Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VII: Awakening ❯ Butting Heads: A Test Of Egos ( Chapter 30 )

The boyish looking ninja sat across from the sleeping Shinra general. She watched his chest move up and down as he breathed.

Leira had continued her bathing in the next room. Of course, new water had to be run because the old water was dirty and cold. The night sky had moved in and no one was the wiser.

Reno found himself drawn to the view of the setting sun of Wutai through his window. The orange and purples of the sky soothed him. He heard Yuffie start to giggle. "What's with you…or do I want to know?"

"Aww, ain't he ca-yute?! He looks so innocent when he's asleep like that!”

Reno coughed smugly. "Yeah, whatever…" He went back to looking out the window.

"Big dummy." she hissed under her breath.

Sephiroth's hand slid over the side of the chair and hung inches from the ground.

"He's been asleep for a while, now,” his silent observer thought to herself. "I thought only cats slept this long."

"Hey, Yuffie…" Reno tried to find a way to break the silence.

"Wha?"

"So, you and Lei are good friends, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess. Kind of?"

The man turned to her with his hands behind his back. "Did she ever say anything about me?"

"Not that I can think of…"

"C'mon, Yuff…" he suddenly found that his tone had turned into a form of pleading.

"…Well, she has a picture of you on her dashboard. She's got an AWESOME car!”

"She does?! The picture, I mean." Reno almost felt like he had won a small victory.

"Can't imagine why she would want to foul it up with yer ugly mug, though." Yuffie added

The redhead frowned at her.

"It's a Hightime! She's got white walls on the tires and it's such a HAWT red!”

Reno thought he heard the little ninja make some sort of strange sound effect…"Bwee?" he mouthed. He tossed his hand back. Maybe old age was setting in for him as well…and not just Sephiroth. "New fangled contraptions…" he faintly whispered.

Yuffie stretched her arms out and yawned. "So how come you never mentioned anything about her to me?"

Reno shot a frustrated look at her. "You've met Reeve, right?"

"Well, yeah…he's not that bad a guy."

"You never worked in the same building with him." Reno folded his arms and put his back against the window. "He makes snap decisions sometimes. If he doesn't like you…well, he doesn't like you. Now imagine yourself as a Turk like me."

She pressed her hands to her cheeks and turned red. "LIKE YOU?! I'D HAVE TO SHOOT MYSELF!” Yuffie let out an evil laugh. "…But I know where your coming from…he seemed like such a nice guy at first."

"Pfffh…whatever. I really didn't think I'd see her again. I heard so many things about her. I heard she got banged up pretty bad after Meteor, too. I guess I just decided to let go of her. Besides, she had Sephiroth."

"Why, Reno, don't tell me the 'stud' of the Turks was jealous?"

Reno and Yuffie looked over at Sephiroth.

"IT'S ALIVE!” Yuffie shouted.

"Little girl, your voice is jarring." Sephiroth sat up and leaned forward so his face was close to Yuffie's.

The fading light of the outdoors cast a strange glow against Reno's hair as it hung over his shoulders. There was so much he wanted to say to this man. So many repressed feelings. What the hell are you holding back for?

"Let me guess…since you two have been discussing Reeve…I would imagine, you thought I might come after you and kill you or Leira might snap and kill you. Why waste my time with you?"

Reno stormed over to Sephiroth, which prompted him to get to his feet.

"I guess you didn't notice that everyone she came in contact with is dead…well, save for Reeve. You missed that one."

"The ones that I did kill just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Moth…" why did he still feel inclined to call the creature that had controlled him so long ago mother. "Jenova had me convinced that she was my real mother. I was merely a pawn…wait a minute…did you also forget that the Sephiroth that did the majority of the killing was a clone?"

"Yeah," Yuffie nodded. "But you were controlling him!"

Sephiroth closed his eyes. She was right.

Reno lifted a finger to Sephiroth. "You drove everyone completely insane! I might have still had a job if you had decided to keep quiet and stay dead!"

"Stasis." Sephiroth corrected.

Another knock sounded on the door.

"I'm never going to get a decent rest." the white haired man looked around Reno's home. He decided that, to avoid any further arguments, he would find a room where he was sure he could be by himself; yet not to far from Leira. "I'll just leave you both to your tainted reverie. Good night."

Reno sat in his chair, as the knock continued. "Yuff, can you get that? I need to think of the name of the company that last fumigated this chair."

Yuffie sprang to her feet and did as she bade. "Hel-lo?"

Standing at the entryway was the young monk. He looked exhausted.

"Yuff, who is it?"

"How come, when it comes to me, I get a 'I don't want any'?!" she murmured.

Phiphat stood shocked by her welcome. All he could do was nod and remove his turban.

The little ninja pulled back on the door, to show Reno who the visitor was.

"Hey, you're Benny and Timmy's cousin."

"Benny and Timmy?" the boy whispered to Yuffie.

"Just say yes." she prodded.

"Uhm…yes. I am. Can I come in?"

"Why not? The more the merrier…" Reno replied with a hint of frustration.

The boy sat on the floor in front of Reno. He tucked his legs into his long robes and folded his hands in his lap.

Yuffie sat beside him. "So what brings you here?"

"Actually, I wanted to let you know that the spiritual leaders request your presence." he directed his words to Reno. "Your friend should be there also. They want to talk about getting my uncle and his cousin dug up and beatified."

Reno's head wavered. "Leira will. I just haven't decided yet."

"You…haven't-how could you not?! Were they not also your friends…?"

"Look, kid, I'm not saying they weren't-why am I explaining things to you anyway?" Reno got to his feet and flung open the door. "Yuffie, tell Lei I'm going for a walk. I'm not sure when I'll be back." He slammed the door as he left.

Dazed was hardly a strong enough word to describe Phiphat's current demeanor. "He makes an odd kind of friend doesn't he?"

Yuffie hopped to the window and watched as Reno's form faded into the night air. "GAWD! He's REALLY pissed. Why is everyone so cranky alla-a sudden?"

"My family is never going to regain their honor this way." Phiphat whispered.