Chapter 12: I Declare a Prank War

As the days carried on, Aven was steadily finding it easier to cope with the burden of taking a life. It helped to have the support of her fellow Turks, and she was kept busy with minor jobs and paperwork. When she wasn't busy with that, she was usually training.

It was late night and she was enjoying a warm shower after another patrol mission. Aven was ready to head to bed after her shower. Just as she was about to finish up she heard the sound of a door opening and closing.

"Hey squirt, you may want to get to bed soon. Tseng wants us to meet him in three hours at the training center."

"Thanks Reno, you can go now," Aven stated trying not to think about if the curtain was see through.

"Naw, I like the steamy air. I'll wait till you get out," Reno said taking a seat on the toilet. "So, how are you liking life as a Turk?"

"It's great," Aven said starting on washing her face. "But could you please leave? I'm really not comfortable with you being there while I'm showering."

"Why not?" Reno asked. "It's not like I can see anything."

"That's not the point," she replied starting to get aggravated.

"Ah, I get it," Reno said and she could hear the grin in his voice. "Don't worry, I'm not going to peak or anything. Besides, we're neighbors. We might as well get to know each other better."

"Not when I'm taking a shower!" Aven snapped. "Why are you even in here?"

"I was bored," he replied and she imagined him shrugging.

"Well, go be bored somewhere else," she retorted.

"Naw, this is way more fun," Reno chuckled. She knew he was wearing his most evil grin now and he probably wasn't going to leave until she either came out, or until it was time to meet Tseng.

"I mean it, Reno," Aven growled. "Beat it."

"Not until you finish," Reno replied his smile widening.

That did it, she was going to make him leave if it came down to it. She quickly filled her hands with as much water as she could and blindly tossed it over the side.

Aven heard the water hit his mark as Reno made a sound of surprise. "I wouldn't do that again if I were you, squirt."

Which of course only made Aven want to do it more. She gathered up another handful of water and tossed it over again.

"So that's how it's gonna be?" Reno asked. "Alright then."

Aven heard him stand up and leave the bathroom. She had a silent bout of victory and began washing her hair, lathering the white curls with her favorite ocean spray shampoo Cissnei had helped her pick out. Aven still hadn't ever been to the ocean before, but if it smelled this nice, she was sure she'd really like it.

Just as she was finishing rinsing off her hair, she heard the door open once more and moments later saw a bucket appear over the edge of the curtain before freezing cold water was dropped onto her head. She shrieked in surprise and took a few moments to breathe as it was too cold for her.

"I warned you," Reno laughed before leaving the room. "Remember, get yourself some sleep."

"R-R-RENO!" Aven screamed. "I'm going to hurt you!"

"Not naked and frozen you ain't," Reno called back gleefully. "G'night, squirt."

A few nights later after Aven stewed on what happened in the shower, she got up an idea on how to return the favor. Borrowing a long hose from one of the staff members, she silently hooked one end up to the faucet and turned it on, making sure the other end was close off. Then she quietly tiptoed her way over to Reno's bedroom where she knew he was sleeping and gently opened up the other end. A large blast of water shot out of the hose and hit the sleeping red head directly in the side, making him leap into the air in surprise as she soaked him and his bed. After a minute or two of him spluttering at the stream of water coming at him,

Aven finally shut it off and grinned at him. "Just because I try to be nice, doesn't mean I'm not capable of getting even," she taunted before turning to turn off the faucet.

Reno wiped the water from his face with his hand, all the while his blue eyes were on her. It was hard to determine his expression. He didn't look angry. The spark in his eyes looked more like… anticipation. "You have no idea what kind of door you're opening here, little girl."

Something inside Aven told her there was some merit to his words, but she stood her ground and kept her front. "From now on, stay out while I'm showering."

She turned and went back to the bathroom, unhooking the hose. She constantly glanced over her shoulder to check if he was coming back for revenge, but he stayed in his room. Probably changing into something dry.

When she finished with her work, she turned to head into her bedroom but a sound of someone approaching caused her to spin around to face the person. She caught a glimpse of Reno standing in front of her with a wicked smirk on his face before she felt him lift her into the air and over his shoulder.

