Crimson Triangle

Disclaimer: The similar line as above. I ain't stealin' nuthin', everything is a copyright of their respective owners, so don't sue.

"(…)" indicated thought.

"…" speech.

Chapter Three: Friction

"Yo, cloaked rag doll."

"…good evening, red-headed lowlife."

Yuffie can only stare wide-mouthed at the exchange of attitudes. Then the memory came back to her in a surge of wave.

The door of the cozy tavern suddenly barged open. Instinctively, Reno drew a gun from his holster and aimed it towards the noise. However, he certainly didn't expect to see another barrel of a gun pointed to his face.

"What are you doing here, Yuffie?"

It was Vincent. He had clearly overheard the conversation between Reno and her earlier. The other patrons of the bar suddenly went quiet at the sudden standoff. And, by the looks of it, neither men is going to let down.

Yuffie remembered, Reno and Vincent wasn't the best combination, even after the meteor crisis had both Shinra and AVALANCHE into a truce. And now, that they were actually facing each other there and then, she knows what she was in for.

"So, whatcha doin' here, Mr. One Man Army? Something about Wutaian national security?" said Reno with a barely concealed cynicism.

"As a matter of fact, I was here under Lord Kisaragi's request. And as you can see, it has absolutely—" he said with a specific stress on the cold word, "—nothing to do with you."

"Spiteful as usual, I see." said Reno cynically.

"Why, thank you very much. I guess it is just the way I am." He replied coldly.

"(I—I have to do something!)" Yuffie thought quickly.

"Er, how are you Vinnie?" said Yuffie, trying to ease the situation.

"Vinnie? His name is Vinnie? Vinnie Valentine?" said Reno with a quirked eyebrow.

"Shut up Reno." said Yuffie exasperatedly.

"Who, me?" Reno replied with another quirked eyebrow.

Ignoring Reno, Yuffie quickly continued, "You said Dad told you to get here?"

"Why yes, actually. Staniv called me and forwarded me a letter. It told me to go here at once which I found rather strange. Is Lord Kisaragi present at the moment?"

Yuffie fidgeted at those words. She seemed like a child asked about her test on school when she actually scored a bad mark. Her eyes shifted to the floor tentatively before answering.

"Erm, Vince, actually—"

"Princess Kisaragi, he is here."

All three of them shifted their attention to the maid. Yuffie huffed heavily at the news before replying.

"Very well, send him in."

At once, the maid left the room. The men changed their attention back to Yuffie who fidgeted even more in her place.

"Yuffie, what's wrong?"

"Yeah, what's with this guy, yo?"

Reno and Vincent stared with contempt at each other; it wasn't usual for them to think on the same thing although it is predictable in this situation. The only thing is, they don't even like, or believe in coincidences. However, before Yuffie can properly reply, the maid reentered with a man behind her. The man gave a polite bow and smiled charmingly at Yuffie.

"Good evening, Seishirou." said Yuffie rather stiffly.

The man was seemed to be in his late twenties. He was young, but he looked mature for his age. He wore a neat, pleated oriental dress that contrasted greatly with Yuffie's combination of T-shirt, vest and beige shorts that she usually wore. His stature was quite ordinary; however, his most striking feature is his eyepatch that covered his left eye while the other eye was slightly obscured by the long bangs of his black, tied hair.

"I have come as we arranged, but it seems that you have visitors, princess Kisaragi." he said serenely.

"Ah, no they—they are leaving now, aren't you, guys?" said Yuffie, nodded towards the two men. She smiled slightly towards them. While Reno seemed oblivious, Vincent caught the drift immediately.

"Yes, we are. Let's go, Reno." said Vincent quickly.

Reno was about to retort, but Yuffie gave him a smile. Reno knew that smile was forced, and her eyes said something like 'please'. Resignedly, he followed Vincent outside into the outer courtyard after he bowed formally toward the visitor. Before he reached the door, he noticed a long sword-like object attached to the man's waist. He stared at it a few seconds before exiting.

After the door closed, the man spoke. "Shall we go?" he said calmly.

"Yes, let's go." Yuffie said uneasily. After that, both of them went upstairs.

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"Why the hell are you here, yo?" said Reno impatiently.

They were walking outside on the courtyard. The sky had darkened significantly and the oriental-styled lampposts have lit. However, there were still frogs croaking at the pond beside the illuminated path.

