Chapter 7
By Crystal Snowflakes
Author's Notes: I've estimated that the story will be another ten chapters or so. Oh, and early update because I've gotta go to work today, so yeah... I guess it's good for you guys cause it'll update earlier :) Anyways, yeah. Enjoy! And I've decided that I won't put any lemon. Thanks guys.
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy 7 does not belong to me... sulks
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"You're going to drive me insane one of these days, you know that?" Reno muttered as he held the umbrella over Yuffie's head.
She shrugged, "Not my problem. And plus, this isn't so bad... We don't have anything to do today! So let's have some fun... I doubt you do that often anyways." She looked up at him, "Do you?"
His eyes held a glint of playfulness, "If you call drinking and sex fun, yes, I do have fun all the time."
Yuffie rolled her eyes, "Thanks Turkey. I don't need to know about your sex life." ...I really don't want to know, because it forces me to think that the possibility of anything between us is pretty slim.
"Jealous?" He asked.
She snorted, "You wish Turkey." She started looking around again, "You know, it's only the second time I've been to Midgar. Last time, it was when I saw you in the tunnels..." She gave a short chuckle, "We were still saving the world back then. Gawd I miss those times."
He nodded, "You know, this is what used to be Sector 7."
"Really?! You mean it's the Sector where you—" Yuffie slapped her hand on her mouth abruptly, then took them away, "I'm sorry." She said when she blushed charmingly. "I didn't—"
"Don't worry about it." He cut her off, "It's the past, like you said. Come on." Reno continued while he walked.
Yuffie caught up with him, "I was just surprised... I mean, the way Barret and Tifa talked about it, it seemed a lot worse. I guess they were just exaggerating."
"No." He said quietly, "It was a lot worse. The debris was piled up so high. I have to hand it to Reeve though... In such a short time, he had managed to clean it all out and make a decent place out of it." He shook his head, "Sometimes, I wonder how many people died that night..." He sighed.
Yuffie, feeling a little sorry for him, thought of something quickly to get his mind off the topic. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards a jewelry store. "Hey! Look!" She smiled softly as she glanced at something that caught her eye. "Isn't that so pretty?"
Reno raised his eyebrow, "I never knew you had it in you."
"Had what in me?"
"What women always have. Their love for jewelry." He gave a grin.
Yuffie smacked him upside the head, "I know I'm a flat-chest ninja, but I'm still a woman, you know."
Reno chuckled, "Glad to know you admit it yourself that you were flat." He fended off Yuffie's smack. "So which one do you like?"
"That one." Yuffie pointed, "The silver chained necklace with the star pendant."
"Why don't we go in and get it then?"
She shook her head, "No! Of course not..." She smiled fondly at the necklace, "It only means something if someone gives it to you."
Reno almost rolled his eyes again, "You women are all so sentimental."
"Oh hush!" she exclaimed. "So..." She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, "What kind of woman would you like to marry?"
He shrugged, "Never thought about it. I'm not the one-woman type of man... And even if I were, I don't think I'd ever marry."
"Why not?"
"Just not who I am, and the fact that I love women too much to marry then." He replied, grinning. "What kind of man would you like to marry?"
She looked up at the sky. "I don't know... Maybe someone not perfect."
He raised his eyebrow, "And here I thought, all woman wanted perfect men for their husbands."
She chuckled, "I always thought I'd marry someone perfect... But... I don't know. I think I'm sick of them." She sighed quietly, "Everyone around me is perfect. Or near perfect. They don't really have any flaws..." She trailed on. "Aeris, Tifa, Red..."
"They're not perfect." Reno said.
"But they're as perfect as humans can get... or in Red's case, as perfect as animals can get." She replied, her voice growing lower and quieter by the second. Shaking her head as she looked down on the ground, she walked ahead. "Come on Reno, let's go somewhere else."
His eyes trailed her figure, all the while thinking how different of a figure she had now. A honking horn shook him out of his reverie and to his horror, the truck that honked was no more than a few meters away than Yuffie. And she didn't seem to have heard it at all. Acting fully on impulse, he dropped his umbrella and ran up to Yuffie, then jerked her away from the street. "What the fuck were you thinking?!" He yelled as the truck drove through, the driver cursing like a sailor out the window.
