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Chapter Two: Raine Nettle
The next day, Reno woke up at ten thirteen, and lied in bed for the next five minutes. The Nettles had paid some miners to go get their things the night before, and the miners instantly agreed, and Reno believed it with the money Mr. Nettle offered. Reno knew it was a lot, as his father was one of the miners that were hired. They came back late last night, around one a.m., when Reno was just about to fall asleep. Mr. Nettle told Reno to come over the next day, to receive his reward, Reno said that he didn't need an award, but Nettle insisted, so Reno would go.
At ten eighteen, Reno lazily got up, picked out some clothes from his dresser, and took a shower. Ten minutes after he got out of the shower, Reno walked out of the bathroom in black jeans and an all black t-shirt. The shirt was a little tight, and people could see Reno's abdominal muscles quite well, but Reno liked it that way, along with most of the women. Reno walked down stairs, and began cooking some eggs.
He took out two pieces of white bread, and put the cooked eggs on it, then he began eating the egg sandwich silently at the kitchen table. Or, at least, it was silent until his mother came downstairs. "Are you going to go to the Nettles looking like that?" she asked. She had dark red hair, like Reno, and was just a little shorter than him, by about an inch, and was wearing blue jeans and a green shirt with a rose in the center.
"What's wrong with this?" Reno asked.
"Those people are rich!" his mother cried. "And you're going to wear old clothes like that?!"
"Yeah," Reno responded, quickly taking a bit of his sandwich to hid a grin.
"What's all the damn ruckus?!" a deep voice shouted.
Then, Reno's father showed himself. He was a man about three inches taller than Reno and much bigger arms and legs. He hard black hair and cold, dark eyes, and he had very straight and stern features. He was wearing blue jean overalls with a black t-shirt underneath, and he had a helmet in one hand. Not only did Reno share very many looks with him, but Reno absolutely hated him.
"Oh, it's nothing hunny," Reno's mother purred in the man's ear.
"Damn it, Julia!" Reno's mother shouted, and looked like he was about to hit her. "Don't lie to me! Don't tell me there's nothin' wrong when there damn certainly is somethin' wrong!"
"No, it's nothing, Robert," the woman continued, looking slightly taken back by the man's comment. "Really, Reno didn't do any-"
"RENO?!" the man shouted, and ran up to Reno, and rightly grasped the younger man's shoulder. "You little bastard! What the hell did you do?!"
"I-" Reno began, however the intense pain in his shoulder stopped him, and it turned into a shout of pain.
"Hunny!" Reno's mother cried, and ran over to the large man, wrapping her arms around his stomach. "He was just heading over to get his reward from the Nettles! That's all! Really, you don't need to be so-"
The pain in Reno's shoulder left him, and became double on his mother's face, as Robert slapped her cheek. She cried in pain, and fell to the ground, holding her cheek. "You fuckin' bitch!" he shouted, glared back at Reno, then left the house, slamming the door behind him.
Reno crouched down next to his mother, and helped her up. "You ok, mom?" Reno asked.
"I'll be alright..." she muttered, rubbing the red spot.
"..." Reno was silent, and then, after a minute, he silently said, "you... should divorce him..."
"I know I should..." the woman responded as she sat in the place Reno sat before. "But... well... if you think I should..." she looked up at Reno, who was nodding furiously, "then... I'll consider it..."
"Thanks mom," Reno told her, and pushed his plate with the half-eaten egg sandwich on it closer to his mother. "You can finish it. I should be heading to the Nettles. See ya later, mom," Reno told her, and then left out the door his father had earlier.
He remembered the first time that he had seen his father beat on his mother. Reno was horrified and instantly ran to his mother's side, and his father had left the home, as usual. Reno had never been so scared when he saw it, but his mother acted coolly, like she had now, and Reno later realized that was because she had been treated in such a manner before. Soon, Reno got used to watching his father beat his mother and adapted to the cool manner that his mother had. However, Reno would never forgive his father for the event.
Ever since that, Reno had been pretty good at masking his emotions when he was scared or worried. That ability was always nice (especially later, when he became a turk), and would also be good when he gambled. He knew that other people were jealous of the ability, specifically the people he gambled with, and he would just grin. Hiding the horrible fact that gave him the ability.
