Don't Play With Fire (Turks FFVII)

XXIX) The Don

It's about noon when I wake up. Slowly, I sit up, wincing when my head begins to throb. Reno looks up from his phone to raise an eyebrow, smug.

"Hangover?"

"Must be." I frown, pressing the heel of my hand to my forehead to relieve the pressure. "But I didn't drink that much."

"Gettin' out of practice." He swings his legs out of his bed and heads into the bathroom, returning with a glass of water. "Here. I'll getcha a pill or two."

I sit up and take the cup, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, you're so nice. Makes me wonder what you want." Reno rolls his eyes.

"Just feel bad for you. Haven't been feeling good for a while."

"Yeah..." I sigh, gratefully taking the painkillers from him and throwing them into the back of my mouth. Thirsty, I chug the rest of the water down. Reno waits, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"These're my pants," he grumbles, tugging at the thin material on my legs.

"Not anymore."

"Thief." Lacing his fingers behind his head, he falls back onto the mattress with a soft bounce. "Have any more dreams?"

"Yeah, finally a different one."

"Yeah?" Reno props himself up on his elbows, eyes as bright as always. "Care to share?"

"Only if you put a shirt on."

"Why? Am I distracting you?"

"Re." I roll my eyes and throw the blankets over him. "Didn't fit the mood."

"Was it a bad one?"

"Not as bad as usual, but..." I shrug, looking over at the window. "Not exactly pleasant."

"So...?"

"I beat a group of kids to death with a rock," I admit with a sigh. He frowns, blinking up at me as he tries to comprehend my abrupt storytelling. "They tried to steal my stuff, and that voice told me to kill them, so I did. Bashed their heads in and walked back home like nothing happened."

"Wow."

"Tseng freaked out. Can't blame him." I pick at a loose thread in the sheets, shaking my head. "I was only ten."

"Ten? Holy #$%^, Kat." Reno goes quiet when I don't answer, slowly sitting up. I don't have the heart to tell him to put the covers back on, my heart stinging with every beat. What kind of monster am I?

"Maybe... I should let Marx take them away."

"What? No." Reno shakes his head, twisting his legs up onto the bed and crossing them. "No."

"Why?" I scowl up at him, sick to my stomach. "Reno, I'm messed up beyond comprehension. I don't even know if that's the first time I killed people without a second thought. It's disgusting. I don't want to know who I am anymore."

"... You're serious?"

"I think so? I don't know." Frustrated, I shake my head, pushing my hair out of my face. "It's too much."

"Well..." Reno frowns, running his fingers back and forth across my knee rapidly. "I know it's selfish, but how can you expect everyone to just forget with you? I can't live pretending like I don't know anything."

"Re, I can't live pretending this is okay."

"You don't have to. That's who you were, Kat, not who you are."

"Who's to say who I am?" I argue. "You've never even known the real me. Doesn't that scare you?"

Reno shrugs, forcing himself to look at me. "Not really."