Crimson Triangle

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"(…)" indicated thought.

"…" speech.

Chapter Two: Crossroads

Beep!

"Reno, it's Tseng. I daresay you have received the message from Elena. Well, things have changed. President Rufus are in his…less than favorable mood, so I would like you to submit your report in 48 hours starting from 00.00 hours last midnight. Drunkenness is not tolerated as an excuse. And, by the way…Elena asked me for dinner. I have to talk to you about it, but not now. Call me back ASAP."

"Just go to the damn dinner, get a hotel room for you two and start humping, yo." Reno groaned in agony. Even though the highway had ended, Wutai was still quite a distance away. The piercing pain the bullet caused kept disturbing Reno's concentration. Despite his attempts casting cure spells from his materia, somehow the pain kept coming back. What's worse, his favorite Turk uniform is holed by the bullet; an unusual occurrence since the uniform are specially tailored to withstand heavy damage. He figured that it must be a special type of bullet to do such thing.

"I guess the laundry bills are gonna be really high this time" Reno thought wryly. He really hates it when Tseng started to rant about his supposed absolute neatness as a Turk; he didn't actually give any damn about all the formalities that he had to endure. Well, that actually goes along the line that Reno just got an "attitude problem the size of Midgar" as Tseng and Rufus had said it on an occasion, but even that cannot fully explain his 'unique' behavior. It was as if he was born to be that way. Then again, he was quite an excellent Turk himself, so nobody can actually complain; at least that's what Reno thought anyway.

Then he found the sight for his eyes, Wutai. He grinned eagerly as he entered the city borders.

The sunbathed sky in Wutai had always been beautiful; it was one of the reasons why Shinra developed the region in the first place. The same scenery greeted Reno through the Asian-style buildings that stood in the now-developed city.

Wutai was a land deeply absorbed in tradition. Even when development means to release the old tradition and to embrace a new philosophy, Wutaians were an exception. They were so rooted to their ideology that they simply couldn't discard it. Instead, they integrated the foreign elements to their own culture and the result were a harmonious clash between tradition and technology. Now Wutai stood proud as the world's trade and industry central seconded only by the resurrected Midgar.

The friendly atmosphere that greeted Reno on his way is a blissful remnant of Wutai's previous reign as a tourist's object. However, Reno liked Wutai only because of "Two B's, Beer and Babes." as he said to a shrugging Rude. One feature, was the presence of a seemingly out-of-place vending machine amidst the traditional oriental-styled building; something Reno had noted gleefully for it means easy access to booze.

Reno parked his car just outside the Kisaragi Mansion compound. He noticed that the compound didn't look at all different from his last visit to Wutai; it is still lacking a proper car parking area. But then again, not that many people would actually go to the residence of the most powerful man in Wutai, now would they?

Still clutching his wound from the struggle earlier he stepped into the rear gate of the pagoda, readying his Electro-Rod on his hand; he somehow knew what was going to happen. He pushed the door open with a jolt and swung his rod instinctively.

Clang!

The sound of a blade was heard as it collided with Reno's EMR as he stared the ninja in front of him. Reno's prediction was right.

"Gorky, it's me, yo."

The bulky ninja's eyes suddenly brightened with joy as he lowered his weapon to greet the visitor.

"Greetings, sir Reno." He bowed.

"'Told ya not to call me that." He replied smugly.

"But sir, since you are our guest…"

Reno sighed; it's not the customs of Wutaians that he doesn't like, it is just that he feels unworthy to be honored in such a way. Not since he is a Turk and a killer at that, he thought with a pang.

He glanced at the neat, warm pagoda. The place where he stood was shaded from the bright light of the centerfold of the large building. Being a pagoda, there was nothing in the center of the room save for a spiraling staircase that lead to various rooms of different floors. The tiles were covered by a grand, red-colored Wutaian-style rug. The staircases too are covered with the same magnificent article.

He then shifted his sight on the elderly ninja. Gorky was one of Lord Godo Kisaragi's closest aides. Rumor has it that despite his age, his combat capability exceeds that of a 3rd or maybe even 2nd class SOLDIER. He still stood straight and proud and had never showed any signs of losing his touch or manners despite his age. At least that was what Reno heard from Yuffie anyway.

Gorky walked closer to the center of the room in which Reno followed. Then the thought suddenly struck him.

