Rena was not a good cook. She tried, though. Her brother was always happy to eat whatever she made (though she figured that was because he would probably eat anything as long as he was paid) and never complained. It wasn't that she didn't want to learn how to cook; it was just that their parents had died when they were small, so they made do with what they had. She did her best to make sure her younger brother had a decent meal with the basic food groups.
He did make a comment about how his friend's brother cooked better than her once, and it really hurt her feelings. He found himself eating take-out for the next three weeks. He then learned not to hurt the cook's feelings; life sucked when your meal was pizza every other night.
Axel had mentioned something to his friend that his sister wasn't very good at cooking, and his friend had immediately gone to one of his older brothers. Demyx had pounced on the chance to teach her to cook, as he'd always been fond of the small red-head, and if she wanted to cook, yaaay! He was happy to help!
This was how it came to be that on every afternoon once Axel, Riku, Roxas, and Sora were back from school that they became guinea pigs for all of Rena's cooking. None of them really minded being guinea pigs; she caught on quickly and did her best. ...She'd actually even perfected some of Demyx's recipes. The blond had nearly cried because he'd been so proud.
That was before their eldest brother, Cloud, had started bringing his training partner home; apparently, Squall call-me-Leon-or-I'll-kill-you Leonhart didn't have a very good home life. He'd been almost as thin as Cloud when he was led in (this had caused Demyx to freak out and immediately end the cooking lesson, as "someone as big as he was shouldn't weigh the same as Roxas") and if one looked closely, when he stood still, his legs shook.
Okay, so Rena had been disappointed that her lessons were put on hold for about two weeks, but she wasn't upset with Leon; heavens, no! The man needed food! He needed care! Most of the wounds inflicted on him weren't caused by Cloud and training! She could clearly remember that day when Cloud had called Demyx frantically after running through the door, screaming at him to get the first-aid kit.
Squall- eek! Leon!- had had a cut across his face.
You'd never think Cloud squeamish, but seeing his **cough**friend**cough** injured so horribly, he had to leave the room. Demyx, upon seeing the blood, nearly fainted. Roxas, Sora, Riku, and Axel were too young at the time. The task of cleaning Leon's wound was then left up to her, the only girl. Later, she was annoyed with the irony.
And that was how the next eight years had gone: Leon lived in the Strife household with the four orphans, Demyx continued to teach Rena how to cook, Leon and Cloud still sparred (and later dragged Sora, Roxas, Riku, and Axel into the hobby called HURTING EACH OTHER!), and everyone still went to Rena to have someone baby them and take care of their wounds from training. Rena still tried to cook, Roxas, Axel, Riku, and Sora still ate the food, and Leon continued to treat the poor girl like crap.
No one had really understood why Leon treated her so badly; he just did. He wasn't very fond of girls- except for some girl named Yuffie, and even then, he never showed it- and had seemingly found it amusing to insult her. Eventually, however, Cloud had to put a stop to that. Demyx had gotten worried when Axel had informed Roxas that Rena had taken to ordering pizza every night. Apparently, when he'd innocently suggested that he'd like something else, she'd snapped at him to order Chinese.
When Demyx was worried, his food became inedible. Leon causing Rena to go into depression, causing Axel to worry, which in turn caused Demyx to worry, was going to make them all starve. It needed to come to an end. They needed food. Not burnt stuff that had been food at one time.
So that's what Rena was doing now: staring at the noodles she was cooking with the utter distaste she was feeling. Leave it to Demyx to have to run off while she was left to cook dinner for his family. Tch. Ass hole. She didn't even like macaroni and cheese. The only consolation was that Axel and Riku would be eating it as well, so she didn't have to go home and make another entire meal.
"Rena! Rena, make Axel stop being stupid!" Sora exclaimed, running into the kitchen and pointing back toward the living room.
She smiled and shook her head, an affectionate sigh escaping her lips; for someone who was sixteen, he still acted like he was six. "What has he done now, Sora?"
"He's trying to set Riku's hair on fire!"
Not even a second later, Rena was in the living room and on top of her brother, beating him with the large metal spoon she'd been using to stir innocent noodles with earlier. "Give it to me! Give it to me!" When he refused to hand over his lighter, she let out a frustrated snarl and abandoned the spoon, choosing to just punch him until he finally gave up.
Cloud frowned and leaned his face in his hand, sighing. "It's times like these that I doubt my own fighting skills."