"Wh-hey!" she shouted slamming her fists against his back as hard as she could. She heard him laugh at her attempts and so she started kicking as well. "What are you doing? Put me down!"

"Sure thing, squirt," Reno laughed as he adjusted her on his shoulder. She was surprised when he walked out of the room and started heading down the hallway and into the elevator. "Just as soon as we reach our destination."

"Where are you taking me?" she shouted as she continued to trying to fight her way out.

"You'll see soon enough, squirt."

Aven didn't stop squirming, and there were a couple times she almost managed to get free. However, Reno managed to keep a hold on her as he stepped off the elevator and traveled down a deserted hallway. She recognized the floor as the R&R floor, filled with fun and relaxing things for people to do in their spare times. Yoga, spa treatment, stuff like that.

Reno paused at a door, sliding his ID card for entry before pushing his way in. The air suddenly felt very moist and the strong smell of chlorine hit Aven's nose hard. That's when she realized exactly where she was and what Reno was planning to do.

"Don't you dare!" she screamed renewing her struggles.

The red head ignored her and kept a firm hold until he stopped and suddenly flung her away from him.

Aven shouted in surprise which was quickly silenced as water washed over head. A few moments later, she resurfaced coughing up water as she did so.

"Y-you jerk!" she coughed flailing her arms in order to keep her head above the water. "I-I can't...swim!"

Reno took a look at her for a moment before realizing she wasn't joking and quickly threw a flotation device in the pool which she grabbed onto. "How was I supposed to know you couldn't swim?" Reno asked as he pulled her out of the water.

"Y-you never asked," Aven muttered spitting out the remainder of the water.

Reno shook his head. "Yeah, we're definitely gonna need to do something about that. You need to let Tseng know you need swimming lessons in case—whoa!" He ducked as a small fist came at his face and he rolled away. He stared at the dripping wet girl who was glaring death at him. "I could have let you drown you know."

"I am going to destroy you," Aven declared vehemently.

Reno smirked gleefully at what he found to be a comical pledge. "Not likely. This is what happens when you play with the big boys, squirt."

"Just you wait…" Aven threatened.

He shrugged his shoulders in response and left as Aven tried to get back to her feet without slipping. How was she supposed to know he'd pull something like throwing her into the pool? She never even attempted to get into it before...she'd never been in a situation where swimming was an option...until now.

"I swear, I'll get him back for this," she muttered under her breath as she finally regained her footing. "He's going to wish he didn't pick the pranking fight with me."

The next several days were very infuriating ones for Aven. It seemed like no matter what she tried to pull on Reno, he was ten steps ahead of her and it would end up backfiring. The most notable time being the morning she set up a trap in the TK fridge. Aven noticed for the past few days there was a set time to when Reno grabbed a drink. So a little before that time she set up the trap and waited on one of the couches, pretending to read a book. She heard footsteps and felt her heart jump with anticipation, only to keel over when it was Haruto who came in instead of the appointed Reno.

"Hello, Aven," Haruto greeted pleasantly as he headed towards the booby-trapped fridge.

"Haru..." Aven said looking up from the couch as he reached for the door to the fridge. "Wait Haru...don't." She launched herself from the couch and made it in front of him just in time to get blasted by a ton of chocolate sauce. When it was over, she was completely coated in the chocolate.

"What..." Haru started to ask seeing her like that and knowing it would have been him.

"I'm really sorry, Haru," she murmured taking each step toward the door gingerly. "It wasn't meant for you...it was supposed to be for Reno."

Before he could say anything, she opened the door and took a step out noticing immediately the smiling red head leaning up against the wall right next to the door.

He reached his hand over and with a finger picked up some of the chocolate from her cheek. "Mmm..." he said putting the chocolate in his mouth. "Nice and sweet."

Aven's tiny chocolate coated body quivered with suppressed rage. "I…HATE…you."

"Can't imagine why," Reno said grinning impishly. "I was just minding my own business, working on paperwork. I didn't feel like getting up at the time, so I asked Haruto to grab a drink for me."