Her eyes were glazed over slightly, "I'm... I'm sorry."
His anger evaporated at the sight of her eyes, "What's wrong?" He asked as he brushed the now soaked bangs away from her face and bent down to grab his umbrella.
She shook her head and closed her eyes. "Nothing... Just..." She sighed, "It's just that... sometimes, I miss Aeris..." She sighed, and when she opened her eyes, any evidence of her tears were gone. "Come on Turkey. Let's go get some lunch!"
"We just had breakfast a couple hours ago."
She shrugged, "So? You said it yourself. It's been two hours ago. Come on! Let's go!" She whined.
"All right, all right. Fine." Reno held his hands up in defeat. "No need to get bitchy."
"Oh shut up you." She flashed him a grin, "Come on." As she was going to walk ahead again, she felt Reno grab onto her hand. Confused, she turned around.
He shook his head, "I'm not letting you walk alone again. There's no way."
She frowned for a second, about to start an argument when she stopped herself. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Are you really afraid for my life, or do you just want to hold onto my hand?"
Two can play that game. Reno thought to himself. He bent down so that their noses were almost touching, "I don't know babe. What do you think?" He could feel her breath quicken and her face flush faintly as her eyes widened slightly.
Snap!
Reno blinked as a bright light flashed. Then glanced beside him to see a boy that looked no more than eighteen with a camera. "Hello! Would you like to take a picture? They're only 100 gil each!" He gave a grin.
"Sure!" Yuffie nodded, shaking herself away from him, her face still flushed, her breath still a little too quick for it to be normal.
"Come then! It's pouring out here!"
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When they were dried up, they sat down in their seats and drank their own cup of tea that the teenager had offered.
"Well, do you want to pose for me?" The boy asked.
Without a word, Yuffie sat up and stood in front of the camera.
"Mister?" He asked when Reno didn't seem to move.
Shaking his head, Reno moved from where he stood and walked beside Yuffie.
"Well, you guys are dating, aren't you? You don't look like much of a couple to me!"
Yuffie was about to protest when she kept her mouth shut at the last second. Feeling playful, she stuck her tongue out playfully.
Reno on the other hand flashed his trademark smirk, stuffed one hand in his pocket and the other one, he wrapped around her waist carefully.
"Perfect." The boy smiled. After the picture snapped, he looked up, "How about this? Go to how you two were before I interrupted!"
"I don't think that's such a good—" Yuffie disagreed.
Reno grinned, "Now, now babe. Are you afraid of big bad Reno?" Then he winked, "Or do you just think you can't keep your hands off of me?"
Yuffie's eyes flared, "Yeah right, Turkey. Keep thinking that."
Without another second, Reno wrapped his arm around her waist once again and bent his face down towards her. She flushed. "I told you. You can't keep your hands to yourself." He grinned.
"I..."
He bent down even lower as his arms tightened around her and he yelled at himself silently. Stop! Reno you stupid son of a bitch! Stop this second! But he found himself, for the first time in a long while, losing control of his actions when his eyes met two pools of soft silver eyes.
His eyes softened slightly and brushed his lips against her gently. He felt her eyelashes brush against his skin as she closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. When he was about to close his own and brush his lips against hers again, he was interrupted by a flash again.
"That was perfect! Wow, you guys are the best couple I've in a long while!"
Reno cleared his throat as he let go of Yuffie somewhat regretfully. It wasn't supposed to have gone this far...
"So all I need now is your address and names, and I'll send them over as soon as I can. How many copies do you want?"
"Umm..." Yuffie started, "How about two sets of them?"
The boy nodded, "That's great! I'll give you a discount, those were really nice pictures. Would you mind if I kept a set?"
"I guess not..." Yuffie muttered.
"So can I please have your name?" The boy asked.
Yuffie nodded, "Yeah. My name's Yuffie and this turkey here, he's Reno. As for the address, ask him." She pointed at Reno.