Riku, chewing on a toothpick (he'd picked the habit up from Cid when he was learning to fix cars, damn), frowned and pointed at the fighting siblings. "Dude, if I had to choose between getting pummeled by you and Leon, and getting beaten up by Rena, I'd totally pick you guys. She's like a can of whoop-ass just waiting to be opened."
"That, or Axel's just a pussy," Leon stated dryly, watching the scene in slight amusement.
Roxas scowled. "Don't say that! Axel's one of the toughest guys at school! ...And I heard that when she was in middle school, Rena was a rebel!"
"...Rena. A rebel," Cloud asked, raising an eyebrow.
Demyx, having just arrived to hear the conversation, scowled and leaned in the doorway. "You say that in a disbelieving voice, Cloudy-kins."
Cloud winced, then turned quickly, glaring at the younger man. "Shut it!"
Demyx was not one to be deterred when his bestie was being insulted. Walking into the living room, he leaned his arms on the back of the couch, scowl still in place. "The whole of elementary school, Rena was shy. She was sheltered. Then her parents died." Cloud, Roxas, and Sora winced. Leon merely raised an eyebrow.
Seeing that he had their attention, he continued. "It was just her and Axel, and she'd be damned if Axel was going to get pushed around. She needed to set an example for him, so she beat up anybody who crossed her. There are people from our graduating class that still piss their pants at the thought of being beaten up by her. She's always had low self-esteem, though. Now that Axel doesn't depend on her anymore, she feels no need to stand up for herself. Just don't make fun of Axel; she'll rip your dick off," he stated in a soft yet still dangerous voice. "Not all people are as weak as they appear."
"That, and Axel doesn't want to hurt her!" Sora added, smiling. "I mean, they do argue a lot, and he may make fun of her, but they do love each other. And if it hadn't been for Rena begging him not to, he would have 'accidentally' set fire to your room, Leon." His smile faded to a frown. "He doesn't really like it when people pick on his sister, especially her cooking. The only reason she wanted to learn how to cook was because she didn't want Axel to have to eat take-out every night."
"And now that you've all figured out the beginning of your book, The Pyro Biography, I'd thank you very much to just let me cook," Rena snapped, holding her spoon again and triumphantly walking into the kitchen with Axel's lighter.
"...The Pyro Biography?" Leon asked softly, frowning. As far as he'd heard, they were talking about Rena, not Axel.
"She's a closet Pyro," Axel answered, smiling. "Except, instead of setting things on fire, she likes to blow stuff up. She's explosion happy."
"Oh! Oh!" Sora exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Remember that one time, when she made that Pop-It bomb?! It was the awesomest thing ever!"
Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Pop-It bomb...?"
Riku grinned and nodded. "Yeah. She filled an empty two-liter soda bottle with a bunch of Pop-Its- you know, those fireworks that you just throw at the ground and they pop? They're for little kids?- and then she made us all go to this big, open field with her- and none of knew what was going on- and just set the bottle down in the middle of it. She lit the wick and started sprinting back toward us, and we still didn't really get it, until this huge explosion went off! Did you know that Pop-Its are just little wads of paper filled with gunpowder and pebbles?"
"...We have it on camera, too," Roxas added, smiling. "At least, for the second one."
~*~*~*~
Rena smiled affectionately as the four teenagers wolfed down the cheesy noodles she'd made (because Leon and Cloud had left, saying something about "not eating baby food"). They'd come a long way; Riku and Axel were finally Juniors in high school, Sora and Roxas- the most adorable twins ever- were finally Sophomores, and Axel had gotten a job working at Cid's Auto with Riku. They all hung out with each other so much that it was hard to tell where family ended and friends began. Things were finally going good.
At least, until Demyx came in with the mail, looking pissed. "Roxas, Sora, why do you both have F's in chemistry?"
The twenty-three-year-old musician was laid back; he didn't get angry. In fact, if you wanted someone who didn't get angry, Demyx was the one to go to. That is, of course, unless you were failing one of your classes. Even Cloud was afraid to fail when he was in school.
The twins winced, then simultaneously broke into frantic explanations. "I just don't get the terms-"
"The teacher hates us anyway-"
"It's working with chemicals, Dem- CHEMICALS!"
"How were we supposed to know that-"
"And after that the teacher-"
"Failing? In chemistry?" Rena frowned, tapping her chin. "Hmm... Well, if you two are failing chemistry, I'm sure Axel and Riku could tutor you. They'd be happy to help. Wouldn't you, boys?"