"Where's Yuffie?"

He didn't realize the petite figure snuck securely on the pillar just above and behind him. But his reflexes were quick; he noticed Gorky's shrewd smile before turning his EMR-equipped hand behind him.

The steels collided with an echoing sound as the ninja Reno was looking for grinned broadly in midair. Reno did a smooth backward somersault from the impact with the shuriken she threw. The figure caught the shuriken that flew back to her gracefully before she landed. Upon landing, she swung the shuriken to her back, only to be interrupted by a swing of Reno's EMR, causing the shuriken to fell off the floor with a loud clank. The harmless rod zeroed in to her throat in a flash.

"Checkmate, kid." Reno smirked victoriously.

The grin on the cute ninja's face was immediately replaced by a pout. She clutched her fists near her face in frustration before starting.

"(Here we go again.)" Reno smirked lazily.

"Darn! I'm soooo close!"

It was a burst of energy coming from her recognizably free self. It was the self that Reno remembered perfectly well ever since she had left AVALANCHE.

"I was this close—" she specified with her tiny fingers "—and just a little more I can finally claim my victory!" she added heatedly.

"The only time you'll do, is when you stop being a kid, kid." Reno commented flippantly. The aforementioned person stopped her stomping and glared him squarely in the eye. Reno missed this particular glare; it looked like a cross between the intimidating expression she wore during battle and a puppy-face pout she used when she begged him to do or buy something. The result was that Reno couldn't help but to suppress a chuckle or at least a smile when he saw that.

"Why don't you stop being a jerk, Turkey?" Yuffie said, emphasizing the last vowel.

"Whatever, brat." Reno replied, also stressing the last word comically.

"Turkey."

"Brat."

"Turkey."

"Brat."

"Turkey."

"Brat."

"…"

It wasn't clear for Gorky who started first; all that he saw was that suddenly both Reno and Yuffie were overcome by fits of laughter. A smile crept up the experienced ninja's face as they continued to laugh heartily.

"Long time no see, Yuff. So, what are the things that the exalted ninja princess of Wutai—" she humphed with a glare "—are currently doing right now?" said Reno, smirking amidst Yuffie's glare. She sighed resignedly and started.

"Well, mostly I'm dealing with the paperwork and doing my princess duties here. And—don't laugh!" Reno suppressed a laugh imagining Yuffie, the active girl getting bogged down by endless formal dressing, ritual duties and other stuff that, he thought accurately, was anything but Yuffie-ish.

"—and I have to look after Wutai, listening to lectures about development and some boring stuff." Yuffie finished with a weary, yet proud huff.

"You haven't changed at all. At least it's better than running around stealing someone's materia, yo." Reno smirked shamelessly.

"Hey, that's a low blow!" Yuffie squealed out, resulting in a playful punch to Reno's right arm.

Wrong move.

Suddenly Reno winced and held his wounded limb. He tried not to show his pain, but Yuffie noticed it immediately.

"Hey, Reno you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, yo. I'm just—"

But when Yuffie removed the hand that covered his right arm, she could clearly see the blood on his hand. When she glanced at Reno's right arm, she noticed that the blue suit he wore was holed and damp.

"Take off your jacket, Reno." She said tensely while trying to tear his jacket away.

"Hey, isn't this the wrong place to do some, ahem, adult things?" he taunted playfully while gritting his teeth from the pain.

"Shut up." Yuffie replied shortly.

She gasped in horror when she finally opened his jacket; his white shirt he used was so drenched in blood that Yuffie thought he was out of blood already. Upon closer look, she noticed a simple tourniquet on Reno's upper right arm. However, blood continued to trickle down his shirt as though it was water.

"Oh gawd, Reno! Wha—what happened?" she asked in horror.

"Nah, just got shot with something. I dunno, I can't heal it with my materia, it kept bleeding." Reno said nonchalantly; though he realized that his vision were blurrier than before.

"Gorky, please get him to the infirmary!" At once, the loyal servant bowed slightly and approached both of them

"Aww, come on, Yuff. It's just a gunshot wound."

Reno tried to brush Yuffie's hand away, but she held him nevertheless. He didn't like the idea of being pampered by someone. He was the kind of person who likes to be left alone during times like these. He felt the annoyance creeping up his face because of this.

Or was it embarrassment?

