Mission 12: Date
Rude was not very expressive or emotional, so when the identity of his mystery date was reveled he remained cool, calm and collected on the surface. But deep down Rude was frustrated.
Rufus had the bright idea to make the Turks participate in a celebrity Valentine's Day auction, where the prize would be a date. Tseng and Elena avoided it by making it clear that they were dating each other. As deadly as Turks are trained to be, it was best not to provoke feelings of jealousy. Thus Tseng and Elena were out.
Reno immediately said he had a girlfriend, but Rufus paid him no mind claiming that, "it's okay as long as she doesn't find out," because he didn't believe the girl existed anyway.
In their little reunion at the president's office, it was at that point that Elena crossed her arms and glared icy daggers at Rufus, "don't encourage him to cheat."
To which Rufus responded by assuring Elena that "Reno is lying."
"I'm not lying!" Reno immediately defended himself. "If you don't believe me I'll tell her to come over tomorrow," and by then he would have turned that lie into a truth. Even if it was an improvised girlfriend, it was better than having no say at all on who the date was.
"I know you're lying, you're just going to go out and find a girl at the last minute to get out of the auction." Rufus saw right through the plan.
"So what if I am?" Reno challenged. "Actually, forget that, I'll just refuse."
Rufus shrugged, he couldn't look too disappointed for his trick to work. "Very well, then I will fill in for you."
The room was filled with gasps. "Wait, I changed my mind!" If Rufus was willing to go on the date, then the auction was either rigged to go to a certain girl, or all the richest girls participating were hot.
"Fine, fine, I'll leave my participation for the last auction. Rude, you're in the first action, Reno in the second, and I will be in the third," it was lie. Rufus would not participate at all, but he needed to keep Reno motivated.
As we end this little flashback at the president's office and return to the present at the Shinra lobby, we find Rude in a state of extreme frustration and making an inhuman effort not to show it, for there stood Cloud Strife, holding out the little slip of paper that proved he had won the auction.
Reno who had accompanied Rude to the lobby for moral support, and most of all to get a clearer idea of what awaited him in the next auction, was quick to point a finger at Cloud and yell at the top of his lungs, "Cloud Strife!"
"I had to!" Cloud yelled equally as loud, if not louder. The random employees whose attention had not been caught by Reno, was now captured by Cloud, and the blond felt countless pairs of eyes focused on him. "It's not... It's just that..."
"Tifa," Rude voiced. His only hope was that this was a gift for Tifa. Not that he actually expected it to be.
Cloud took a deep breath, "okay, I admit it. I overheard Tifa talking about an auction and thought it was for Rude, so I outbid her... But then I realized that I actually outbid a girl I don't know and the action Tifa was participating in was some online auction for a plushie."
Reno burst out laughing, "you messed up!"
Rude was not happy, he cleared his throat and Reno immediately fell silent.
Cloud shifted uncomfortably, "sorry," the delivery boy apologized.
Rude shook his head, it couldn't be helped. It was too late since the auction was already over.
Cloud rubbed the back of his head and shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "we could go play cards at Cid's house."
Thus Rude ended up playing cards with the guys instead of going out on a date, but the in the next auction it was Reno's turn. To quiet Reno's complaints, Rufus set some new rules for the second auction, only women could bid, which banned jealous men who suspected their crushes were bidding from ruining the auction. After the auction ended, Reno waited in the lobby to meet his mystery date, but she was nowhere to be found.
A couple arrived and the lady handed Reno the paper. Then the woman spoke, "we'll be gone all day, so you'll have the house to yourself," and she handed him a set of keys.
Reno thought his real date must be waiting in the home of this couple; maybe it was a sister, cousin, or friend. Then he finally realized that he had seen these people before. They were Shera and Cid Highwind. "So who's the date?" Reno asked, Shera had already said she and Cid would be out, plus she was married, so it was obvious she didn't enter the auction for herself. Reno could only reason that he was intended to be a gift for a fan girl.
"There's no date for you," Cid informed him.
"Sorry, but I wanted someone to clean the house and do a few chores while Cid and I go out. The Turks mission requests were cancelled until the Valentine's Day auction was over so I just used the auction..." Shera explained, but she was leaving a very important detail out, that would soon be revealed.
"Why do you need a Turk? Why go through all of this for a house keeper?" It made no sense to Reno, it was all too suspicious.
Cid lowered his voice, "not exactly, sure you need to complete this list of chores," and Reno was given the list, "but your real job is to guard the plans for my new airship. Someone will try to steal them tonight."
"So who's guarding the plans now?" Sure it was only the afternoon, but if the goods were left unguarded, thieves could strike in broad daylight.
"No one, because I'm taking the disk with the plans with me. I would catch the thief myself but," Cid glanced at Shera.
"No more canceling our dates," Shera warned him.
"The thief might chicken out if I'm around, but the Turk's new goody-goody reputation will trick him into taking the risk, then you can catch him." Cid finished.
"Do I get to beat up the thief?" Reno asked.
Cid nodded, "sure, why not?"
He might have been cheated out of a date with a hot rich girl, but at least Reno would get to release some stress and defend the reputation of the Turks tonight.
End of Mission 12
Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Mission 12 was requested by Sasami10.