The Simple Life

Chapter Four

oOoOo

But Rufus disobeyed Tifa.

Upon arriving home, they discovered that Reno and Elena were really missing.

"Aren't they helping Cloud?" Rufus asked Tseng with a suspicious look on his face.

Tseng just shook his head. He was seated by the telephone in Cloud's small office in the topmost floor of the house, recording messages and listing client names. "I tried calling Reno but it seems like he has left his mobile phone in his room. Same with Elena." He explained.

"Bloody hell…" Rufus was about to say something else but Tifa cut him off, "That is enough, Rufus. I'll take care of everything. Just stay in your room and rest. Your face is red." She grabbed his hand and dragged him downstairs to the second floor where his room is located.

"So what if I'm red?" he demanded impatiently.

"You are flushed. It's cold today and you're feeling warm. Just lie down and rest." She opened the door to Cloud's room where Rufus is sharing it with him. She made Rufus lie down on the bed and rushed to the door again, "Yuffie!" she called out.

No answer.

She sighed heavily. "Blimey, where is that girl! She has been gone for more than an hour already!" she muttered before stepping out of the room.

Rufus wondered where she was going, until he heard some footsteps approaching the room. He saw Vincent Valentine enter.

Rufus stared at him in an estranged manner. "I'm sure she told you to guard me." He told Vincent.

Vincent just grabbed a chair and sat down by the bed. "Not really. She told me to watch over you." He answered.

Silence.

Rufus did not move, Vincent was the same.

"Say something, your silence is making me ill." Rufus muttered.

"You want a bedtime story?" Vincent asked.

"Take me to the living room. I would like to watch some TV." Rufus answered.

"No TV for you. You have a fever." Vincent told him.

"What? But I'm bored!" Rufus said.

Silence.

"How do you know that I have a fever? You haven't even touched me yet." Rufus told him slyly.

"You look flushed, the heat is emanating from your body and I can feel it, and Tifa told me so." Vincent answered simply as he looked at Rufus, examining the exasperated look on his face.

"Really now, you believe that woman?" Rufus asked airily as he eyed Vincent annoyingly.

"I should. She is my friend." Vincent said. "Now which fairytale would you like to hear? Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid…" he continued.

"Aren't I too old for fairytales?" Rufus asked in annoyance as he crossed his arms.

Vincent crossed his arms. "Very well, you want a more mature story?" he asked.

Rufus's eyes widened at him. "Pornography?" he asked in amazement.

Vincent just stared at him with a stiff look on his face, "Once upon a time, there was a Turk…" he began.

"Oh. Splendid. Enlighten me." Rufus said sarcastically.

"…who fell in-love with a scientist." Vincent continued.

Rufus slowly sat up and eyed him suspiciously.

Vincent proceeded, looking away from Rufus. "But then there was an evil man who took her away…"

"…And the evil man experimented on her, used her so that a monster would be born. And that evil man captured the Turk, turned his left arm into a metal claw and put him to sleep inside a coffin locked up in the basement of a big mansion in a far-away kingdom." Rufus continued for him with a bored look on his face.

Vincent stared at him in shock.

Rufus smiled slyly at him.

Vincent moved closer to him. "What do you know about my life?" he asked softly.

"Only the minor details. Would you mind elaborating everything to me now?" Rufus asked as he leaned against the wall by the window and adjusted his blanket.

Vincent felt embarrassed that Rufus knew about him.

"Alright, if it would please you to know, I read every single file of the Turks from past to present when I was still the Vice President in Junon, that's why I know what happened to you." Rufus told him with a stiff look on his face.

"So it was documented after all…" Vincent muttered miserably. "So, everybody knows?" he asked curiously.

Rufus shrugged. "Depending on who read the file. I just found it hidden in one file cabinet in the archives of the Records Section." He answered.

Vincent just looked away in misery. "You must think I'm very pathetic…" he said softly.

"Don't care. I want to watch TV now." Rufus told him.

"You can't watch TV downstairs. You have to stay here and rest." Vincent told him sternly.

"Well then bring the TV up here so that I can watch." Rufus said.

"The space in this room is too small for a TV to fit in here." Vincent answered.

Rufus grunted and let himself fall down on the bed again, lying down in annoyance. "Bloody hell. What do you do for fun then?" he asked in exasperation.

"We can play cards." Vincent suggested after a moment of silence.

"I don't play cards." Rufus pointed out snobbishly.

"Not even Old Maid?" Vincent asked.

"…that's ridiculous. We're men and we're playing Old Maid… unless one of us is gay…" Rufus began to eye him suspiciously.

Vincent raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey, I know I look like this but it doesn't mean I'm gay." He protested with a serious look on his face.

"I didn't say anything." Rufus said, turning away.

"What do you want to do then if you don't want to play cards?" Vincent asked.

"I want to watch TV." Rufus said.

"No you can't." Vincent said sternly.

Rufus gave up and just sighed heavily. "Fine." He muttered.

Vincent eyed him curiously. "You're an only child, aren't you?" he asked.

"Everybody knows that." Rufus told him.