"Just a gunshot wound? You're bleeding a lot for crying out loud!" Yuffie replied. Her voice sounded more distressed than before.

Reno stole a glance at the worried girl beside him. These moments when he was cared for were the moments he felt vulnerable. Yet upon seeing her young, somewhat boyish face, Reno chuckled lightly.

He didn't feel anything afterwards. All he felt was a dull impact upon the floor before he passed out.


The sky in Wutai had turned a brilliant crimson glow. The sunset had always been the same regardless of the place, if one may think about it. But the addition of beautiful sceneries made sunsets in particular places seem more beautiful.

At least that's what a crimson-cloaked figure thought to himself as he stood on the gate on the Wutai borderline.

"Wutai…I'm finally here."

Vincent took a deep sigh before continuing to his intended destination, the Kisaragi Compound.


"The bloods will meet, sir."

"Very well. Have you confirmed that?"

"Yes, sir. The "terror" has entered the sanctuary."

"Good. Both of you may return."

"Yes, sir."

And the black-clad man shut his PHS with a satisfied smirk.

"So, Seo…whatcha gonna do now?"

The person mentioned stowed his PHS away and curled up a faint, sinister smile on his otherwise handsome, yet feminine face.

"I'm going back to base, of course. Planning takes a large amount of time to do and I'm afraid I cannot comply to whatever you're trying to ask me." He said coolly.

The other men sat dumbfounded on his bike before replying.

"Ahhh, but I wanted to have some fun before the next mission." He said, sighing.

"But Kir, when will you learn to grow out of your habit to eat ramen before missions?" The man called Seo asked back.

"It's not that…" the other men replied. "I want to eat in that new ramen stall I found the other day."

Seo sighed resignedly. His partner, Kir, was a well-built man. The only offset to his broad muscles and strong powers, was his tendency to act somehow childishly; something that he thought was miraculous given his boss's strictness.

"In any case…" Seo said, breaking the silence "…return to base after you're done and don't take too long. Got it?"

The answers were two rumbles, one from Kir's stomach followed by a rumble from his bike as he sped off toward Wutai. Seo sighed for the last time before speeding off to an opposite direction.


"Don't misunderstand. We have no intention of joining you. But for now, we'll agree not to bother each other. That's all, yo." said Reno.

"Same here. We don't have any intentions to work alongside the Turks, either." Cloud retorted.

Then the impromptu alliance took off towards Da-Chao Mountain range. All of them were caught up looking until Cloud and his party found Corneo and his hostages, Elena and Yuffie .They managed to defeat his pet monster, but they are forced to back away when the vile kidnapper threatened to kill his hostages. Things would've gone downhill if it weren't for Reno and Rude's timely intervention that allowed them to defeat Corneo for good.

"Here goes, yo." said Reno as he gave a hand at freeing Elena. As soon as she got off, she broke off immediately at the hand of the calming Rude. Reno went to work on Yuffie, but the struggling kunoichi just won't settle. This earned Reno death glares from Cloud and Vincent, but he shrugged off and untied Yuffie smoothly.

"Man, you're a total pain." Reno exclaimed later. He was of course addressing the whining, sulky ninja that he rescued earlier. They were talking within Wutai's most famous bar, Turtle's paradise, well away from AVALANCHE's (or the other Turks, for that matter) earshot; saving him from unnecessary glares.

"Excuse me? You as much as a pervy as that fat old fart! How can I sit still while you're looking at my thighs!" she shouted back at Reno.

"(Perfect, a whiny little kid whose over-conscious about that stuff.)" Reno thought dryly.

"Look…" Reno started "…if I hadn't been there, you would've been a squashed pumpkin like that fat ass there so be grateful, kid."

This seemed to prick Yuffie a lot since she intensified her glare. However, instead of having the intended effect, Reno found it somehow amusing and he ended with a smirk.

"Shut up, Turk-ey."

And Reno would call her brat and she would retort with a Turkey again, and the cycle goes until one of them breaks it. It was always that way ever since they met for the first time. Reno never had any problem with that and neither did she.

But he couldn't remember when was it when he longed to tease the life out of that childish kid again.

"Hey, Reno?"

"Hmmmhh?"

"I think he's alive."

"(Who, me? I'm always alive, yo. What do you mean with—)"

"You can leave us now. Thank you."

