Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Interludes – Scene 16

Scene Notes: How Reno met Lira.

From Chapter 20: Down to the Market

“Sure… We both grew up over in Sector 2. Met him when he was about… fourteen, fifteen, maybe? Couple of years before Shinra snapped him up, anyway. I was only a year or two older, myself. I’d seen him around before that, of course… he’s hard to miss… but didn’t really know him well ’til then. He kinda came to my rescue when my Pop got a little rougher than usual with me. Got himself a nasty black eye and a bloody nose for the trouble, too… and he’s lucky that’s all he walked away with. Pop was about three times his size. Didn’t seem to matter to Reno, though.”

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“Worthless little piece of trash!”

The invective was punctuated by a painful slap that sent her tumbling down the short set of stairs that led down from the front door. Lira felt her shoulder connect sharply with the edge of the last one as she suddenly found herself in the street.

He was drunk… Not that that was anything new. Drunk and angry was pretty much a permanent state these days… ever since her mother had run off to Shiva only knew where, and that was going on four years now. She squealed as he hauled her to her feet by her hair, tears making their way down her cheeks. She brought her arms up to try and shield herself, but knew it wasn’t going to do any good.

“Twenty three gil! That’s all you managed to bring home?!” He may have been drunk, but it never seemed to dampen his physical strength. She didn’t stand a chance of getting away… not with his fingers locked viciously into her long black hair. If he didn’t actually kill her this time, she was going to cut it all off… She didn’t care if it made her look like a boy. It was too much of a liability. “You wanna keep livin’ here, you fuckin’ earn your keep ya little slut! I don’t care if ya gotta bed half the sector!”

Lira braced herself for the blow.

“Hey! Leave her alone!”

She was suddenly dropped as the grip on her scalp was released, and she fell to her knees in the dirt. Dazed, she caught sight of a small figure and a flash of red, before she took to her heels and ran, darting around a corner. She leaned back against the wall, sliding slowly to the ground and hugging her knees to her chest as she fought the urge to cry. She could still hear him shouting abuse at whoever had come to her rescue. Whoever it had been, her father was going to kill him. She just knew it. It seemed to go on for hours… though in reality it was probably only a few minutes. It ended in the sharp crack of flesh on flesh and a pained shout, followed by the slamming of a door.

Lira stayed right where she was. She would have to find somewhere else to spend the night… it was far too dangerous to try and go home right now.

“Hey. You okay?” a voice suddenly said, causing her to look up, frightened. She relaxed only a little when she realized that he didn’t look any older than she was. Bright blue eyes peered at her with obvious concern from beneath of mop of red hair. She’d seen him around… She didn’t know his name, but she recognized that hair. He was one of the few teenage slum rats around the neighborhood who didn’t make a habit of harassing her when she was… working.

When she finally nodded, the boy grinned widely at her, in spite of the blood dripping from his nose and the dark bruising that was already starting to appear around one eye. “That guy’s kind of an asshole, huh?”

“W-why did you do that? He coulda killed you…” she asked, trembling slightly. No one in Sector Two risked their life like that without expecting something in return. The redhead shrugged.

“Don’t like seeing girls gettin’ beat up.” He winced slightly as he pinched his nose, trying to stem the bleeding. “S’pecially when they’re gettin’ beat up by some drunk-ass fuckwit three times bigger than them.”

“He’s my dad…” Lira said softly.

“Tch… doesn’t make him any less of a drunk-ass fuckwit. You gonna be alright?”

Lira nodded again.

“‘Kay… well… I’ll see ya then,” the boy replied, turning to leave. Lira stared after him as he walked away, somewhat dumbfounded. He hadn’t wanted anything…

“H-hey… wait…” she called after him, scrambling to her feet. He turned back and paused, letting her catch up to him. “At least tell me your name…”

“Reno.”

“I’m Lira…” she said, smiling a little. She walked alongside him down the back alley, taking hold of his hand. “Um… How about you let me come home with you so I can clean you up a little bit… and maybe do a little somethin’ else to say thank you?”

The little redhead blinked in surprise. “Ya don’t have to do that…” he replied, and she was pretty sure she could see the faint hint of a blush coloring his face in the dim evening light. Blood and bruises aside, it was kind of adorable, really.

Lira’s smile widened, and she kissed him gently on the cheek. “Don’t you like girls?” she teased.

“‘Course I do…” he said, somewhat wide-eyed, swallowing nervously. Lira giggled softly… She’d seen that look enough times to recognize it. Her sweet little red-haired savior was apparently more innocent than she’d assumed.

“Then lead the way…” Lira said, urging him forward. There was something special about this Reno kid.  She could already tell.

~fin~