Axel shrugged, beginning to pick at his salad; he hated carrots, and he needed to make sure Rena had gotten them all out of his share of vegetables. "Sure. Can't have the runts failing the easiest core class they'll have this year."
"THE EASIEST ONE?!"
"Can they tutor Sora and Roxas in geometry, too? They're barely passing with D's," Demyx added, frowning.
Riku spit out his soda (right onto Roxas, who looked less than amused) and started choking on what had gone down his throat. Rena squeaked and started patting his back quickly. "Are you okay, Riku?!"
"Uh, we go to Rena for tutoring with math. And English. ...And history," Axel explained, frowning. "Why do you think Riku and I don't get to hang out until our homework's finished? Rena's been helping us get straight A's since Freshman year."
"Rena, I love you, please help me!" Sora cried, hugging the twenty-three-year-old red-head desperately. "I don't want to fail Sophomore yeeear!"
She laughed and patted him on the spiky head. "Of course I'll help you, Sora. Just come over to my house after school with Axel and Riku and I'll tutor all of you. Okay?"
"Yaaay!" He hugged her again, nuzzling her shoulder lovingly, then started cackling in the adorable, non-evil way he had. "Straight A's!"
"...Yeah. I think I'll stay the night over here and get an early start with their chemistry homework," Axel stated, looking up at her as well.
"Me too," Riku added, as he'd taken to living with the red-headed duo simply to avoid walking in on his brother having sex with his boyfriend (though, Rena wasn't too happy about walking in on Xemnas and Saix, either).
"Okay, well, I guess I better go if I'm walking home alone," she answered, glancing out the window at the quickly setting sun.
"If you wait, I'll get Cloud to give you a ride," Demyx offered, grabbing her shoulder.
Rena laughed and waved it away. "I'll be fine, Dem. It's a twenty minute walk. Besides, I can take care of myself."
He frowned, biting his thumb nervously, then tried again. "But Rena, I'm worried. That guy who escaped jail is still on the loose. What if he corners you?"
"Stop trying to scare me, Dem," she ordered, scowling at him as she opened the door. "I'll call you when I get home, if it makes you feel better."
"...Alright... But you better call!" he answered, scowling as well.
Axel frowned, now concerned for his older sister. "Hey, Rena, Riku and I can walk you home-"
"I will kill you," she stated, turning to point at him.
"...You better call!" he ordered finally, scowling as well.
She waved it away, sighing. "I'll be fine, guys. Okay?"
"CALL!" they all ordered at the same time, and there was finality in their tones that gave no room for argument.
~*~*~*~
Rena shivered and crossed her arms. It was nights like this one- chilly, yet clear in the sky and bright with the moon- that made her really hate living a twenty minute walk away. Actually, she would have hated a walk to the next house over. Anyone could see her walking in the silent darkness.
She felt as if she was being watched. It could have been that what Demyx said had scared her, even if she wasn't going to admit it to them. It could have been that Riku and Axel were following her to make sure she made it home safely (they'd done that many times before). Or, it could have been that the escaped criminal was watching her.
"Crap, crap, crap! I've been hanging out with young people too long! ...I should really take Tifa and Yuffie up on that offer for a blind date..." She heaved a sigh and stopped at a street corner, checking to make sure no cars were coming before starting across. "Or at least agree to go to the mall with Aerith and Rinoa..."
That's when she heard them. The footsteps falling just out of time with hers, which proved that it wasn't Axel or Riku; they had been following her for so many years, they'd never make that amateur mistake. So who was it that was following her? Why were they following her?
As she passed by one of the many alleys she had never feared until then, the footsteps suddenly sped into a sprint. As she turned in confusion, she was suddenly tackled into the alley and slammed up against one of the walls. A high-pitched yelp escaped her throat before her mouth was covered by a large hand and she was dragged further down the alley, and she couldn't help but think that she wasn't going to be able to come back from the shadows she was begin dragged into.
Struggling frantically, it finally entered her mind to bite the freakin' hand. The man holding her let out a snarl and yanked his hand back, allowing her enough time for a short scream, before throwing her to the ground roughly, causing her to whimper in pain as she scraped her palms on the ground and hit her head on the wall.
The man was on her, then, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand and ripping her shirt open with the other. As she recovered from hitting her head, he got his hand down her pants, groaning as his fingers brushed against her warmth; how long had it been since he'd pounded into a woman and listened to her screams?