"(Huh?)"

Then Reno heard a faint sound of a door closing.

"Hey Turkey, wakey-wakey."

"(Leave me, darnit.)"

"Come on! Rise and shine!"

"(Shaddup. I know my hair's red.)"

"He-lllo! You hear me?"

"(Man, get the lights off.)"

"Oh well. Time for some desperate measure!"

"(Desperate—?)"

"Here goes!"

Whap!

Reno felt a crushing force upon his chest. It wasn't at all painful, but enough to force him out of his lazy stupor.

"Owwwhhhh…"

Reno groaned as soft lights of sunset bathed the chamber he was in. He groggily opened his eyes to examine his surroundings. It was a simple, curving semicircle chamber with red-brown décor around the walls. It had a pleasant, welcoming air inside. He squinted his eyes to look at his body. He immediately found what made him awake.

Yuffie grinned sheepishly as she lied on top of Reno's stomach. She had clearly jumped on of him just to wake him up.

"Good evening, sleepyhead." she said, smiling cheerily.

Reno continued to look around groggily as if her action didn't wake him up yet. It wasn't until a numb pain hit him in his right arm. Finally, he gave up trying to sleep again and sat up (after Yuffie had gotten off him).

"Whatappened?" he said, still a little groggy.

"You fainted in my house after bleeding heavily. You bled so much I thought you need a transfusion, but general first aid worked well." she said happily.

"Where am I?" Reno asked.

"In my room. Hey, it's better than the hospital, so be grateful." she said quickly when she saw Reno's eyes darting all over the surroundings.

Reno then relaxed his tensed body, knowing that he had nothing to worry about. Sure, he had been visiting the Kisaragis a few times, but there were quite formal; that meaning he is accompanied by his fellow Turk, or even Rufus himself. It is only several months ago that his visits were more private and less formal, and he is feeling more free that way. Little by little the people in this house started to accept him, particularly upon the knowledge of the Corneo incident.

Now, that he felt comfortable he suddenly began posing like the womanizer he has always been, reclining and smiling seductively toward the young princess.

"So, my lovely princess, how kind of you to let me in your lovely den, and to lend your cradle in my assistance no less." said Reno in his best seducing voice. He loved to play this game towards many women just to see how far their self-resistance towards him is.

"So, would it be too much just to ask you to share this lovely roost together?" he finished with his best smile.

Yuffie only smiled lightly. As soon as she did so, however, she pulled her hand outward. It held an object.

Reno couldn't see it clearly, for he felt that Yuffie's smile was wicked and mischievous. When he noticed her hand moving swiftly, it was too late.

Whap!

He can only make it out little by little.

Smack!

It was…

Splat!

…a white…

Slap!

…huge…

Splat!

…crested…

Slap!

…paper fan.

Whack!

When the beating had subsided, Reno lied upside down on the bed with a groan.

"All right, you win."

Then he gave a weary sigh before passing out again.


During his last visit, the courtyard didn't used to have this much greenery. Now Vincent amazed himself at how the scenery had changed. Now rows of fresh-scented bushes line the main paved courtyard to the Kisaragi Pagoda.

Now, after Wutai's rise to power, the Kisaragi's humble home was replaced by a new pagoda in which the household still lived. The construction was quick, partly because Shinra lent a helping hand. The pagoda now is a beautiful structure overlooking the city gleaming with the golden sunset.

As Vincent entered the pagoda, he noticed the relatively quiet surrounding. However, as soon as he moved closer to the stairwell, he noticed some noises from above.

"Thanks for the care and for the beating, brat."

"It's your fault for pulling such a cheesy act, Turkey!"

"Come on, you know you loved it, yo!"

"Shut up!"

It sounded like a game of teases and counter-teases with both of them hurrying to walk down. Vincent couldn't properly see what caused the noise. When Reno reached the landing, however, he could see what the noise was.

The room immediately felt feverish. The glances upon the two men met and they pierced toward each other. Yuffie only stared wide-mouthed at the silent war.

"Yo, cloaked rag doll."

"…good evening, red-headed lowlife."


A/N:

Waaah! I'm late! Holy crap. The trip to Egypt really screwed my schedule to upload. In any case, second chappie's here!

Now, all I need is a good nudge to keep me writing and that is:

Reading and Reviewing! Enjoi:-)