Reno walked down the familiar streets until he reached a very large mansion, with at least twelve windows overlooking the street Reno now stood on. It was an old mansion, it was said to once housed a Shinra official, and was called 'The Shinra Mansion.' He remembered, as a kid, he and some of his friends would share ghost stories about the home, but none of them were ever too scary. Or true, for that matter.
Reno walked up to the door, and knocked once, when someone answered the door. It was an older man, probably in his mid-fifties, with gray hair and dull blue eyes, dressed in a black suit with a black tie, and Reno instantly realized that he was a butler. Reno blinked once, surprised at seeing the butler, since he both didn't know that the Nettles had a butler nor knew that there was a man who worked as a butler in the town.
Before Reno could say anything, the butler asked, "Would you be Master Reno?"
"Uhh..." Reno mumbled, never being called Master Reno before, but then regained his stature and responded in his usual confidence, "Yeah, I'm him."
"Very well, please follow me inside," the butler said, offering him inside. Reno went inside, and looked around, it looked like it had brand knew carpet and was very well cleaned, Reno could still smell the lemony scent, and saw several paintings on the clean white walls. If Reno didn't know better, he would think the house was brand spankin' new. The butler lead him into a room that had a long leather couch and two chairs at each side, and saw Mr. and Mrs. Nettle sitting next to each other on the couch, both reading a book.
They both looked up and smiled at Reno. "Good morning, Reno," Mrs. Nettle smiled. "We were beginning to wonder if you were going to show up."
Reno scratched the back of his messy red hair and chuckled. Mr. Nettle then said, "Please sit down, Reno." Reno took a seat in one of the chairs, and instantly realized it was the most comfortable chair he had ever came across. It was very soft, but at the same time, it still had a firmness, making it just about the perfect combination. Reno rested his arms on the leather arm rests, and looked over at the two.
"We would like to thank you again," Mrs. Nettle began. "For saving us."
"It's alright," Reno smiled.
"Well, either way," Mr. Nettle said. "We would like to award you with a small reward." the old man smiled, then shouted, "Benjamin! Get Master Reno his reward!"
A second later, the butler came back with a silver plate that one might put on their lap and eat food from on a couch. However, on this was a large brown leather bag, and next to it was a gun that immediately drew Reno's attention. The butler put it on Reno's lap, and then bowed in front of his employers and asked, "Is there anything else?"
"No, that'll be all Benjamin," Mr. Nettle smiled. "Thank you." The butler bowed once again and left.
Reno, however, didn't catch any of this, as he was so focused on the gun on his lap. It was very similar to the gun he had the previous day, except it was black, and the ridges on the side weren't as large. The barrel was still about five or six inches, and the trigger, to Reno's eyes, was still very inviting. Next to that, was a black belt with a holster on it's right side and a small pouch on the other side. Reno knew what the pouch was for and guessed that there were some bullets in there.
"These is the least we can do," Mrs. Nettle smiled.
Reno looked up to them, still in shock, but the Nettles barely noticed, due to that ill gotten mask, but it was still noticeable. "I..." Reno mumbled. "I'm sorry... but my parents wouldn't let me have a gun-"
"On the contrary," Mr. Nettle interrupted. "We spoke to your mother just shortly before you arrived. She agreed that you could have the weapon."
"Really?" Reno asked, still in shock.
"It's a .45 magnum," Mr. Nettle responded. Reno just still seemed completely shocked.
"If you don't like it we could go back to the shop and-" Mrs. Nettle began.
"No. This is great," Reno said, then grinned. "This is excellent! I always wanted a gun!"
"Well that's good," Mr. Nettle smiled.
Just then, Reno realized how insane he must have sounded. And then Reno focused on the leather bag, with a little hint of red in his cheeks. "What's this..." Reno muttered, and looked into the bag. Instantly he saw several glittering coins, and Reno almost fell back, completely surprised by the large amount of gil.
The Nettles saw this, and smiled.
"There's one million gil in the bag," Mr. Nettle told him.
Reno looked amazed, and now everyone could tell. "I..." Reno mumbled. "Uhh..."
"It's alright, Reno," Mr. Nettle said. "As I said, it's the least we could do."
