Trapdoor (Part 11)

by anza (03.12.05)

Cloud wasn't good at following his instincts. If he was, he would have long ago jumped Kadaj with no thought to the consequences. But something about the way Sephiroth said it - something about the way he stared at Cloud as if he could impart some subliminal message under the weight of his already-heavy words...

"Do you know who the Turks are?" That low bass echoed through Cloud like the agonized voice of a guitar.

Above all things, Cloud wanted to protect his brothers. He knew there was hype and non-privacy when it came to being a high-profile executive in the largest electronics company on the continent - but that was exactly what he depended on to keep them safe. No one would stand by idly if three successful younger brothers of an innocent Shin-Ra executive were hurt in public. Cloud was right in gauging that as long as he kept the inside of their little family stable and tranquil, there would be no worries.

On the Continent, Turks was another word for mafia.

"Tseng is one of them." That mild-mannered, handsome Wutaian? Cloud pictured him in his mind. One crimson dot on his forehead, hair tied back into a ponytail neatly. Dressed in an impeccable black suit and tie, Cloud had foreseen him hanging out with the rest of the executives at Tifa's bar. Yet he couldn't just ignore Sephiroth's warning.

He didn't even know why Sephiroth warned him. The man was pretty cold sometimes, after all.

So though Cloud didn't trust his instincts, he knew what he felt: the distinct chill that there was something much, much larger hanging over his fluffy chocobo head.

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Loz was snoring so loud Cloud wondered how the house hadn't shaken off its foundation yet. Though he made enough noise to stampede a herd of elephants when he was drumming, the grumble-drone of Loz's unconscious sleep habits was capable of making the entire block shudder with the sound vibrations. Every time he snorted, Kadaj turned his music up louder, until Cloud could hear it tinnying even through Loz's snores. With a resigned sigh, Cloud gathered up his papers, grabbed his two still-conscious brothers, and drove them all to the mall.

It was Sunday afternoon. As Yazoo exited the car, the sunset hit him just right so that for a split second Cloud thought he was looking at Sephiroth. The sun highlighted the silver a bright red, and turned Yazoo's eyes an unnatural two colors. When he looked back at his oldest brother, he gave a smirk when he saw he was staring. "See something you like, nii-san?"

Cloud clenched his jaw and gave a look that clearly said, "Don't be stupid", and the three of them trooped into a department store. Like a girl, Kadaj wandered into the teenage boys section, peering into the racks at anything black. In unison Cloud and Yazoo rolled their eyes and declined to comment. Cloud supposed he really did rub off on the boys.

Not that they were boys any longer.

He remembered the first time he saw them, at court. The three of them were sitting at the table in the front, facing the judge. Loz was sobbing on Yazoo's shoulder, the middle brother trying to soothe him. Kadaj was the only one with no emotion on his face, as if someone had taken a rag and wiped all expression from his clear green eyes. Then, in one distinct motion, his head turned, and he looked straight at Cloud.

Cloud had been twenty-one, just elected to the head of his department, but he couldn't help the deer-in-headlights feeling he got. It remained today; Kadaj only had to look at him with that half-curious, half-knowing look, and he would instantly shut up. When all three of them showed up on his door, he looked for Kadaj first. This time he detected worry, and uncertainty in those eyes. Kadaj had been eleven, and already Cloud saw a shadow of his own weary eyes in those reflecting pools. It wasn't until he gruffly invited them all in and set three mugs of hot chocolate with happy faces in whipped cream in front of them that any of them said anything.

Predictably, it had been Loz who spoke up. "Where's Mom," he asked. Cloud gave him a look that cowed the fifteen-year-old, and conversation had dried up until Kadaj tried to cook dinner. But then, Cloud supposed he couldn't really count that as conversation, as he was cursing creatively enough to make Cid choke on his cigarette.

With some resigned nostalgia he tore himself away from those thoughts and forced himself to look through a few polo shirts. He had just raised his eyebrow at a particularly hideous magenta one when a tie was shoved in his face. Amused/Annoyed, he tilted a few degrees to the right to see Kadaj's grinning face. The tie was black with yellow happy faces all over it.

"C'mon, nii-san! It'll look great when you're rocking with us!" The smile was infectious; Cloud couldn't fight it and looking over Kadaj's shoulder, Yazoo couldn't either.

"I don't rock with you guys." He was trying to tell the truth, but Kadaj's disappointed look made him want to lie.

"Of course not," Yazoo cut in, his voice smooth enough to slice. "You preen, nii-san."

Cloud was indignant. "I do not preen!"

"Buy the tie," Kadaj chipped in. The grins on both the silver-haired siblings' faces were equally identical and frightening.

In the end, Cloud didn't buy the smiley-face tie. Instead, at Kadaj's behest, he bought a blue one with cartoon pink, grinning squids all over it. He decided he would wear it tomorrow and see how many comments he could rack up. Perhaps he would even take a picture of Sephiroth or Rufus' face when they saw it. They weren't blackmail pictures, but they would be sufficiently amusing enough to hang on his wall.

They had just rounded the corner when Cloud saw the sleek black car in the driveway. And somewhere, somewhere in his frozen, socially-inept brain, a voice told him disaster had struck.