Snippets of Dysfunctionalities - Diversion

By Crystal Snowflakes


Yuffie's head snaps up from her sitting position at the sudden sound of footsteps echoing through the hallway. Her pulse roars in her ears, her heart thunders in her chest, and her nails dig painfully into her palms. All she can think about is how badly he's injured, how they're going to get out and how guilty she feels—it should have been her.

Legs aching, she stands up; she's been pacing for two hours and finally settled down five minutes ago. It's hard to remind herself that she has to conserve as much energy as she can when she's riled up—when all she wants to do is to get out.

Not for the first time, she wishes she had her weapon with her, but at this point, she would have settled for anything else.

The noise grows louder, and as the sounds of his caustic barbs drift towards her; her shoulders relax. Each word from his mouth is biting, harsh, and sarcastic, but she notices with concern that his voice is raspy and pained.

But he's alive—for now—and that's what matters.

They step around the corner, and she holds back a shocked breath. Reno's left eye is swollen and shut, there's blood dripping from the corner of his mouth and it's obvious he's trying not to show how much he's hurting, but the limp in his walk is telling.

The door of their jail cell clangs open and his body is flung onto ground; he crumples with a barely audible groan of pain. Yuffie looks away, and in a moment of fury and recklessness, she lunges at the captor with a curse. It's been days since her last meal, and she's weak and hungry, but she manages to latch herself onto him, her nimble fingers attempting to snag something—anything—of use.

The next moment, her back slams against the wall, her neck snaps back as her skull hits the concrete. The insides of her mouth tastes metallic, and as she slides down the wall and collapses sideways onto the floor, she realizes she accidentally bit her tongue. Her head is spinning, her ears are ringing and her back aches. Before she can even straighten her body and sit up, she feels a hard kick to her side. Instinctively, she curls up and covers her stomach and face with her arms as she struggles to breathe through the pain.

But there's no more kicks, and the door slams shut with a loud clatter. "Stupid bitch."

It's important to get up, she knows, but every part of her body burns, and she's starting to feel the pain and exhaustion creep in. She hates it when she feels apprehensive, and she knows she shouldn't because she's Yuffie Kisaragi, the most badass ninja around, but she can't help but wonder whether they'll get out of here—alive.

Her breaths become less shallow, and she feels him pull her to him. A sense of safety wraps around her as she presses her face against his shoulder, and he doesn't let go. The scent of him engulfs her, and she wants to laugh when she realizes the irony that it's Reno that she feels safe with—Reno the Turk, whose job includes making people disappear.

"Stop insulting them, you idiot," she mumbles into his shoulder, her throat dry.

He lets out a gruff snicker. "Better me than you."

A short breath of exasperation escapes her as she lifts her head to look at him. Reaching up, she runs her fingers over his closed eye, and he lets out a hiss of pain. Her chest clenches because she knows this is her fault. They took her because of who she was, and he's just tagging along for the ride, being his usual annoying self so that they turn their attention on him instead.

"You okay?" she asks, her thumb brushing the blood off his cracked lips.

He waves her concerns away. "I'll survive."

The corners of her lips lift, and she notices with a small thrill that he hasn't pushed her hand away yet. "Had no idea you were so heroic, saving the damsel in distress and all," she teases gently, her hand running through his rattail.

"You? Damsel?" he responds with a scoff. "I ain't doin' it for you, brat. Can you imagine the shit Reeve'll give me when he finds out—"

She's distracted by the way he's looking at her; it's how he's been looking at her for a while, whenever they've been alone. His breath tickles her cheek and for the first time, she notices the narrow distance between them and feels the warmth of his hand that's resting softly on her hip.

Their gazes lock and her breath catches.

Her fingers brush away the strands of hair from his face and he reaches up, catching her hand in his and brings it to his lips. The way his calloused hand draws lazy circles on her hip bone, the way his penetrating eye studies her—everything about him makes her stomach clench and her heart jump to her throat.

Boldly, she leans up and presses her lips to his, and he tightens his arm around her.

And then she pulls away, her lips lifting. There would be more time later, she'd make sure of it. For now...

"Now that we've got settled, d'you think you can walk?"

A snort. "If you got offa me, yo."

She can't help the impish grin that crosses her face as her deft fingers whip out the pen she managed to lift from that asshole. "Lookit what I got."

"Ya think you pick the lock with that?"

Her grin widens. "D'you forget who I am, Turkey?"

"How could I possibly forget?"


Author's Notes: This little scene has been in my notepad for goodness knows how long, but I'm not writing a longfic about them stuck in jail together anytime soon, so… :) Also, I've been playing around with writing in present tense instead of past tense. What do you guys think?

Completed: March 20, 2021