Reno, without a word, wrote down his address on the boy's little notepad.
"Just pay when I delivery the pictures. Those were great! Thanks again guys!" The boy grinned widely, and then disappeared.
"So..." Yuffie said quietly.
Reno ran his hand over his hair, "I need to get drunk."
She shook her head, "It's barely noon Turkey. If I disgust you that much, I'll leave."
It's not that. He had wanted to say. He was scared of what he had done just a second ago... I fucking enjoyed that... "No. Come on babe. Let's go have lunch, then we'll do some shit together. I'll bring you to a bar tonight."
She raised her eyebrow, "Remember the last time I drank?"
He chuckled, "We're just going to have to make sure you don't get drunk off your ass. You're legally allowed in a bar, aren't you?"
"No. I'm still eighteen."
He shrugged, "Close enough."
She shook her head as a grin appeared on her face. "You are really a bad influence, you know that Turkey?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. I do know." He gave a smirk. She's only eighteen, you fucking pedophile.
When he turned around and wasn't looking, Yuffie found her hands on her lips, her face still rosy and her heart pounding.
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"So what do you recommend?" Yuffie asked as she swung her legs around childishly.
Reno shrugged, "I'm getting a beer. Don't want to get drunk tonight, work tomorrow. It's a good thing they didn't ID you."
Yuffie snorted, "Don't want to get drunk?" She rolled her eyes, "If my memory serves me right, you were the one who said you needed to get drunk earlier today. And for the identifying, it's because I look older than I am, Turkey."
He shook his head, "No fucking way. It's because the bar owner saw the Turk uniform and didn't want to be at the end of my gun barrel."
"Scared of you? A Turkey? Funny... Hah!"
"What? Am I not intimidating?" A smirk appeared.
"Hell no." She replied, then rolled her eyes and caught sight of the waitress approaching as she thought to herself. Not intimidating, just frighteningly attractive. She shook her head, disbelieving her own thoughts, then said, "Hey. There's our waitress. What the hell am I ordering?"
He shrugged, "Hell if I know." He then glanced at the waitress. A smirked appeared again and he whistled wolfishly.
For the third time that night, Yuffie rolled her eyes. She then mumbled to her companion, "Doubt she'll even look at you, you scrawny Turkey."
"Wanna bet?" He whispered back.
"No." She made a sickening face, "I don't want to gag. I'm just here to drink, not to watch ugly people trying to hit on waitresses."
He raised his eyebrow, "Ugly?"
"Yes, ugly. Did you not hear me the first time I said it?" She asked innocently.
He shook his head, "I'll show you the way Reno of the Turks picks up chicks."
She snorted to herself, but watched as the scene unfolded. The second the waitress had arrived at their table, which was at a dark corner in the bar, Yuffie knew she had lost. The waitress' cheeks were already slightly crimson, her eyes flickered over to Reno more than enough. Yuffie almost grabbed her shuriken more than one time, the desire to throw it towards the ditzy waitress unbearable. The worse thing was seeing Reno glance over her way more than once, amusement clear and knowing how she was feeling. At first, it was nothing to be jealous of. Reno had ordered two beers, made small talk... But then it became a little more difficult to listen to when they started calling each other pet names. Just the thought was enough to make Yuffie boiling mad, and very sick.
Instead of paying attention to them, Yuffie looked around the bar, their voices still audible. It was darkish, some of the customers were talking in quiet voices to one another, others were yelling and screaming, some were shouting profanities. The piano was playing in the background, but the sounds were mostly muffled by the conversations of the consumers. The atmosphere was warm and cozy, the seats comfortable and soft...
Her eyes drifted to the blonde her companion was flirting with. Her hair was blonde and smooth, her eyes emerald green... Just like Aeris'. Yuffie looked away for a moment, collecting her thoughts and recomposing herself so that Reno wouldn't see what he had today. She was wearing a tight black tank top, undoubtedly showing her curves and her bosom that was not any smaller than Tifa's, speaking of which. Then her black skirt... Yuffie mentally retched at the thought that anyone could wear something so... so... tiny! And then she remembered how it attracted Reno to her. And she became envious, which of course, she denied, even to herself.