"I received a phone call two days ago telling me to meet up with Staniv. I went to the place and received a letter. From that letter, I was instructed to come here for a 'confidential' reason." he finished.

Reno shifted disbelievingly at his spot where he stood before he pulled out a pack of cigarette and smoked one of them.

"Well, I came here…" he puffed "…for a vacation. No, more like fleeing from work actually."

This time, it was Vincent's turn to raise his eyebrow; he could feel Reno is hiding something. Under the scrutinizing glance, Reno gave in.

"Alright, it is my holiday, but see, Yuffie left me a message, yo." he puffed again. Vincent didn't respond, only the rustlings of his blood-red cape can be heard. "She said the usual stuff, you know, complaining about her new life here and stuff, but at the end of the message, she wants me to come, so I did." he finished his cigarette and threw it to a strategically obscure trash bin beside them.

"But why does she have to throw us outta here? I mean, what does she have to do with that guy?" said Reno. "It would be very unlike her not to tell her friends about something, right?"

"Hmm, I wonder? In any case, even if she told us, she might have something in store for us anyhow." Vincent replied, remembering a memorable incident in Wutai two years ago involving AVALANCHE, Yuffie, and stolen materias; something he always thought with both humor and chagrin.

"So, what are ya gonna do, vamp? Hang around?" Reno asked flatly.

"Unlike you, I have places to go, and things to do. So, I'll return there as soon as they allow me to." Vincent replied in the same, cold voice.

"Well, see you around."

And they strode in opposite directions. As soon as he reached his car, however, Reno pulled out another cigarette and smoked it deeply. He caught a glance of the compound one last time when he was beside his car. It now glinted with the lights from the windows that decorated the magnificent structure.

"'Hope I don't have to see you around…" Reno puffed his cigarette wearily.

"…asshole." he inhaled the smoke leisurely before throwing the cigarette butt on his car's ashtray. He started his car and drove to the center of Wutai, full of expectation for the young night.

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There was a dull thud and a yelp of pain. Simultaneously, two bodies were strewn, writhing on the floor. Both of them tried to stand again but to no avail. Their assailant stood calmly, striding small, steady paces with his gentle movement.

"That was rather rude, princess Kisaragi, sending your ninjas to harm me." he said.

The addressed person stood wide-eyed, horrified by the show of force that just unfolded before her eyes. Her two most powerful guardians, defeated in a seemingly effortless manner. Her mind quickly tried to recap the situation, but all she remembered that her two guardians ambushed the man in front of her as soon as he entered the room. And, as soon as it began, it was over.

"Surely all those years that you've spent with those ragtag friends—or rather, eco-terrorists—didn't diminish your manner as a Kisaragi? Or are you implying that this is the new way to greet visitors?" he added, eyeing Yuffie with a calm, yet hungry look.

Yuffie narrowed down her eyes defiantly towards the man in front of her. For her, it's better to stand proud and defiant rather to cower in fear; her Wutaian blood had shaped her this way.

"What do you want from me?" she said slowly, defiantly.

"What I want…" he said calmly "…is something that both of us, and all of Wutai will agree with."

"Elaborate, will you?" Yuffie replied firmly.

"Fine, I'll explain." he replied as he stopped striding about. He briefly cast a glance at the writhing men on the floor. Apparently, they were on the verge of passing out due to their injuries.

"I would like to propose a marriage to you" he said seriously.

Yuffie scoffed at the idea and said sharply, "Well, you know my answer. No, thank you." with a forced bow and smile.

"I don't think you understand. This is for the benefit of Wutai." he explained calmly.

"Yeah, right." Yuffie scoffed again

"You see," he began "…we're Wutaian, both of us. And that should make you understand. Our pride has been suffering for many years under Shinra's oppression. And now, now that we are free, we can rise again and reclaim what we have lost."

"But see, I was expecting that when we were freed from Shinra's occupation after Meteor, we would immediately take our chance to utterly destroy Shinra. But what happened? That—forgive me for my language—peace-loving, hypocritical, cowardly father of yours…"

"Don't insult my father!" Yuffie interjected furiously.

"…opted instead for a truce with our arch-enemy instead of reclaiming our glory." he continued. "I thought it was wise of him at first, creating a ploy of peace in order to strike when they least expect it. I even thought that accepting their aid in rebuilding was wise in order to strengthen ourselves before the war. But, after two years, I realized, the truce was intended to be a real peace; cooperative, mutualistic symbiosis between two lingering creatures. But you know, two tigers cannot live in the same mountain. You understand, don't you?"

