Under the bright moonlight, in Jessie's room, Jessie lay on top of Aiden, brushing his face lightly with the tips of her hair.
Of course, it wasn't after anything, since Jessie's parents were just next door.
Maybe because it tickled a bit, Aiden grabbed Jessie's arm, trying to make her behave, but Jessie immediately switched hands.
"Can't sleep?" Aiden gave up trying to stop her, hugged her waist, and asked.
Jessie nodded but didn't speak, she didn't know what to say, her heart was too complicated.
Looking at the silent Jessie, Aiden smiled and said, "I think, you coming back today, shouldn't be just to let me meet your mother, right?"
Of course, Aiden understood what Jessie came home for this time. Although she indeed had the thought of seeing her parents, the main reason was for her bedridden father's ID card.
Because in a few days, the Avalanche squad was going to carry out the next operation, to blow up Mako Reactor No. 5. Her father's ID card could do a lot of things.
But what puzzled Aiden was that up until now, Jessie hadn't made a move. Instead, she obediently lay beside him, and even started teasing him.
"Why do you ask that?" Jessie was a little curious, curious that Aiden could actually know what she was thinking.
Aiden naturally wouldn't say that he knew the plot, but he also didn't know how to answer, so he treated it with silence.
Seeing Aiden also fall silent, Jessie sighed and slowly said, "Indeed, my motive for coming back tonight wasn't pure, but after hearing my mom's words just now, I feel a bit conflicted. This matter shouldn't involve them."
Jessie was very clear that if she took her father's ID card and used it, it would 100% attract Shinra's attention. Thinking about her mother, who deeply loved her, after a long consideration, she finally chose to give up.
To her right now, there were just too many things to consider, not just family, but also a kind of love that made her want to throw everything away for it.
Of course, so-called giving up didn't mean giving up on targeting Shinra, just giving up on using her father's ID card and dragging them into it. The actions against Shinra would still continue.
After another slight sigh, Jessie finally calmed down, turned her head and rested on Aiden's chest, quietly listening to his heartbeat.
"Sleep." Aiden lowered his head and kissed her forehead.
Jessie hummed in satisfaction.
———
At dawn the next day, Aiden and Jessie bid farewell to Jessie's mom, got on the motorcycle, and returned to Sector 7.
The return trip during the day was relatively smooth, without encountering any Shinra patrol soldiers. But this was also normal, this was working hours, traffic on the road was heavy, and Shinra soldiers couldn't possibly check everyone, not enough time or manpower.
Riding a bit slower than last night, the two returned to Sector 7.
Because Jessie hadn't completed her objective this trip, she had to go to the vigilante team to discuss the next operation with Barret. So the two separated near the vigilante team base.
Bidding farewell to the reluctant Jessie, Aiden rode back to Seventh Heaven, only to find that he came at the wrong time, the bar wasn't open yet. So he had to continue riding toward Ten Hope Estate.
On the first floor's open space of Stargazer's Heights the landlady, Granny Marle, was making breakfast. After greeting her, Aiden went straight up to the second floor.
But just as he got upstairs, he happened to see Cloud coming out of Room 203. He still carried that huge Buster Sword on his back and had a piece of bread in his mouth that looked like breakfast.
"Good morning, Cloud." Aiden raised his hand in greeting.
But Cloud didn't respond immediately. He looked at him coldly, and after a long moment, only then did he nod and walk past him.
Aiden didn't mind Cloud's attitude. No matter who it was, when your childhood friend falls in love with someone else, no one can accept that. The fact that the other party didn't draw his sword on the spot already showed great restraint.
Shrugging helplessly, Aiden walked to the space between Rooms 201 and 202. He was now a bit conflicted, which room to go to first?
After pondering for a moment, Aiden decided to knock on Room 202 first. He had spent the whole afternoon yesterday with Aerith and Tifa, and he knew Aerith lived in 202.
He knocked on the door for a while, but there was no movement inside. No one opened the door, and no one responded.
"Went home?" He knocked for a bit longer. Still no response. Aiden felt that was the only possibility.
But he didn't feel disappointed. On the contrary, he felt a bit excited. Now he finally had time alone with Tifa, and he didn't mind having some "exercise" early in the morning. After all, he had been holding it in for several days.
So he walked to Room 201's door and excitedly took out a key. This key was specially made for him by Tifa so he could conveniently "come home" anytime.
Carefully opening the door, Aiden tiptoed into the bedroom, ready to give Tifa a surprise.
Inside the bedroom, the person on the bed was still sleeping, giving Aiden a good opportunity. As he walked, he also started undressing. By the time he reached the bed, he was only in his underwear. Then he lifted a corner of the blanket and slipped in.
Then he hugged the woman under the blanket into his arms and started touching her all over.
But as he touched, Aiden felt something was wrong, the feel wasn't right. The woman in his arms seemed a bit smaller than Tifa, and her chest was much smaller too.
Aiden's movements froze immediately. A terrifying thought popped into his head, this woman was not Tifa.
And just as he was stunned, the woman in his arms opened her eyes. After mumbling unconsciously, she suddenly realized she was being held by a man, and the man's hand was on her chest.
Immediately, the woman let out a scream, jumped up while covering her chest, and without hesitation, lifted her foot to stomp down.
However, that stomp didn't land, because she recognized Aiden. And Aiden also saw her face clearly at this moment.