"You really... didn't need to," Reno mumbled, still in shock.
"But we did," the man said. "Now, Reno, you may go, if you wish."
"Um... alright..." Reno nodded and stood, setting the dish where he sat. He first strapped the belt around his pants, making it fit at the second smallest size, and put the gun, much to his dismay, in the holster. Then he picked up the bag of money. "Thank you... so much..."
Reno was being lead out by Mr. Nettle, and then a young boy ran down. The boy was, naturally, the same boy that was traumatized the previous day. "Reno!" the boy exclaimed, and ran up to Reno, then offered his hand.
Reno grabbed it, shook it, and smiled. What was this kid's name? Reno thought. Michael or something?
"Thank you, so much for saving us!" the boy said with a glimmer in his eyes. Reno knew that glimmer, it was a glimmer of idolization. "I wish I could be cool like you!"
"Max!" someone called from upstairs. They came outside of a room, and then Reno saw Raine, he remembered her name, and if he thought she was beautiful yesterday, and he did, she was a goddess this morning. "Oh... Reno!"
"Hey," Reno responded, waving his hand to her. However, she ran down the stairs, wearing a beautiful blue dress that, like the one the day before, was a little short. She then almost tackled into Reno, and wrapped her arms around his stomach, and held him close to her. Reno immediately felt a deep blush, and had to dig his hand into his pocket to cover his erection, since it was a surprise, she was very beautiful, and she was wearing a very nice dress.
Almost a second later, she let go of him and looked down, hiding blush and, probably, deeply embarrassed. "Raine!" Mrs. Nettle exclaimed, surprised.
"Um... thank you, Reno," Raine quietly said, still deeply blushing.
"Uhh, it's alright," Reno said. "I got... more than a generous reward."
"I'm sure it was nothing compared to what you deserve," she said and looked up at Reno, making her blush a little again. Reno mentally grinned at this, being sure not to show it, so the family wouldn't get the wrong idea about him.
"Well, I should leave," Reno said. He waved, they waved back, then he left and headed home.
When he reached home, he was surprised to find that his mother wasn't home, but decided that she was probably working at her part time job down at the materia shop. Reno went up to his room, and hid the bag of gil under his bed, and decided that once his mom came home, he would go to the materia shop and buy new materia. He also decided that he would go to the weapon shop and by new knuckles, though he wouldn't need to use it as much, since he would now have a gun. And that's exactly what he wanted to use right now.
He quickly went to his usual training spot, and brought a piece of paper. Reno went up and posted the piece of paper on a tree, and took out his new handgun. It was a .45 magnum, according to the Nettles, and there was no reason why he shouldn't believe them. He went about thirty feet away from the paper, carefully aimed at the sheet of paper, and fired the weapon.
The recoil was much weaker than he expected it to be, though he could tell that the gun was much stronger than it's recoil. The bullet hit the paper, and not only blew away the bottom right half of it, near where he hit, it also blew off a lot of the tree and it's bark. Reno, utterly surprised by the power, ran up to where it shot and looked at the wound, the wound in the tree was pretty deep, and Reno doubted the tree would ever be able to recover from the wound.
Reno walked back to where he was, and aimed for the paper again, then he fired. This time, he must have hit somewhere near the center of the page, since about three fourths of the paper was blown apart. Reno grinned, happy of his skills, and he was surprised, since he was so good at the newfound weapon, then he heard a silent gasp behind him.
Reno spun instantly and raised his guns, aiming into the woods. "I know you're there!" Reno shouted, worried that it might be Wutai soldiers, coming for revenge. "Come out! Come out now!"
"Don't shoot!" a soft voice called that Reno immediately recognized. Raine Nettle came out of the forest with her hands up, looking a little scared.
"Raine," Reno said as he put the magnum in it's holster. "I'm sorry. I was worried that it might have been Wutai soldiers."
"It's alright," she responded. "I understand. I probably shouldn't have snuck up on you like that..."
Reno shrugged, and then asked, "What are you doing out here anyway?"
"Well, my parents said that I should go out and get some friends," Raine explained. "And, well, I only knew you, so I figured I would try and find you..."
"Well, why did you come way out here?" Reno asked.
