Gloomy Days to Lightsome Frays
- Intoxicated and Impassive -
Yuffie could only observe the scene as the larger man brought the glass bottle upon Reno's head, having previously been preoccupied with convincing Reno that trouble was about-- apparently, her efforts were futile, as Reno had made no effort to escape in his enebriated state.
Once the glass came into contact with the flesh of his temple, Reno was immediately knocked to the floor, unconscious. The female ninja cringed at the harsh thud of his skull against the wooden boards that seemed to resonate throughout the bar, as she was momentarily deaf to the surrounding clamor. Meanwhile, the Turk's assailant had turned to face his companions, lifting his arms in triumph at his unfair success.
Yuffie stepped forward to stand directly behind him. In spite of the fact that Reno was supposedly a loathed enemy, how could she disregard the fact that he'd been struck in such an unequable situation? She spoke, a hint of an angry growl present in her voice. "Damn, that was a low blow."
"Hm?" Her target turned his head to see this young girl who was maybe half his age, defiantly glaring up at him. Out of curiosity, he turned completely and estimated that she was over a foot shorter than he. Soon, he began to chuckle, which then grew to a laugh, which in turn became a horrible cackling that almost seemed to burn her ears. She involuntarily recoiled, which the man misinterpreted to be a sign of fear. "Kid, just what the hell do you think you're doin'?"
Yuffie glared daggers at him, and stood her ground. "Whaddya think? I'm challenging you, you old bastard." The receiver's eyes instantly narrowed.
"Bitch, you ain't got a prayer." The girl, instead of replying, assumed her fighting stance, shuriken raised in the air at ready. She cautiously eyed him, ceasing to blink regardless of the black clouds of smoke that hovered above her vision, feeling as though they was searing her orbs.
Finally, he moved to attack, emanating some sort of primitive war cry as he rushed forward with a right hook up his sleeve. Easily, she parried the punch and, before the man had time to recover, drove a well-aimed kick to his abdomen. The impact of the blow propelled him backwards, and before he could break his fall, he'd already hit the table. His neck was jolted against its side, and he abruptly slipped out of consciousness and onto the floor.
"Huh? That was it?" Yuffie blinked at her success, as though unbelieving. Finally, she stood erect and replaced her Conformer on her back, grinning widely. Raising her chin haughtily, she turned to the man's posse to see them staring in awe at their fallen crony. "Heh, heh... Yeah, no competition! I knew I could kick his ass, no problems, no worries. Now..." She uppercutted the air multiple times, shadowboxing. "... Who's next?"
"Yuffie." The bartender chose this moment to cut in, no longer tolerant of the young ninja's antics, and his tone was stern. "I suggest that, if you do not wish for me to tell Lord Godo of this disturbance, you leave at this moment. I do not believe he will be happy to hear that his daughter has grown to become a mere barfighter. I am aware of the consequential actions his liege may take, and I advise you to take your leave, unless you wish to be humiliated, perhaps facing expulsion, before the entire populace of Wutai. "
Out of haste, the girl prepared to launch into the usual stream of insults, but restrained herself at the recognition of the speaker. Oh, damn... Staniv?! What the hell's he doing runnin' the bar!?, she pondered. And, being one to state her thoughts, she asked just that. "Staniv, what the hell're you doing runnin' the bar!?"
"To serve as a proxy for the usual tender, who appears to be injured from a previous squabble, and to look out for troublesome miscreants such as you, Yuffie. Now go-- and please, take your unconscious partner with you."
Yuffie stood stationary for a short while, upper lip turned up into a snarl. At last, with a bit of muttered swearing, she roughly hauled Reno's body from the floor and draped his arm around her shoulders. Once she completed the strenuous task of marching both herself and the Turk's body to the door, Yuffie immediately turned her head to look back at the pagoda guardian, intent on getting in the last word. "The old man wouldn't dare," she hissed, then proceeded out the exit and into the pouring rain.
* * *
In spite of the fact that she'd dropped Reno's limp form multiple times, also managing to take a few tumbles herself on the slippery pavement, the ninja and Turk finally managed to reach her home without injuring themselves too seriously.
At long last arriving at her residence, Yuffie trudged through her house, mud and water tracks created, and wearily kicked the bedroom door shut behind her upon entry. Casually, she dropped Reno's still unconscious body onto the floor and stretched tired arms high into the air and yawned, the redness of her mouth's interior exposed. It was then that realization chose its moment to smack her right in the face.
"Ooooh, damn," she puled. "I've gotta let this boozehound sleep in my house! No way!" She prodded at him a bit with her toe, but, when satisfied that he was still inert, quit her poking. "Oh, well..." She turned her head to focus on something across the room and spoke again. "Hey, Kana, whaddya think? Think we should just throw him out into the rain and let 'im rot?" The room was silent for roughly half a minute. ".. Oh, fine.. He can stay!" Out of good humor, Yuffie stuck her tongue out and made a face, then pulled a flat pillow out of a closet and threw it at Reno's head. Soon enough, an old blanket joined it.
Gaping again, she quickly covered her mouth to stifle it and remembered that she should be sleeping, not trying to make some unconscious Turk comfortable. Quickly, she changed into dry clothes and tumbled onto her bed, soon falling into a well-deserved slumber.
* * *
It was morning when Reno awoke on his back, the light burning through his eyelids. He turned his head to one side, but the brightness remained. He turned it to the other, and was still unable to escape. Cautiously, he opened one eye, and the yellow sunlight hit him full-force.
"Arrrgh..." He angrily moaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in his hands. Damn, I must've had another blackout... Shit, I'm all sore, too, and laying on on the floor's not helping mu-- What? Hey... Hastily, he pulled his hands from his face. "Floor? What the hell am I doing on the floor?!" As if on instinct, he checked the area around him. Nope, no naked chick. Scratch the idea of me having sex on the floor with some random broad...
Still contemplating different possibilities as to why he'd woken up on the ground, Reno sat up. He turned his head to check out his surroundings, but ended up looking directly into something unexpected--
He was staring into the face of a four-eyed monster.
"GAH!" Reno took a deep breath and continued his cry. "AHHHH!"
Author's Note: Very short chapter, and yeah, I pretty much messed up Staniv by making him a bartender when he should be guarding the pagoda! I tried to explain, but that didn't work out too well. I say Yuffie should've made a bigger racket than that before leaving, but that's just another error in the fic. This is my first multichaptered fic, as well as my first Reno/Yuffie-- so, if you will, please forgive me and review! ;_;