"You're spoiled, you're conceited, you're too arrogant, you go on your own merry way…" Vincent began.

"Thank you for pointing it out. But you're stereotyping." Rufus answered before getting up on his own to put on his shoes.

"What are you doing?" Vincent asked.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Rufus told him before getting up and walked out of the room.

Vincent followed after him.

Rufus found the bathroom by himself and just as he was about to enter, he noticed that Vincent was still trailing close behind him. He turned around to face him. "Pardon me, but I need to take a leak, if you know what I mean, and I would like to wash my face." He said.

"Do so." Vincent said.

Rufus was silent. "Alone." He pointed out.

"No." Vincent said.

Rufus was mortified.

"You're sick. You might fall down and hit your head on the toilet or something. I'm guarding you." Vincent told him.

"Look, I know you're one of the best Turks from your time, but I don't need your guidance right now." Rufus told him.

"Well I won't watch. I'll just be inside with you but I'll stand by the door. Nothing to be ashamed of, we're both men." Vincent told him calmly.

Rufus was not in the mood to start an argument and he would not want anybody else to know the reason why he was annoyed with Vincent. "Fine." He muttered.

oOoOo

"This is really beginning to annoy me…" Cloud muttered.

"What's the matter?"

"I can't find the address. It's just here in Kalm but we've been going around in circles here, we still haven't found the house." He answered as he stopped his Fenrir for a moment by the pavement and looked back at the package that was behind him and was tied safely on the seat. "This is actually the last delivery job for today." He said as he brought out the paper containing the list of clients, recipients and addresses.

"7 Hillside, Kalm…"

"Yep, that's it." Cloud said.

"Oh Cloud. No wonder you can't find it! It's probably one of the houses by the hills! All the while you were just circling around the town proper."

Cloud's eyes widened. "Damn, you're right… why didn't I think of that…"

"You're getting older! Teehee!"

"Haha. Very funny, Aerith." He said sarcastically before starting his Fenrir again and rode off towards the hills.

When he finally located the house, he realized that he was in one of the big haciendas in Kalm.

"What a big place…"

"Yeah. I wonder who owns this…" Cloud said in wonder as he finally reached the front porch and stopped his Fenrir. He got down, untied the package and lifted it up to his chest, grunting in the process. "Man, this is heavy…" he muttered as he walked to the front door and searched for a doorbell. When he found that there was none, he just decided to knock.

After waiting for a few moments, someone opened the door from inside. An old man appeared in front of him… a very old man.

"Uhm… I've got a delivery for Mr. James Walker Sr." Cloud said.

The man looked up at him, squinting because of his bad eyesight. "Oh yes… thank you, young man. Just… put it down there…" the man told him.

Cloud placed the package on the floor and took a deep breath as he got back to his Fenrir to get his signature sheet. "Could you sign this please?" he asked.

The old man squinted as Cloud handed him the signature sheet and a pen. Slowly, the man began to sign with a trembling hand.

"You're alone in this big place, gramps?" Cloud asked curiously.

"My son James Jr. used to live here. He died in Midgar during Meteor. His children live in Edge and they send me supplies here every month… I guess you're the one to deliver them today." The old man explained before handing the signature sheet and the pen back to Cloud. "I am just waiting for a buyer for this big place and then I can finally move in with my grandchildren in Edge. This place just needs a caretaker so I've decided to remain here until someone buys this hacienda. I've put it on sale but nobody wants to buy it because of its ratty condition…" the old man said.

Cloud looked around. The fields are empty; there were no cows or buffalos grazing, no horses running around, no chocobos either. The house itself was big but it really needed a lot of maintenance.

"Ask him how much."

Cloud's eyes widened. "Are you nuts? This could be very expensive!" he was thinking to himself.

"Just ask him, Cloud. You might know someone who can be interested. In a way, you'll be helping this old man. He looks like he really needs the care of his grandchildren already…"

Cloud swallowed hard. "Fine, Aerith…" he thought before turning back to the old man. "How much are you selling the place?" he asked.

"The whole hacienda? 20,000 Gil only. I want this place out of my life. It just brings back a lot of bad memories!" the old man said exasperatingly.

Cloud's eyes widened. The calculator in his mind began to work. "Gee… I have more than 2 million Gil that nobody else knows that I have… except maybe for Aerith. … and I'm not even using it. Maybe I could buy this place…" he thought. "20,000? That's the final price?" he asked.

"Yes, that's it." The old man said.

Cloud smiled proudly at the old man. "I'll buy it." He said.

The old man looked up at him in shock. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"You have that kind of money?" the old man asked.

Cloud blinked. He was being judged by his appearance and his job again. "Yes, sir, I do. In fact I could get it right now from the bank and pay you in cash by 3 in the afternoon today." He told the old man rather confidently, not letting the old man's judgment affect his wanting to help the old man.

The old man smiled kindly at him. "Oh, thank you young man! Sure, sure. I'll be waiting for you here." He said.

Cloud nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'll see you this afternoon" He said before leaving.

As he was riding back to Midgar, he heard her voice again, "Teehee. Think rich and look poor. I think that's your motto."