Then it dawned on her. He had set the whole thing up from the beginning, making it seem like his getting a drink at any particular time was habitual. Worse yet, she'd fallen for it hook line and sinker. Angry, but not having the words to express it, she took a handful of the chocolate sauce and reached up, smearing it across his face.

He blinked down at her before his tongue curled out and licked some of it off his lips, his eyes gleaming. "Any excuse to have your hands on me, huh?"

"Urgh...I can't stand you!" she shouted moving to hit him as Haruto came up behind her.

"As much as I'd love to see this, you have work to do, Reno," he stated holding out the drink that was asked of him.

"Right, thanks Haru old pal," the red head chuckled as he headed off back to the paperwork, wiping chocolate off his face as he went.

"If you want to really get back at him, I may have an idea," Haru whispered to the steaming Aven as soon as Reno was out of earshot. Her anger disappeared in a second as she looked up at him in surprise. "Let me tell you what might really get to him." He leaned down and whispered something into her chocolate covered ear and she smiled sadistically.

"If that doesn't get to him, I don't know what will," she thought excitedly before thanking the swordsman and running off.

The next day, Aven was in the workout room, attempting to do some pull-ups on the chin up bar. According to Tseng she needed to build up her muscle strength to go along with her nimbleness and flexibility. It wasn't terribly difficult to pull herself up since the rest of her body didn't have all that much mass.

"One…" she said lifting herself up until her chin touched the bar before slowly lowering herself back down. Rude had warned her not to just let herself drop or she could pull something. She repeated the motion counting each time she pulled up. On the tenth one, her arms were tired and she dropped off the bar to let herself rest up a bit.

"What, that's really all you've got?" Reno asked coming into the room.

"You really do have string bean arms."

"Well, how many can you do?" Aven challenged with a frown.

"Just watch and learn," Reno answered as he pulled off his suit jacket and lathered up his hands with the powder meant to keep your hands from slipping. He grabbed the bar and started to pull himself up. "One...two...three...four..." He was moving pretty quickly and Aven had to admit she was slightly impressed...that is until he reached number 7. As he pulled himself up, his eyes became wide and his hands released the bar.

Moments later he was scratching at them like no tomorrow. Aven started to giggle lightly at this and actually burst out laughing when he tripped over the table and had the whole box of powder land on him. "Yeah, I learned a lot from you," she managed through her laughter. "Itching powder makes pull ups much harder to do than normal."

She quickly dash out of the room before he could do anything to retaliate and booked it to Haruto's room. It probably wouldn't be safe in her room for the rest of the day. Luckily she managed to catch him during his hour of meditation.

"Good to see you, Aven," Haruto said smiling when he saw the elated look on her face. "I trust the morning exercise went well?"

Aven beamed up at him. "Yes, it was." She stepped forward and hugged him tightly around his middle. "Thanks a bunch."

Haruto chuckled and patted her on the head until she let go. "It was my pleasure. I'm guessing you came to hide out here for a bit?" When she nodded he stepped aside and welcomed her in. "I caution you, Reno has never been one to let things go unsettled. He will retaliate, so be on your guard."

Aven nodded again as she sat down next to him. "I will," she promised before the two of them began their meditation.

An hour later, the two had finished and Aven went back to her room to get some sleep. After the meditation she was sure she'd be able to sleep without any nightmares. She felt that even Reno wouldn't be able to bother her. Despite that thought, she still took great caution inspecting her door and everything in her room before touching it. She even went over her bed with a fine tooth comb...but nothing came up. Feeling satisfied, she finally allowed herself to lay down and go to sleep.

The next morning came much faster than Aven would have liked but she shrugged it off and went into the bathroom checking to make sure he wasn't in there before entering. Knowing she had to meet with Tseng early that morning, she immediately started on her morning routine. A little while later, she found herself in Tseng's office nodding in his direction as she entered.

"Punctual as ever, Aven," Tseng acknowledged with a nod as well. "Now, if you would please give me a full report on the reason why the TK was totaled the other day?"

