a woman stood above the nightstand right beside the bed which was covered by blue sheets. "About what you said earlier…do you really know a way to send me back?" Sei turned around and asked hesitantly.
"Yes, most probably yes. We'll talk about this tomorrow okay. You need a lot of rest, so don't worry about it now and just sleep. Good night, Sei." The raven haired man said, already sensing fatigue from the brunette right from the beginning of her arrival.
"Okay, good night, Doc." She replied, stifling a yawn after the mention of a slumber. In fact she was really tired, even her previous awakening in Seventh Heaven was a rather forceful one. She had to stir herself enough will power and strength to raise her body up and not fall back to the comfortable bed.
As soon as the door was closed, she fell to the soft bed and found herself back to the nice and warm darkness surrounding her.
Days passed by quickly, Seira kept herself busy either in the archive room or clinic helping her grandfather so that her mind doesn't drift to a certain redhead and without notice it had been the second evening of her stay in her new temporary house.
"Are you sure it's really here?" The young brunette asked for what seemed like the twentieth time in that day to the patient old man beside her. Both of the relatives were sitting on the floor in the archive room, piles of aged, yellow books stacking up around them.
"Yes, your dad was grounded here when he disappeared, it must be here." Doctor Rayne sighed before answering.
"20 years old and still grounded, what a father he is. Wait till I tell Kei about this." She smirked for a moment before going back to the current book in front of her.
The archive room was just a simple, 4 walled, white painted room surrounded by bookshelves sticking on the walls with some occasional gaps for windows. The bookshelves were full of ancient books which were illegible for Sei, but she was still supposed to help see and report if there was anything suspicious.
"I was harsh to him." The old man broke the comfortable silent and began to reminisce. "After their mother's death, I became strict and harsh to him."
"Their?" She chimed in puzzlement.
"Hadn't I told you? Your father have a brother, I have two sons." He explained plainly, without any sign of emotions.
"Really? No one told me. So, where is he now?"
"He ran away from house, a few years after your father disappeared." His frowned at the memory and turned his face fully on the book, trying to gesture that it was not a really good topic that he wanted to discuss about now.
Seira picked up the signal and stayed silent for a few moments before the doorbell rang, once. "I'll open the door." She ran willingly, running away from the piling books which was really boring her to death.
The brunette opened the door a few inches apart to take a peek and immediately flung the door open as she looked at the unexpected guess.
"Rude?" She stared at the dark skinned man from head to toe as if he could change into someone else if she looked more carefully. "What are you doing here?" She asked when she was sure that her tired eyes weren't fooling her.
"I need to talk…" He answered shortly, as usual.
"Come in, I'll call Doctor Rayne." She immediately turned around and before she can walk away a firm but not too strong grip on her wrist stopped her tracks.
"I want to talk to you."
"Me?" She pointed at herself and asked. A nod from her unexpected guest was all she received. "Okay, wait inside and I'll come in a minute." Seira let him stepped in first, before she closed the door and walked to the archive room, informing the elder about the unexpected guest. She returned to the living room not more then a minute that she had promised and sat on the two seated couch beside the three seated sofa that Rude was seated in currently. "So, what do you want to say?"
"…" Rude stayed quiet for a while, still thinking about the right words carefully in his mind but Sei cut him off before he was able to utter a single word. "If it's about Reno, I don't want to talk about it". She said again, breaking the awkward silent.
"Why did you say that to him?" Finally, Rude opened his mouth for the second time. His voice was low, soft but at the same time strong, she flinched at the question and quickly masked her face with her expressionless persona, not realizing that her fingers were already brushing each other out of her nervous habit.
"I don't want to see him again. It's just as simple as that, why can't anyone understand that-"
"You're lying." Rude immediately countered, shutting up the agitated brunette.
Seira sighed and leaned her whole upper torso's weight to her elbow which was propped up against her knees. She buried her face to her hands and sighed again. She knew that it was useless to fight against Rude. He was a quiet person but if he had made up his mind and spoke up, he would be even more headstrong than Reno or anyone else that she knew.
"He'll be in danger if he stay with me, that previous guy who he fought with was the one who sent me here." She filled her with all the information she knew, hoping that it will satisfy him and stop digging out her unwanted feelings.
"…" The bald Turk just stayed silent, without changing his emotion after hearing her explanation, unsatisfied.
"What?" The brunette finally broke the tormenting silent.
"You know that Reno is not that weak. What's the other reason?" He spoke slowly and sternly.
Seira sighed for what seems like the thirtieth time that day and finally decided to speak everything out to the silent listener. "He had a nightmare, just a day before I left. I woke him up and he told me that I was gone and nowhere to be found. He said that I was maybe kidnapped by some of his enemies, but I think nothing like that had happened, I must've left and returned to my own world…" She paused and sighed again, recalling the memories of her last day at the redhead's apartment. When she woke the man who was murmuring loudly in his sleep, his whole body covered in sweat, panting as if there was no tomorrow, fist clenched tightly but the most disturbing detail was his expression. His sad face and how it brightened up as soon as he saw her.
"The longer we stay together, the harder will it be to forget." She continued, looking down and avoiding Rude's stare.
"He…Reno, doesn't look too good now."
Seira jerked her head up to ask what his last sentence meant but only found the once again empty living room and the front door ajar.
