Reno: Witness to Madness
If the fact that it was Sephiroth there with her wasn't enough, what I saw next shocked me. I am not easy to shock and this job did it twice. There was a crackle in the air around them. I had no idea what to make of it. Her face flushed, his eyes had this odd out of sorts look. Like he was asleep or in disbelief. I didn't know how else to describe it. All I knew then was it was out of place here. Out of place in Midgar. It was wrong.
No, that wasn't it at all. It confirmed what I felt in the pit of my stomach from the day I was born. What I grew up knowing and denying as something amiss with myself. Midgar was wrong. This, what I was watching right then and there, was what was right. That rebellious nature I had thought was wrong within me was the only thing I suddenly realized was right. I wasn't the one out of place, to think that, stunned me.
I almost fell off the roof. Not only about my own small epiphany, but the general of ShinRa's as well it seemed. Their prize with the flower girl? Now that was interesting. At least it was for a while, until I realized he was as much a creature of habit as she was. They really did belong together. Like there was some invisible bond so powerful if you looked away you could swear to see it out the corner of your eye.
I told you I could have been a writer…
All the lovely wording couldn't change that I was still bored. Those two may have been connected out of spontaneity, but they soon had gone into pattern. The same pattern every day, it drove me insane. To her place, to the church. Then the back again. One day I went to Seph's while they were spending exactly two hours, three minutes and twenty six seconds at dinner. Yes it was that bad, just in case you were wondering. While at Seph's I put microphone bugs in his boots.
You see they had been seeing each other for about two months and things were getting- uhm -shall I say heavy? I know some men get off on it, but if I hear a woman screaming a name it had damn well better be mine. This way I could hear them and not have to go where they did. I was paid to follow them, not to be a pervert. So I could chill out with a book and wait till I heard Seph put his boots back on.
Now I was watching the same thing, just the days changed. Damn my fucking luck. I was starting to bring two books with me. Then the last straw was drawn by Seph. The one man I thought would never lose his head was now being a moron.
They left their dinner place one night, going up to the plate hospital as they always did when it rained. An hour was all they could spare with Aerith's stepmother. Then they were supposed to go to her house. Seph would stay the night and then he would go home at 5am. Not this time. I choked on my smoke when I heard his request. "Want to stop by my place and have some coffee?" Coffee is what they call it now do they? I was too shocked to be amused. He was taking her to the exact place she should be far, far away from.
When did he become an idiot?!
I was starting to get heat from those bastards, speaking of the ShinRa. If they wanted her they would end up finding her, even if I didn't bring her in myself. Ohh I knew, maybe Seph would just drop her off as an early "evil as sin" father's day gift? Tseng was right, she needed out of here. This wouldn't fly, not at all. I followed them to his place, he told her not to talk, no one would know it was her. It was obvious he was in love with her, his fucking head stopped working. What would Hojo do if he knocked her up? Did he even think about that?
Of course not, he wasn't thinking at all, did I call him an idiot yet?
She needed to get out of Midgar soon, Seph would get them both sent to hell if he didn't watch it. I thought, because they were so in love, that maybe he could talk Aerith into leaving. It would do him good to just run off with her, it would be better then the complete lack of all sense I was seeing then. That night after he dropped her off at home I let him hear me following him.
"Come out. I know you are there." He yelled as if he had discovered someone who wanted to be hidden.
"I know you know I'm here Seph." I replied in my usual cocky tone.
His mako eyes widened, "Reno?"
"Yeah," I sighed then I let in on him, funny, me being the one yelling this time. "What the fuck are you thinking you idiot! Do you even know what could have happened if it had been anyone else following you? You damn moron. How could you even harbor the thought that was an intelligent idea? Idiot!" This was a risk I was taking, talking to him. I was sticking my scarred up neck out to help him. I hoped he realized that.
His mouth hung open, given another situation I would have been amused. I think he was surprised more at my tone then the fact that I had been following him. "It was just for coffee and then-"
"No no no not another word. I don't want to hear about it." I pushed back my coat, unintentionally showing off that I was armed. All I could think was that he was being an idiot. Damn moron. "You could be in deep shit here."
"Not if you don't make it home..." His voice trailed off. I walked around him and him around me. We circled slowly, stiff legged and intense. He wouldn't kill me, I knew it. He knew that I would never kill him. Both of us, under the right conditions could kill the other. I would have to cheat, but when you are alive and the other guy is dead what the hell does cheating matter? Still, the idea of him actually killing me didn't seem too far from his mind. It was far enough though, not to worry me in the slightest.
I laughed, he was threatening me? Holy, that sounded desperate. "If I thought you'd kill me you wouldn't have seen me." He looked angry, frustrated. I like making people look at me that way. So sue me, I was a slum rat, I have a superiority complex. No it wasn't that at all, as I said before, I like pissing Seph off.
"Then what's the point?" Seph ground out, I could tell he wanted his sword. That just amused me more.
I shrugged back to him, "just so you know I know." I stopped moving and so did he. I was armed, Sephiroth was not. "Tseng is who I wanted to talk about."
