Chaos Cursed

“Rude…” Elena groaned as she stumbled out of the car onto the sidewalk in front of a well-known shop - originally it had been no more than a single small store in Junon, but in the last four years, it had become a massive chain. It had also been bought by ShinRa. “…why…? Why did you do this to me…?”

“I wanna ride it again!” Sanura squealed from behind her, as she bounced over her to land on the pavement with a smile on her face. Rude merely made a small gesture towards the now perking up young woman for Elena to understand.

“So…you knew she’d enjoy it.” She murmured softly, even as they walked side by side into the shop before them.

“I took a guess.” Was his quiet response. The two stood at either side of the doorway, watching in amusement as Reno, the only one who stuck close to Sanura, found himself serving as her cart - much to his surprise. It started out innocently enough - a few cute blouses here, a skirt there, a pair of jeans, some slacks - which were thrown towards him, landing in his arms and over his shoulders and even atop his head at some points, while Reno was left scrabbling behind her and trying to keep it all neatly held in his arms.

However, as Sanura dashed around the store, soon enough panties and brass were added to the ever-growing pile, followed by skimpy boy shorts, tiny tank tops, and stunning corsets. It was at this point that Reno’s surprise turned to embarrassment. And still the items piled up, now with a few little black dresses - though, to be honest, while they had the same function as a little black dress, they were all happily colored - and then came the shoes. Reno soon found himself serving as a shoe rack for trainers, canvas hi-tops, stilettos, pumps, and even the occasional pair of boots.

“You’d think she was a living tornado, wouldn’t you?” Rude commented to Elena, who laughed in response, nodding.

“Poor Reno. He’s obviously starting to get a bit of a crush on her. Maybe letting him be the cart was a cruel thing to do.”

“Oh, no. He’s been building up bad karma with me. He had this one coming.” Rude looked completely apathetic, but Elena, who had worked with him for some time now, recognized this particular form of apathy as satisfaction.

“You’re terrible, and yet you have made my week wonderful.” Elena’s grin only widened as a blushing, stammering Reno was dragged to the counter, where a happy young woman greeted him as Sanura’s boyfriend. Rude stepped forward at this point, holding out a shiny silver check-card from one of ShinRa’s many banks.

“Oh! Thank you, Rude!” Sanura beamed to him as the young woman continued ringing up her purchases, frowning as she saw the numbers going up. “…you don’t think I got too much, do you?”

“…that isn’t even going to make a dent in what is in your account, Miss Sanura.” The formal tones were something he always used when in public - it was a way to remind the unwashed masses that they were not a high enough caliber to associate with the girl he accompanied.

“…hey…why is the ShinRa logo in the corner of Beautique’s logo?” Realizing this as she looked down at the old Beautique logo she had grown to love, which was embossed in the marble countertop, she glanced over to Rude.

“ShinRa bought this place out a little more than four years ago.” Rude informed her, leaning down to murmur her pin number into her ear as she prepared to swipe her card.

“Four years ago? …right after everything that happened with my sister and I?” She seemed puzzled, moving to take some of the bags only to blink as Reno had all of them and was already halfway to the door. Rude took her arm, escorting her from the building, while Elena fell into step on her other side as they passed her.

“…Actually, it was shortly after Seraphina disappeared.” Elena told her, letting her slide into the backseat first, before getting in herself, buckling herself in, and reaching for the “oh shit” handle. “…I think Rufus was the one behind it, though no one knows for sure…either way, it was bought in the hopes that if Seraphina recovered, she would eventually go there. …we reviewed the tapes every day for the past four years.”

“…wow…but why would that jerk care?” Suddenly annoyed by the way Rufus had treated her, she was distracted as Reno got into the driver’s seat and started the car - causing Elena to grip the handle overhead still more tightly. “YAY!”

“You must be the only person on the planet who actually enjoys Reno’s driving…” Rude said calmly, even as Reno tore down the street, catching the curbs and every pothole in sight, as well as taking some turns on merely two wheels. It seemed something he was quite used too, though as they stopped in front of a nice apartment building, he was out of the car almost as quickly as Elena.

“It’s over…finally…” Elena managed, shaking herself and closing the door once Sanura had gotten out, waving her forward. “Come on, let’s go on up.”

“I wish it lasted longer…” Sanura said sadly, though as they stepped into the elevator, leaving Rude to guard the doors until Reno made it in with Sanura’s purchases, she brightened up a bit. “So you live here, Elena?”

“…Yes. And if you’d like, you can stay with me. I have a spare room in my apartment, and it would probably be easier for now if you stayed close to one of us…since Tseng is a workaholic, and Rude and Reno live in an apartment a few floors down, we decided it would be best if you stayed with me. Tseng would never be home. And though Rude would be the better choice, Reno would probably molest you while you slept.”

“I don’t think so…” Sanura told her, blinking as though surprised at the idea. “I’m really nothing special, and Reno seems like he’d be interested in someone really special.”

“…I wouldn’t be to sure on that first count.” Elena murmured, before laughing and guiding Sanura into the bathroom. “There’s a spare robe on the hook in here for you to wear. Just run yourself a nice warm bath and relax, when you’re done, go through the other door and into the spare room. I’ll put your new clothes in there for you. The tea will be ready by the time you get dressed.”

“…oh…thank you, Elena.” Blinking, she opened her mouth to say something more, only to turn and find the door closing behind the woman. Shrugging slightly, she ran the water for the bath, and settled down into it. Elena was right about one thing - she really did always feel better after a nice hot bath. Maybe it was a woman thing. She’d never bothered to ask Seraphina about it.

The thought of her sister brought tears to her eyes, sinking down into the water until she was almost to the point of not being able to breathe without drowning herself, as the water rested against the crease of her lips. It was so hard to realize…but it was true. It must have been her fault Seraphina just left like that. She’d made her choose…it was all her fault…