Aven chewed on her lip a bit obviously trying to come up with some sort of answer and failing. Instead she hung her head and looked up at him apologetically.

Tseng sighed. "I would expect Reno doing something of this nature, but not you."

The older Turk then began to give her a lecture on how what she did could be considered vandalism and destruction of company property. Aven stood perfectly still and nodded silently in answer to his admonishments.

"I'm going to let you off with a warning this time, since it is your first offense," Tseng said wrapping it up. "However, I don't want this incident to be repeated. Are we clear?"

Aven smiled and nodded and waited for him to dismiss her.

"Are we clear?" Tseng repeated. He had noted that she hadn't said a thing since the conversation started. Rude was one thing, but Aven normally had one thing or another to say. "I want to hear you say that you understand so there is no misunderstanding later."

He watched Aven chew on her lip some more and he knew something was wrong. "Ma chongue ith thwollen thir," she finally managed to get out. From that one sentence he could clearly see that her entire mouth looked like it was nearly completely filled with her tongue.

He sighed knowing it was retribution from whatever she had finally managed to hit Reno with. "Go get it taken care of," he grumbled. She nodded silently as she turned to leave. "And Aven...I want this to end." She nodded and left the room. "What am I going to do with those two?"

Aven went to the infirmary and get a shot to make the swelling go down, and within hours her tongue was back to normal. She took to heart what Tseng said about the pranks ending, and she would stop… just as soon as she had her revenge for Reno swelling up her tongue to the size of a baby hedgehog pie. And she had just the thing in mind.

The next day Aven was waiting in the training room with Tseng, Rude, and Cissnei for her training session to begin. This time she was being pitted with Cissnei against Reno and Rude in a two-on-two match. Sadly, Reno was no where to be found.

"Teamwork is important," Tseng explained to her as they waited. "A single Turk alone is normally enough to get a job done, but there is nothing more invaluable than a well formed partnership."

"Right," Aven replied nodding her head that she understood.

"This exercise will help you learn how to read not only your opponent, but your partner as well so you don't collide with them," Tseng continued as he glanced around for a moment looking for the absent redhead. "Rude...where is your partner?"

"I don't know," Rude answered with a sigh. He was concerned as to what the man had planned.

Moments later, he walked into the room with a rather irritated expression on his face. "Sorry I'm late, I couldn't fix my hair right after my shower," he grumbled.

The others looked at him in surprise hardly daring to believe what they were seeing. He was walking in the room with his short hair in every direction like usual...except...it was purple. Aven's eyes widened when she saw it and it took everything she had to suppress the laugh that wanted to break free.

"Reno, were you trying out for a new look?" Cissnei asked him. "Because I don't think purple really suits you."

"It was supposed to be blue," Aven thought to herself, with a small giggle. "But whatever, this is even better. Ha! I finally got him good!" Her mirth was quickly stifled when Tseng's disapproving glare came her way. She sobered up immediately, regaining her air of professionalism.

The senior Turk sighed and gave his forehead a light rub with his fingers. "Let's just continue on with the training program shall we? Enough time has been wasted."

As the teams got into position, Reno looked to Rude who had kept a straight face the entire time. "What? No smart remarks?"

Rude shook his head. "I'm used to your hair looking ridiculous."

Reno shrugged and turned his attention to their opponents...or more specifically Aven. Yes...his eyes were on the white haired girl...not even glancing over at Cissnei.

"Chosen your target?" Rude asked glancing over at the purple haired Reno...but he already knew the answer. "Just checking."

"Begin." Tseng's order rang out through the room as the two teams began to attack one another.

Rude went after Cissnei, and Reno brought his rod down towards Aven. His smirk was fully in place so any outsider would simply think that he was enjoying himself. Aven could tell, however, that the power of his attacks and the speed at which they were coming was a lot more than his usual. He was going to make sure one of his attacks lands on her before the training was over.

"It was just hair," she thought as she narrowly dodged another of his attacks. He wasn't even bothering going after Cissnei though he still did his partner duty to help out Rude every now and again. "And it's not like I shaved it off in the middle of the night or anything either, though that would have been funny to see, but still! I only changed its color! What's the big deal?"