"No I don't. What does your struggle have to do with marriage?" Yuffie retorted scathingly.

"Princess Kisaragi, with all due respect, please do consider that I am but a general in the Wutai military. As you well know, unnecessary bloodshed is highly undesirable…" to which Yuffie responded with a loud snort. "I can, in fact, overthrow your father with a simple coup d'etat, but that will take unnecessary manpower from within our ranks. It would be much simpler to persuade people that our cause is a mutual goal between the royal family and the military. If such, ahem, arrangements are to be made, persuasion will be a matter of simple propaganda. And our assault against Shinra will be viewed as a noble cause instead of a simple offensive measure." Seishirou finished with a calm smile that accompanied his otherwise maniacal glint in his eye.

"A nice propaganda, Mr. Ambitious General, but my father just won't agree with you." Yuffie spoke with full confidence. "You're lucky my father is not present at the moment. As soon as he gets here…"

However, a chilling snigger interrupted her in mid-sentence. When Yuffie looked at Seishirou's face, it's as if he had dealt his ace in a cruel game of poker.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I wouldn't expect him to appear any time soon if I were you." Seishirou said in the midst of his cold smile. "I always thought of him as something of a bothersome nuisance. Why, it is only by the courtesy of his, er, absence, that we are able to have a nice, private chat together." He finished while lightly kicking the side of one of the downed ninja on the floor.

It finally hit her forcefully in her head.

"What have you done to my father!" she shouted, full of rage.

Seishirou merely continued to snigger. He continued to stride about calmly in the room, looking hungrily towards Yuffie.

"Relax, princess, I have done…nothing that will put your father in a state of harm. Of course, I need hardly to say that everything could change by what you decide." he finished with a light, sinister smile.

Yuffie's mind was flooded by scenarios after scenarios, each worsening after the other. She then pulled out a decision out of her confusion.

"You know what? I think you're shitting me."

It was a bad remark alright, since the speaker herself admitted; though she credited it partially to a foul-mouthed pilot who taught her the word. Nevertheless, it made her more confident, if not bolder.

However, the target was merely slightly amused, with his mouth showing the slightest of twitch. "Language, princess. With that kind of attitude, I wonder why so many people are willing to pass you as a princess?" he commented half-humorously.

"Actually, it was a bad decision. I wasn't bluffing and in this situation, it is better not to try your luck as you had done. Now, you could've severely endangered the very life of your father." he continued flatly.

Amidst the confusion in her mind, she remembered her own maxim, 'Attack now, think later!'

Defiantly, she said, "You know what? Why don't I make this easier and kill you here and now?" while simultaneously pulling her Oritsuru. She kept it with her at all times; the small size of the paper crane-shaped weapon made it easy to be carried everywhere.

"That would be another false decision, princess, considering I have downed two of your most powerful ally." Seishirou replied calmly while lightly cocking his head to the ninjas that passed out on the floor.

Now, Yuffie is getting desperate. Even her last measure was also a bluff to intimidate the loathsome man in front of her. Now that it didn't work, Yuffie had no choice. She had to make her move now; the situation is getting to a boiling point.

"I think I should remind you princess, that we always have other methods of persuasion," Seishirou said calmly. He then slowly raised his left hand to his eyepatch. He carefully slithered his fingers to form a grip around the covering object.

"Princess…" he told Yuffie, "…do your best not to scream."

He removed his eyepatch slowly, revealing a spherical object within. Yuffie looked intently to the sphere in apprehension. That is, before she felt an overwhelming feeling that rose through her chest.

She saw nothing except a cloud of darkness rising. Seishirou watched with amusement as he replaced his eyepatch. He addressed Yuffie once again, "I shall see you again as soon as you have made your mind, princess. Until then, good night."

The door then closed shut, leaving Yuffie and her two of her bodyguard, now passed out from their injuries.

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It was a burst of night wind that made Reno realize something.

"I need to get a new windshield…" Reno murmured wryly.

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Okay, okay. This update is soooooo late, but this is the real deal now. I'm gonna keep y'all posted. Sorry for the grammar errors again, but I promise I'll improve. Thanks to those that reviewed for me. They made me want o write more. And this is partly bcuz refused to allow me upload for the past 2 days. Anyways, 4th chappie underway ladies and gentleman.