Stupid ditzy blonde with her stupid skimpy skirt. I hope she catches a cold... Then maybe freeze to death... Gawd. What the hell is she and Reno talking about? And where the hell is my beer anyways? Stupid Turkey. I hate his frigging guts. First he fucking kisses me and now he flirts with some slutty waitress. God damn it. I want my frigging beer. Now why the hell did I like this scrawny piece of shit in the first place? Stupid, stupid, stupid...
"HEY!"
Yuffie almost stumbled off her seat. "What?" She snapped.
"Beer's here." Reno replied.
When she glanced up at the table, a beer stood. "Thanks." She mumbled, then noticed the absence of the waitress, "Where's your waitress of a whore anyways?"
His eyebrow raised in amusement, "Gone." He took a sip of his beer.
"And when was that?"
He shrugged, "When I found out she was only nineteen. Sometime when you were daydreaming."
Nineteen?! Gawd... What the hell do I do? I'm only eighteen... "Oh." She looked at Reno, who took another sip of his beer. Following his act, she too, took a sip of her beer. And promptly wanted to spit it out, but swallowed it instead. "What the hell is this shit?"
Reno held it up, "Midgar beer." He said dramatically, "The shittiest beer on Earth."
"Why the hell are we drinking it then?" Yuffie asked as she took another taste of the bitter fluid.
"It's the only beer they sell here. It's still alcohol, good enough for me." He smirked as she made another face.
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After half a dozen beer, Yuffie only drinking two and already faint, they had decided to head home. "Come on Turkey." She slurred, "Let's go home."
"Home as in the inn or my house?" Reno asked as he put down enough gil for the beers.
"Your house." She replied.
Reno, sighing, dragged her up and supported her the whole way home. "Last time I ever drink with you babe. You seriously can't hold your liquor."
"Wasn't my fault. You wanted to get drunk, I was just keeping you company!" She replied, and then giggled.
"Remind me again why I let you drink?"
She shrugged, "Dunno. I'm not that drunk though. Just... giddy... and dizzy." She said as she grinned upwards to him. "Veeeeeeery dizzy."
Reno almost laughed at the expression on her face. "Come on babe. You are going to collapse."
Ten minutes later, as Reno was trying to lock the door to his house while Yuffie was stumbling in the house, trying to find Reno's bedroom, his cell rang. "Yeah?" He answered.
It's Tifa. I was just wondering if Yuffie was coming back to the inn tonight.
Reno glanced at the door to his bedroom, "I don't think so. I think she's going to be staying—"
"Reeeeeno! Where are you?" Yuffie yelled from his bedroom.
He sighed inwardly, "Yeah, I think she's going to be staying tonight."
All right then... Well, take care of her and I swear, if you hurt her in any way, I will come and kick your ass.
"Yeah, yeah. Will do. See ya." He hung up, then walked towards his room. To his surprise, the whiny female ninja hasn't collapsed in bed yet, but was sitting up and looking at him in a peculiar way that made him... precautious. He considered sleeping on the couch, but then, decided against it. It was his house. Slowly, he walked against the bed and sat down.
Yuffie was still looking at him, and she slowly advanced towards him. "Reno..." She said quietly.
"What?" He asked, careful of her every movements. When he knew what was going to happen, he held her away, "Look babe. The alcohol is messing up your brain. Just go to sleep and you'll forget this tomorrow."
"I'm not drunk Reno." She said clearly.
He almost rolled his eyes again, "All drunks say that they're not drunk."
"I'm not drunk..." She whispered.
His aquamarine eyes looked at hers. And for the second time that day, he kissed her.
And although surprised, she kissed back.
Despite the warnings in his head, he kept on kissing her, believing that tomorrow, she would not remember any of this. Just once more. Just a little longer...
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Author's Notes: Erm, I might have rushed their kissing scene a bit... If I did, let me know :) Thanks guys. But yay! Reffie! :) Oh, and should I do a Christmas special?
-Crystal Snowflakes
Sunday, December 19, 2004