"No... No, please...!" she begged, whimpering as he pulled her pants down. "Please stop! Please!"
He grunted softly in response, rubbing her thigh affectionately as he imagined how loud she'd scream when he finally filled her. He hadn't wanted to risk drawing attention to himself, but when he saw the girl walking alone, he couldn't stop himself. She looked so innocent, and so unsuspecting. ...He wanted to defile that innocence.
Rena closed her eyes tightly; how was she going to face her brother and friends after this, if she even lived to see them?
As if in answer to her thoughts, the man on top of her was suddenly knocked off. She sat up quickly, covering her chest, and gasped in surprise as she found it was Squall- damn, Leon- beating her attacker to a pulp. He looked livid. She'd never seen him that angry, except for the time that a drunk had been hitting on Yuffie and wouldn't leave the poor girl alone.
As Leon stood up, she winced; he was probably going to yell at her for walking alone, or for making herself such an easy target, or something like that. She was surprised, however, when he lifted her to her feet and yanked her into a hug.
She gasped softly, tears she'd been trying to hold back escaping her eyes, before grabbing his shirt and sobbing softly. "I'm sorry, Leon! I'm so sorry! Don't hate me, please!"
Sliding his arms from around her, he grabbed the hem of her jeans and pulled them back over her hips, buttoning them back up quickly. "I don't hate you."
Realizing she might as well have not been wearing a shirt with how badly it had been ripped, she pulled away from him and held her shirt closed tightly, timidly looking down at her feet. "I-I'm sorry I... I didn't..."
He put a finger to her lips and frowned, gently rubbing her shoulder with his free hand. "This wasn't your fault, Rena. Stop apologizing."
Rena let out a shriek as the man moved a little and wrapped her arms around Leon quickly, whimpering again. He sent the man a glare and wrapped an arm around her comfortingly, still stroking her hair, before gently brushing her hair away from her forehead and frowning in concern.
"You're hurt."
She bit her bottom lip and whimpered as his fingers brushed over the bloody bump before quickly turning her head away. "Please don't touch it."
"...Sorry," he murmured, pressing his lips to her temple gently, before pulling out his cell phone.
"Who are you calling?" she asked quickly, blushing from his affectionate action only seconds before.
Leon raised an eyebrow, as if it were obvious. "The police."
~*~*~*~
Axel didn't cry. It wasn't in his nature. He hadn't cried when his parents had died, he hadn't cried when he was picked on for being short (his bullies had gotten theirs when, five years later, he was taller than them and very willing to hurt them), and he hadn't cried when he'd broken his arm because he fell off the bridge that the boys weren't even supposed to be playing on (though he came pretty close to it when he saw his sister crying because she'd been so terrified when the hospital called her).
Of course, when Leon brought his sister in at eleven thirty, bandages around her forehead and hands, he had hugged her and started bawling like a baby, shrieking that she was stupid and she should have listened to him, and what the hell was he supposed to do if she had died? He'd have to go live with their idiot cousin Reno! That was in God damn Twilight Town!
Rena had said nothing; merely ran her fingers through his hair, humming a tune that she remembered her mother humming for her when she couldn't sleep. Axel had eventually calmed down and fallen asleep from exhaustion in her arms (damn, crying took it out of you), but not before muttering that she wasn't allowed to die until after he got married, so that she met his fiance and accepted her and showed her what their two-person family was about.
And when he had fallen asleep in her arms, she had nearly fallen to the ground, as they had both been standing at the time. Luckily, Cloud and Demyx caught them. When Cloud asked where to put the exhausted boy, everyone had just stared at him.
As if he didn't know that Axel always slept under the window.
~*~*~*~
"...What is it?" Riku asked finally, poking at the food on his plate.
All of the boys agreed. The food didn't look like anything they'd seen before. They... weren't really sure if they wanted to try it. Leon and Cloud had taken to eating with them lately, but... neither of the men looked like they were bringing the food to their lips any time soon.
"Well, it's, um..." Demyx's smile faltered. He looked at Rena and tilted his head. "Um... Rena?"
She merely shrugged, a far off look in her eyes. "If you don't like it, I'll give you money to get pizza. Um... I'm going to go... get ready for my date."
Leon spit his soda out (and sprayed Riku, who was none to happy), then started coughing and beating his chest. As everyone blinked at him in confusion, Rena waved and walked toward the bathroom. "I told him to pick me up here! I hope that's okay!"