Apparently it was a very big deal. Aven was getting tired out just dodging Reno's attacks and the entire time he was keeping her on the defense. Cissnei did manage to help her out a few times, saving her from what would have been very painful strikes. Aven at last became fed up and used a blizzard Materia to make the ground he stood on slick. For a split second his footing slipped and she lashed out with her whip. Reno's rod arm flew up and the EMR was angled just right to where the whip wrapped around its length. Aven tried to jerk the weapon out of his hand, but his grip was tight and after a short tug-of-war match, Reno tugged her weapon free from her grasp and it flew across the room, landing several yards away.

"Aven, get down!" Aven heard the call from Cissnei and she ducked. Reno cursed and backed away as Cissnei's Rekka came flying at him.

The younger female seized her chance and bolted towards the spot where her weapon lay. Halfway there, Rude came in to stop her but she pivoted and spun around him, avoiding his deadly fists.

"Almost there," she thought as she got closer to her weapon.

She could hear the battle between Cissnei and however behind her and didn't want to leave her partner hanging so she dove for her weapon thinking about sending another ice spell out the moment she got a hold of it. Apparently her opponents had other plans, however, as Reno somehow appeared right in front of her and drove his weapon into her gut as if he was swinging a bat. She jumped backward just before the impact to lessen the blow, but she was still sent flying back several feet and landed hard on the ground. She gasped for air after coming to a stop and slowly climbed to her feet.

"Well...that one hurt," she panted, wincing as her side shifted slightly. "Wow, he's more pissed than I thought."

Before she could get her wind and her balance back, Reno was on her again. Aven tried to retaliate, back Reno's free hand flew forward, grabbing her below the neck and slamming her back onto the floor. She felt the air leave her lungs once again and her head smack the ground. Reno crouched over her, his right hand pinning her to the ground while his left twirled his metal baton.

"Nighty night," he said with a wicked smile as the EMR began to spark with electricity.

Aven's eyes widened as she watched the end of his rod come down at her. She felt her heart stop, and then suddenly so did his weapon, inches from her face.

"Just kidding."

He grinned at her widely as he moved his EMR away from her face and stood up. Then he started laughing at the surprised look on her face that was quickly turning to anger.

"Just joking?!" she exclaimed pushing herself to her feet. "That was a joke? You actually seemed ticked off enough where I thought you actually going to kill me! How was that a joke?"

"Haha...I've never seen you look so scared," Reno laughed all the dark aura gone. "Ah, that look was priceless.

"How the heck was that supposed to be a joke?" she demanded winding up and punching him in the arm.

While all this was going on, Cissnei and Rude had stopped the fight and were watching the pair curiously while Tseng was rather irritated they had ended it so suddenly.

"Let's move this along," Tseng stated authoritatively. "We'll start from the beginning." Aven raised her hand and he inwardly sighed. "Yes, Aven?"

"Sir, I deeply apologize but… I don't think I can continue right now," Aven said.

Tseng looked at her for several moments. He looked as though wanted to deny her request, but after glancing between her and Reno he exhaled slowly. "Very well, you have one hour to collect yourself."

Aven dipped her head in gratitude before leaving the room. Cissnei stared after her before glancing over at Reno. "Is something going on between you two?"

Reno shrugged. "It's no big. We're treating like adults."

"I can see that," Cissnei murmured looking over his hair. "Just, try not to let it get too far. I know how much you hate the idea of losing."

"Don't worry about it," Reno told her shrugging off her comment. "It'll all end in a day or two."

Tseng didn't like the sound of that...but at the same time if they settled things themselves then all the better. He'd rather not get sucked into their childish competition. About an hour later, Aven came back with a smile on her face and the training resumed. Without Reno seemingly out for blood...she and Cissnei proved they were actually a fairly good team as they traded blows with Reno and Rude. Granted they still had to send signals to each other that the other two could read no matter how subtle they made them, but all in all they didn't do too badly and Tseng seemed pleased at the results.