"Well," Raine sadly said, and then looked down. "I found some people our age... and I asked a nice girl named Jamie about you..."
"Jamie..." Reno silently hissed.
"And she told me to... get lost... and that no one likes me..." Raine then made a little sob, and Reno walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Then... she called me... a rich bitch... and she and her friends... they began to throw things at me... and I ran out here.... then I heard a gunshot... I was scared, but I went to check it out... then I saw you..." Reno was extremely angry at Jamie, she had taken the break up pretty hard, but to still be taking it so hard, that was just pathetic.
"I'm sorry," Reno said. She then wrapped her arms around Reno and hugged him even harder than the before. Reno was a little surprised but the sudden almost tackle, but he welcomed it, and hugged back. For a moment, he felt something deep for her, not quite love, but a definite attraction. It was like a natural attraction that he had towards her, not just because of her gorgeous body, but because of the way she was so... defenseless.
As Reno held her in his arms, he felt as if he could hold her forever. He was not unknown of this emotion, he had felt it several times before in his life, but this time it seemed different, but, he thought, that was probably just because she seemed defenseless. For the first time in his life, or at least the first time he could remember, he really felt like he was needed. Like he was a necessity. Actually, Reno thought. All the Nettles make me feel like that... the two parents showed me with gifts... the boy, Max, idolizes me... And now Raine...
Raine released the Reno, and then looked down, he saw tears seeping down her face, and Reno wiped them away for her. Had he been thinking about how he had been doing, he probably wouldn't have done that, but he was a romantic, and he tends to do things like that without even noticing it. The minute he realized he had done that, once he had wiped them all away, he recoiled his hand and said, "Oh... uh, I'm sorry..."
"Thank you, Reno," she said, tears still sliding down her face. Reno wiped them away as well, but then she gently grabbed his hand, and looked in his eyes with her own watery ones. The two slowly got closer, and their lips touched. Slowly, their kiss began more passionate, as their tongues touched and danced with each other. After what seemed like an eternity, they separated, and they both wanted to rejoin.
They looked into each other's eyes once more, her eyes now clear of water and full of love and slightly embarrassed. Reno held and rubbed her arms, and then she stepped back, out of Reno's grip, and said, "I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
Reno was about to walk closer and tell her that it was alright, and that he wanted to do that just as much if not more than she, but he knew that her family was high on the Shinra board, and if they were involved with Reno's family, a family where a father beat's his own wife, they may try to kill Reno. So, Reno stayed where he was, and said, "No, I should be sorry. It's... my fault."
She smiled and said, "Well... I guess I should be going..." she turned and then said, "thank you, Reno... you really helped me..."
"It's alright, Raine," replied Reno.
As she left, Reno waited about five minutes, and then cursed to himself. Goddamnit! Reno cursed himself. She's so beautiful... and she obviously wants me, since she wanted me probably more than he wanted her. She was the one who started the kiss, after all...
He stopped thinking like that, and decided to keep training.
He would try and forget about her, but she never would leave his mind.
It had been a long two weeks.
Reno hadn't seen Raine any of that time, though he had seen the rest of the Nettles, as they seemed to want to keep a strong relationship with Reno's family. Or at least Reno and his mother. They hadn't meet Reno's father yet, and Reno really didn't want them to meet. If they meet Reno's old man, they might think differently of him.
And, his mother told him that she had been deeply considering divorcing Reno's father. She told him that she was having a hard time, because she really did love him, but he was so abusive. Reno asked if she had spoken any of this to Robert (he had begun calling his father by his first name for a long time now), and she said that she hadn't. They was probably for the best, since if he didn't approve, he would probably take out his rage on her.
Also, Reno had spoken with Jamie. Jamie denied everything, however, before he had a chance to speak to Jamie, he managed to speak with her friends. They all admitted and apologized for what they had done, many blaming it on peer pressure. Jamie, like Reno, was very popular, good looking, and people would do just about everything like them, if given the chance. Maybe that's why Jamie was so convinced that she and Reno should be together, but Reno, especially after what she had done, though she won't admit it, would never go back out with her.