Demyx smiled and clasped his hands together, a small squeal escaping his lips. "Ah, she finally accepted Tifa and Yuffie's offer!"
"What offer?" Leon asked coldly, looking up at him.
Demyx frowned. "Well, setting her up on a date, duh. She's only been single since forever." He tapped his chin slightly, a look of understanding dawning on his face. "Leon, do you... like Rena?"
Leon blinked at him, then winced and looked away quickly, a small but still noticeable blush on his cheeks. "...Shut up."
"...Who's her date with?" Axel asked suddenly, flicking his lighter on. It was obvious by how tightly he was gripping it that he was not pleased with his sister going out with a stranger.
"Um... Tifa said his name was Seifer...?" Demyx answered timidly, then jumped as Leon let out a snarl.
The brunet man was not happy. He was not happy at all. Rena, his beautiful, sweet Rena was going out with- going out with Seifer! As if going out wasn't bad enough, but Seifer-?! He'd stab the asshole before he got in the door.
"...Hey... Leon..." Riku asked softly, nibbling on a breadstick. When the brunet grunted, he tilted his head, looking like the innocent boy he could never hope to be again. "...How much do you think you would pay to see Rena's... date... go badly?"
Leon blinked at him slowly, before a cruel, frightening smirk found its way across his face.
~*~*~*~
Rena slammed the door shut behind her and groaned, hiding her face in her hands; well hadn't that date been a fiasco. First, not only had her brother, Leon, and Cloud been rude, but everyone else was rude to Seifer, too (she never would have expected it from Demyx!). Then, at the restaurant, a fire had somehow started in the kitchen. The movie they went to was disturbed by some idiot talking on his cell phone the whole time. And, needless to say, Seifer hadn't mentioned anything about a second date when he dropped her off.
A. Freaking. Fiasco.
Walking into the living room, she rubbed her arm and sighed, feeling hopeless. She'd never have a boyfriend. Well, unless Demyx suddenly decided that she was attractive and they were compatible. Or Cloud suddenly took an interest in her. Of course, the possibility of that was one in a gazillion. And she wasn't even going to think about a possibility with Leon.
"So how did the date go?"
Rena nearly shrieked and spun toward the couch, eyes wide. "L-Leon! W-when did you- How did you-"
"Axel asked me to wait up for you, because he's staying over at our house again," the brunet answered, turning the page of his book nonchalantly. "So, how was your date?"
She groaned and fall onto the couch next to him, her head gently falling onto his shoulder. "Horrible, horrible, horrible..." She looked up at him sadly, tears forming in her eyes. "Am I really that horrible of a person that he doesn't want a second date? Is it because I'm a bad cook that no one wants to eat my food? ...Am I really that bad of a person?"
Leon winced. Perhaps he hadn't thought out all of the 'sabotage Rena's date' consequences. Closing his book and wrapping his arm around her shoulders warmly, he leaned his head against hers. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad.
"Leon... Why do you hate me...?" she asked softly, eyes never leaving his.
He frowned and rested his hand on her knee as he turned to face her. "I don't hate you, Rena."
She tilted her head, frowning as she lifted her hands and grabbed his shirt. "You don't? But... but you never..."
Before she could finish, he leaned down and gave her a quick, chaste kiss. Blushing lightly, he looked away as soon as he broke the kiss. Crap. He hadn't meant to kiss her; he'd meant to answer her! ...Crap...
A soft kiss on his neck made him snap his head back toward her, a soft groan escaping his lips as another kiss was administered, then another, and another. "Rena..." he murmured breathlessly, digging his fingers into her hair.
"...It... would have been less obvious if you hadn't gotten Demyx on your side," she stated quietly, smiling, before going back to kissing his neck.
He closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip as she started massaging his shoulders. "H-how long have you known...?"
"Long before you did, that's for sure," she answered, giggling softly.
He hissed and grabbed her waist, yanking her into his lap as she continued placing kiss after soft, feathery kiss against his neck, jaw, and collarbone. Against his character, he softly whined, "Reeenaaa... Stop being so fucking soft..."
"I've never done this before, Leon..." Rena answered timidly, pulling back a little. "Maybe... Maybe you could teach me?"
Leon let out a low growl, shutting his eyes tightly, before carrying her to her room, a smirk playing at his lips; how long had he been aching to hear those words?
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