365 Hours with Rufus Shinra (FFVII: Rufus x OC)

ch6. would you, please, stop being so f*cking nice?

ONCE UPON A TIME, she loved rain. The pavement always shone silver beneath the streams of water that coated it. It had been raining for entire days and nights in the newfound treasure vault called 'Wall Market'. Yes. It was new back then. A whole new City. The only one independent from Shinra. The only one that offered what Midgar's upper levels could not. Alas, even Shinra executives visited that place.

She remembered that the only time it had rained, was just those couple of days. They had no visitors. No lonely wanderers to stop by and have a drink at the 'Drunkards' Piano Bar of Wall Market. The rain tapped, and tapped, and tapped against the ceiling and the sound always soothed her. She always loved rain.

But after that night, she learned to hate it. She hated rain so much afterwards.

November 30th, [μ] – εγλ 1989

"And these are the sevenths," The old man pressed a chord on the piano keys and the fourteen-year-old girl leaned in to see the extra notes that turned the chord into a seventh.

She raised an eyebrow. "So, you just add the seventh note?"

"Yes, and sometimes, you can even neglect the first," He instructed before removing his finger from the first and pressing the chord again without the first.

She frowned. "It doesn't sound so nice,"

"That's because the B needs to move downwards or upwards in order to be solved," he pressed another chord and it sounded perfect. Perfect harmony. Her eyes widened. She loved this.

"Let me try! Let me try!" She cried out excitedly and her hands reached for the keyboard right away, repeating the man's moves.

He laughed and clasped his hands together. "That was amazing! You learn so fast, my little pianist,"

She joined his laughter with her own as she tried again a couple of times before she turned at the old man and gave him a bright smile. "Aw, Mr. Hopkins, thank you so much," she said in utter gratefulness. Their piano lessons were the only thing she looked up to those days.

He gave her a stern look "Hannah, what did I ask you to call me?"

She laughed "Mr- Er- Uncle Ben," She couldn't help it.

"That's better," He gave her a smile, which faded right away when the harsh voice of a man came from behind.

It was his son. A tall man in his mid-twenties who had inherited his father's dark skin and his long-gone mother's honey-coloured eyes. "So, pops! This is the girl you're going to pass down the bar, ain't she?" Both turned toward the young man, who wasn't alone. A couple of his friends were standing back and Hannah cowered behind Uncle Ben right away but her eyes widened as the realisation hit her.

"What?" she turned at the old man. Was he really going to give her the bar?

"What if she is? What is your problem?" Uncle Ben spat back "If you're worthy enough, you'll build something on your own!" Uncle Ben had always been disappointed in his son who had become a Mako addict. He'd talk to her sometimes about it, but she knew he still loved him. He was his only son after all.

The man laughed "I'm sorry, pops. I ain't ready to abandon the family business just yet," he pulled out a gun and shot his father.

Hannah let out a scream of horror as the blood sprayed on her face and the white piano keys where suddenly covered in red. The loud bang of the gun hit her ears and the old man froze. His body leaned backwards. He would've fallen off the piano bench if she hadn't caught him. Hannah's hands found their way around the old man, supporting his back on her chest. She was shocked. Her eyes were wide in horror as she tried to understand what had just happened.