Finally, Reno managed to keep the money hidden from his father, however he told his mother, who promised not to tell Robert. Robert probably would steal the money, run away some place, and blow all the money on booze. Reno spent some of the money on materia, he now, in addition to his fire, bolt, and cure, had ice, bio, and barrier. Reno also bought the best knuckles, and checked out some pistols, and discovered that the Nettles had spent an extra three hundred gil to make the gun magically enhanced, making it stronger and the recoil weaker.
All in all, a lot had happened, and it had been long, but pretty soon it would seem a lot easier.
Reno was walking down the main street when he saw Jamie shouting at someone. Reno sighed and was about to turn away, when he heard Jamie say, "You came back for another round, you rich bitch?!"
Reno instantly turned and ran towards Jamie, however Jamie ran behind a building towards where she had been yelling. Reno turned down there and saw Jamie punching Raine, and Reno was instantly enraged. "JAMIE!" Reno shouted. "Let go of her!"
Jamie stopped and turned towards Reno, while Raine dropped to the ground, crying. Reno was about to run to Raine's side, but he had to deal with Jamie first. "You stupid bitch!" Reno shouted to her.
"You're calling me a bitch?" Jamie asked, acting innocent. "Um, she yelled at me!" Jamie said and ran up to Reno, forcing herself into his arms, "And then she-"
Reno didn't let her finished, as he threw her to the ground. "Don't you ever touch me or her again!"
"Reno, what are you talking about?" Jamie asked.
"You stupid bitch!" Reno shouted. "We're broken up! I hate your personality! And, just leave us alone," Reno then put his hand on his gun that was now always with him, "or next time you won't be so lucky."
She got up and shouted, "You'll regret this, Reno! I swear you will!" She then ran off, and Reno went over and crouched next to Raine.
"Are you alright?" Reno asked.
"Ye-yeah," Raine said. She was lying, and that was clear. She had gotten a cut or two on her legs from being thrown down to the ground, and it looked like she was going to have a couple bruises.
"You sure don't look alright," Reno replied in a slightly sympathetic voice. "Just wait there for a minute." Reno stood and concentrated on the materia that was now on his gun, and then exclaimed, "CURE!"
Raine seemed to glow white for a minute, and then her cuts were pealed over with scab tissue, and her bruises were completely gone. "Wow..." she mumbled. "I knew that magic was strong, but I never knew..."
"That's not much," Reno told her. "This is still a level one, and my materia skills aren't the best..."
"But it worked," Raine told him. Reno then pulled his hand out, she grabbed it, and he pulled her up.
"Uhh... you wanna go get something to eat, or something?" Reno asked. He was nervous, which was very surprising, since not only was he normally cool and collected and never had trouble talking to women. But Raine was different, and, now thinking back on it, he may have known it from the very beginning and just fully realizing it now.
"I already ate," Raine told him. "But, I would like to see the ocean... I've been here for a week already, but I still haven't seen the ocean."
"Alright," Reno smiled. The two walked down the roads to the dock, hands enwrapped with each other.
About fifteen minutes later they reached the harbor. It was gigantic, and filled with boats as far as the eye could see, except for one dock. That one dock was a public dock, which was usually used for fishing, but, since there were no fishers there, it would be for those two tonight.
Reno lead her to the end of the dock and they sat down, dangling their legs over the end of the end of the dock. Raine looked amazed over the ocean, as the moon began to rise high in the sky. The water reflected the moon romantically, and Reno couldn't have dreamed of a better time to bring any woman down to the sea than this.
"Wow, it's beautiful!" Raine exclaimed. "I never would have dreamed that the ocean was so beautiful!"
"Yeah," Reno said, he wrapped his arm around his shoulder and she willingly leaned up against him. "But it's nothing compared to the beauty of the woman sitting next to me."
Raine looked up at Reno, and gently kissed him on the cheek. "That's pretty corny," she smiled.
"I know," Reno nodded, and chuckled. "But it got me a kiss."
She chuckled, and smiled, leaning more up to Reno, as if he were a back rest.
Reno smiled, for the first real time he felt like he was truly happy, none of his girlfriends had ever made him fell like this.
What do you think?
This was the most romantic chapter, so don't worry about it, and for those who like romance and are still reading the story... well... I'm sorry... but there'll still be some romance in the next two chapters.
PLEASE REVIEW!!!