"I wouldn't want to look like Rufus ShinRa, you know." Cloud answered with a slight smile on his face.

"Why not? Rufus is a charming young man. Every girl likes to be married to someone like him!"

"…does that mean that you don't find me charming and you like him too and you want to marry him?" Cloud asked with a frown, feeling rather offended.

"Teehee! Of course not. I'm just stating the facts about Rufus. Of course I like you better, Cloud. For me, you're the greatest man on the Planet."

He blushed when he heard that, but he did not say anything else.

"And where did you get all that money? You're even richer than Tifa! And she's been working in that bar for quite some time now."

"From my past adventures, killing monsters, defeating SOLDIERs… and then there's my wit and I guess I'm simply good with my tactics." He said with a proud smile on his face.

"You're already turning into a Rufus. You even sounded a bit like him except that you have the Midgarian accent! Is that what happens after a night of sleeping with him?"

"Aerith! I was just joking!" Cloud protested with an offended look on his face.

He heard her laugh.

He smiled slightly and just decided to focus on the road.

oOoOo

It was already 11:57 when Yuffie arrived… near lunchtime. "I'm back!" she announced with a happy smile on her face as she dragged the grocery bags to the kitchen.

Tifa stopped staring at the boiling soup in the pot when Yuffie entered the kitchen. She crossed her arms. "Just where have you been and what took you so long to get back here?" she demanded in annoyance.

"Whoa. You're in some cranky mood today." Yuffie said.

Tifa wondered why Yuffie was happy. "Who would not be bloody cranky if they asked someone to do the bloody groceries earlier in the morning and then comes back at bloody noon?" she asked in exasperation.

Yuffie began to put the things she purchased from the market in their proper places. "Are you bloody PMS-ing or something?" she mocked with a silly smile on her face.

"I am not. I'm frustrated. You're late! Now all I have to serve Rufus, Vincent, Denzel and myself is chicken noodle soup from the last small can of soup that I found in the cupboard!" Tifa told her as she turned her attention back to the soup and began to stir it.

"You used to never complain whenever we have less to eat… until Rufus came along…" Yuffie teased. "Oh yeah, I ran into Reno a while ago. He said that Elena is in a clinic and she needs to rest because she has a lot of injuries because of those silver-haired freaks. He's guarding her." She added.

Tifa sighed heavily. "So that's why they're not around. Tseng and Rude were wondering too. They're out right now doing rounds." she told her. "Did you buy any canned soup aside from the ones that I told you to buy?" she asked.

"Uh… no. Because I only have enough money for what you told me to buy." Yuffie answered.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Oh no… Will this even fit the five of us here?" she asked.

"I got a better idea. Let's just eat in a restaurant." Yuffie suggested.

"No way. Have you forgotten that Rufus is sick? I don't want him out of his room. I want him to rest. And I don't want him getting into any more trouble like what happened this morning on the way back from Marlene's school. We were attacked by those bloody gangsters. Luckily he didn't get hurt. He totally…" Tifa trailed off when she noticed that her lips were curling into a smile.

Yuffie was already looking at her. "…he totally what?" she asked curiously.

Tifa was unaware that Yuffie was looking at her facial expression. "…he protected me actually. He beat all of them." She stammered.

Yuffie grinned as she sat down. "If he's that strong, how come you don't want him to go out?" she asked.

"He is sick, Yuffie. He's still weak. He over-exerted himself when he decided to fight back those goons. I never even expected that he would bring his shotgun with him…" Tifa answered.

Yuffie was just quiet. "So where is he now?" she asked after a moment.

"Upstairs with Vincent." Tifa answered. "So what took you so long to return?" she asked.

Yuffie figured that Tifa was finally calm so she answered the question: "I met this really cool guy… he's cute too!" she said with a giggly tone.

Tifa was surprised. "A guy?" she asked.

"Like, yeah! He's tall and muscular and…" Yuffie trailed off when she remembered something.

"And what?" Tifa asked, getting more curious.

"Er… and I don't think I should be telling you more stuff about him." Yuffie told her as she turned away and crossed her arms with an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Why not?" Tifa asked.

"...because he told me not to tell anyone about him." Yuffie was thinking to herself, but this is what she answered to Tifa: "Because he doesn't know that I have a crush on him and I'd like to keep it a secret."

Tifa smiled and shrugged, understanding the situation. "Sure. Whatever you please…" she said before switching off the stove. She got an oven mitt and lifted the pot off from the stove and carefully poured its contents into a bowl… but she knew it was only fit for one person. "Blimey! What am I going to do now?" she cried out in frustration.

"Feed Rufus the soup and let's have a pizza delivered." Yuffie suggested. "Or better yet, you can stay here and take care of Rufus, while Vincent, Denzel and I can just have lunch somewhere and buy you some take-out." She added.

Tifa had a frown on her face. Frustration could clearly be seen in her eyes. "…I thought you don't have any money?" she asked.

"There are cheap street foods here in Edge." Yuffie told her.

Tifa sighed heavily before yelling Vincent and Denzel's names.