"Good, we'll have another session tomorrow only then you'll be partnered with Haruto. Make sure you are here on time," Tseng explained to Aven after the session. "Until then you are free...Reno, Rude, you both have jobs to do...get them cleaned up efficiently."

Everyone saluted and left to do their jobs. Aven went through the rest of the day thinking it was over. Reno seemed to have had his revenge during the training session. They could finally call it quits on this stupid prank fight.

AS IF…

The next day Reno, Rude, and Tseng were waiting in the training room, only this time they were waiting for Aven and Haruto.

"It's almost time," Tseng thought checking his watch.

Aven and Haruto were usually quite punctual, and it seemed as though they were going to be able to get through the day without any upsets or tomfoolery. About a minute before the appointment hour, the door opened and a small creature stormed in.

"Where are they, Reno!?"

The three Turks turned to see what looked like a giant moogle marching into the room. Tseng would have believed he was having an extremely odd dream until he noticed that a face was poking out of the mouth. White strands of hair hung around angry hazel colored eyes and bright red cheeks. Rude was standing next to him and he could tell the bold Turk was holding back what would have been a laugh. On the other hand, Reno was bent over double from his mirth.

"She wore it! She actually wore it!" he shouted with glee.

"Shut up!" Aven shouted from within the moogle costume. "Just tell me where you stowed all my clothes already."

The blush on her cheeks increased during this and she tried as hard as she could not to look at Tseng. It was embarrassing enough for her to have had to travel through the halls and up the elevator. Being seen by her superior just made it all the worse.

Tseng folded his arms and glanced over at Reno who had abandoned all sense of propriety and was now on the floor doubled up with laughter. Rude stood next to his partner, staring down at him wishing he would have some sense of decorum.

Tseng rubbed his forehead, avoiding having to look at his newest member in a moogle suit. "Aven, why didn't you just call?"

Aven hung her head in shame. "I couldn't find my phone, sir."

"Yeah, I got it here," Reno said, picking himself up off the floor and pulling out a phone from his jacket pocket. "I was hanging onto it for ya, you know, just so that you didn't forget it."

"Of course that was the reason," Aven muttered holding out her hand...uh moogle paw.

"You can't grip it with that," Reno laughed pulling the phone out of her reach again. "Just take the arm off."

"I can't," she grumbled trying hard not to lose her temper in front of her superior. "You know that. Now where are my clothes?"

"You know, you could be a little more civil," Reno stated waving her phone back and forth. "After all, you won't find out where to get anything to wear accept that costume."

"Oh, now you're threatening me?!" Aven demanded waving her pawed hands around. "I'm not being polite to you...not after you stole my..."

"That is enough both of you." Tseng's voice rang out silencing both of them.

Just then the door opened and Haruto walked in. "I deeply apologize for my lateness. I was just…" he trailed off when he saw the scene before him. There was a full two beats of silence before he turned his gaze to Tseng. "Please say this isn't a new part of the training program."

"Training has been temporarily postponed," Tseng replied shortly before glaring back to the two youngest Turks. "Aven, go get changed, and Reno, give her back her clothes and her PHS. I want both of you in my office in fifteen minutes sharp."

"Yes, sir," Aven replied while Reno just nodded. After the two of them had left Haruto stared after her thoughtfully.

"It might just be me," he commented thoughtfully. "But I think Aven makes an adorable moogle."

Tseng sighed, but silently he had to agree...the outfit really seemed to fit her. Maybe a little too well. Rude on the other hand breathed heavily and had to agree as well, though he also felt a little sorry for her. "She was upset," he said thinking about how ticked off she was.

"I know...but that just made her look cuter," Haruto commented thoughtfully.

Just then three phones all went off at the same time. They all looked at each other before pulling out their PHS and opening them. A few seconds passed before they all let loose a small groan. They had all received a picture from Reno...of Aven in her moogle costume. He had taken a picture of her before they left.

The worst part was that none of them could bring themselves to delete it.

CM: For those of you who'd like to see the moogle outfit, it's on my deviant art account titled "Reno is Mean". Hope you all enjoyed the wonderful prank fest. Let us know if you liked it. :D