"Yuffie? Why are you here?" Aiden shouted the woman's name in shock.
Yes, the woman in front of him was Yuffie Kisaragi.
"I…" The girl didn't know how to respond. Her hangover left her unable to remember clearly what happened last night. She only knew that she went to the Seventh Heaven bar that Avalanche's main group told her not to go to. Then she drank some wine, and after that, she remembered nothing.
Looking at the confused expression on Yuffie's face, Aiden sighed helplessly. Just as he was about to get up and put on his clothes, the door to Room 201 opened again. Aerith and Tifa burst in holding breakfast.
"Yuffie, what happened?" Tifa placed the breakfast on the coffee table, put on a pair of gloves, and rushed to the bedroom. But when she entered and saw the scene before her, she froze.
And she wasn't the only one stunned, so were Aiden and Aerith, who came in behind Tifa.
The four of them stood there, eyes wide, staring at each other. Who knows how long passed before Aerith was the first to react and quietly said, "Did we come at a bad time?"
"No no no, let me explain, this is just a misunderstanding. I thought it was Tifa." Aiden hurriedly explained.
Aerith turned her gaze to Tifa, her tone even more resentful, "Oh, you thought it was Tifa? So that means, normally when you two are together, you sleep naked too?"
Tifa, under Aerith's resentful gaze, felt her scalp tingle. She wanted to explain, but Aerith wasn't wrong. She could only awkwardly smile and then say, "Aerith, let's put this aside for now. I think we should let them get dressed first."
Tifa pointed at Yuffie and continued, "Especially her, she's still just a young girl."
Only then did Yuffie notice that she was only wearing a bra and a pair of Moogle-printed panties. When she realized that Aiden's eyes were still glancing at her, she screamed again.
"You! Close your eyes!"
———
In the living room, Aiden, already dressed, was quietly eating breakfast while listening to Tifa explain why Yuffie ended up in her room.
In fact, Yuffie being in Tifa's place was a complete accident. This mischievous girl completely ignored the advice of her senior Sonon and the Avalanche main group.
Feeling extremely bored, she snuck out alone. During the day, although a woman named Nayo from the Avalanche main group took her around part of Sector 7, the only thing she remembered was the Seventh Heaven bar, which Nayo said was the sub-branch base.
And with nowhere else to go, she simply went to the bar and used the activity funds given by the main group to order a table full of food and fruit wine.
Her alcohol tolerance was low, and she got drunk quickly. When Aerith and Tifa were about to close shop, she was still lying dizzily on the table.
Seeing she was drunk, Aerith and Tifa planned to send her home. But the girl had only been in Midgar for a day, and she was drunk, so she couldn't remember where the main group had arranged for her to stay. She only vaguely said her name and where she came from.
After finding out that this girl was the foreign aid that the Avalanche main group invited from Wutai, Tifa felt a headache. But since she also didn't know where the main group was based, she and Aerith discussed it and brought the girl back to Ten Hope Estate. They let her sleep in Tifa's bed, while the two of them slept in Room 202.
When Aiden came back, Aerith and Tifa had just gone out to buy breakfast. When they came back and heard Yuffie's scream downstairs, thinking something had happened to the girl, they rushed up, and then the earlier scene happened.
"So you see, this was totally an accident. I'm innocent." After listening to Tifa's explanation, Aiden was righteously confident again.
But he quickly fell silent again because of a sentence from Aerith.
"If it were Tifa, it wouldn't have been an accident, right?" Aerith's tone was still full of resentment. She never expected that Aiden and Tifa were already sleeping together. Even more, she hadn't guarded against this and now found out way too late.
Looking at the resentful Aerith, Aiden wanted to hug her, but with Tifa and Yuffie present, he could only hold her hand and softly comfort her.
Once Aerith felt better, the next person to deal with was Yuffie.
Although Yuffie was a rather thick-skinned, chunnibyo-type girl, even she now had a face as red as a ripe apple. No matter what, she was still a girl, and she'd feel embarrassed too.
"After breakfast, I'll take you back." Aiden picked up a piece of bread and handed it to Yuffie. The girl obediently took it and began nibbling.
While eating, she said, "I don't remember where the main group arranged for me to live."
"Then do you know where the main group usually gathers?" Tifa asked.
Yuffie shook her head, "Forgot."
Tifa was speechless. After sighing, she said, "Let's finish eating and head to the bar. Then we'll figure out how to contact the main group to pick you up."
Yuffie nodded, though her mood seemed a bit down. She didn't seem very willing.
Aiden didn't go to the bar with Tifa and the others. Instead, he rode alone to a nearby gas station to refuel the motorcycle. After all, they'd traveled a lot over the past two days, and the tank was nearly empty.
Honestly, Aiden didn't like this motorcycle much. Although it had strong power thanks to Jessie's tuning, its appearance was no different from a regular motorcycle. He preferred the one Cloud rode in the Advent Children anime, that one looked ridiculously cool.
But such a motorcycle seemed like something only available internally in Shinra. So Aiden planned to try contacting Scarlet in a few days and see if she could get him one.
Thinking of Scarlet, Aiden suddenly remembered he hadn't contacted her in a long time. Though she could be a headache sometimes, she was still a woman he had shared a bed with.
'Sigh… I wonder what she's doing now…' On the way back to the bar, Aiden looked up at the Shinra HQ on the plate above and silently thought.
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