Seph crossed his strong arms over that broad chest he -and half the female population of the planet- so loves to have bare. "What about him."
I sat down, earning yet another confused look. I idly thought that I should surprise him more often, it is rare that I find things I enjoy as much as making him confused. "He thinks of Aerith as a little sister. I haven't told anyone that she has you as a boyfriend, but you think you can tiptoe around it forever?"
"Then keep your damn mouth shut Reno." Ahhh he reverts back to his ordering me about. Like I ever listened to him more then I had to in the first place.
Again I laughed at him earning his trademark "I will cut you in half" look. No, I am not stupid, death wish? Maybe. But Seph would have a damn hard time killing me. It wouldn't be worth it. He was stooping to swearing? The girl must really mean something to him "Such language? From the great general of ShinRa?" I couldn't keep the sneer from my voice at the word. ShinRa leaves a foul taste on the tongue
"I am tired and frustrated. You are taking your life in your hands." Then his eyebrow arched, he shifted. Only someone trained to see it would notice.
"Three months" I answered his unspoken question.
Again he seemed disgruntled. "Truly?" He asked at last.
Poor guy, always the straight forward type, and here he had to deal with a Turk. We are known for looking at the front door, then creating an elaborate pulley system to get in through the roof. I nodded.
"How much have you seen?" His eyes narrowed at me again, this time with a much harder edge, a life that before the man had never had.
If it weren't for the death wish I would have been afraid. "I don't need to see it all Seph, don't worry about it."
He seemed to settle, but he didn't trust me, that was fine by me. He also probably wanted to stab me, also fine by me. I wasn't engineered to die easy. "Again I ask you what the point is?" He had such a cultured voice, deep tones, yeah I would have rated that a 8.5 on the authoritative meter. Too bad I only respond well to the 10.0. Not well really but I kinda smile and nod when the meter gets that high.
I thought about that for a few moments. "I hate to sneak around on associates. I just wanted to let you know they may catch on, I can't be assigned to follow her forever."
He flopped down next to me, some mix of depression and defiance on his face. He looked at his shoes and then back to me. His tone had totally changed. "Reno?"
I nodded at him and lit a cigarette. I didn't bother to offer one to Seph, Hojo had strict rules about his "works" never smoking. Seph was a good specimen and did as he was told. I, however, made it a point to smoke a pack a day to spite the sick prick
"You always follow her?"
I nodded again
"You wouldn't let anything happen to her? If I am not there?"
It was my turn to be shocked. The freshly lit cigg fell from my mouth, I picked it up and blinked at him. This was a man that had hand trained me. He had no endearment to anyone that I knew of. And here he was risking his neck and asking me to risk my own for a woman? "I do what I am told." Something inside me moved yet again, I was almost happy that he trusted me enough to ask me that. With a final hard drag I killed the cigarette. Smashing it into the ground, I attempted to squash that damn feeling of "I should be doing something else".
"Don't pull that with me, Reno. You try to do the opposite of what you are told as often as humanly possible."
A snort was his answer. I stood up and bushed off my navy blue suit. He also stood. We looked at each other for a while, he was still thinking about killing me. I still didn't care if he did. At the same time we turned and walked away, I to my apartment and Seph to his. 'Be careful' I thought, knowing he would laugh if he could hear me.
Then I felt him turn around, we looked at each other again. He nodded to me and went down the alley. "Hmpf" I snorted to myself. Maybe he felt it too, that things were changing. I could almost hear a "you too" in his look.
That night I was writing my bullshit report while giving Tseng the real one. I rolled my eyes at the Wutain. He was very overprotective. "Se, for the final time, yes, she has a boyfriend. No, he really seems to care about her. Yes, I know who he is and no, I am not telling you."
"Dam-en-it Dreno!" He shook his head, his accent slipped. It was funny as hell whenever he did that, because then he got madder. I loved it. Him, the well spoken businessman- unable to hold that tone and sounding like a wall market fisherman. Slower this time, "Reno that is a direct order!"
"I can't Se."
He glared at me, sharp Wutain features drawn tight on his face. The man needed to lighten up. I did take my job very seriously, just in case you were wondering. However, if I didn't find some humor I would have killed myself long before this moment in time.
I sighed, "look, why don't you follow me tonight if you are so worried?"
He blinked, surprise graced his features for just a moment. Then it was gone like smoke on the wind. He snagged one of my cigarettes off my desk and lit it without so much as a thank you. "See you tonight then." And he was gone.
"Arigato to you as well there Se." I shuffled my bogus papers and went to get a few hours of sleep.
At almost 2am Tseng and I were waiting. Seph came out as always but this time looked over to the rooftop that I had been on last night. It was the wrong rooftop for now. As much as Sephiroth is a creature of habit I am one of spontaneity. Tseng's mouth dropped open. "I thought you said he cared?" He mouthed to me.
"I talked to him, he does." I mouthed back. With that Tseng up and left, yet another of my smokes in his mouth. I made a mental note to steal my next pack from him. I continued to watch them, at least until he walked her home. Then I would go home and try to wash that feeling I still had away. It only grew. Something was going to happen, I wasn't going to be able to do this much longer.
