Chapter Text
C'mon show me how much better you are
See you deserve some applause
'Cause you're so much better
-Taylor Swift (Better than Revenge)
Hanzo Yakamari: Yeah I’m just not feeling it anymore. (2301)
Yuffie Kisaragi: You’re not feeling it anymore? You’re breaking up with me? (2302)
Hanzo Yakamari: Yeah I guess. (2302)
Yuffie stared at the phone for a really long time. She could feel her anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Sitting there, refusing to move and she thought she was gonna be sick. Did she do something wrong? Her mind flashed through her and Hanzo’s entire relationship… No, there was nothing wrong. They started dating in high school, Hanzo a year older than her and sure he was the more popular one out of the two. But, Yuffie wasn’t unpopular. She just did her own thing and sometimes that got her attention and sometimes she was ignored by her peers.
The brunette understood that they had been a little distant lately, literally and figuratively, but she didn’t think that would be enough for him to dump her… especially through text.
What was that about? Was there someone else? Her eyes stung and she looked away from her phone, up towards her ceiling as she swallowed the sob that was threatening to leave her. Could she fix this? Could she change his mind? Did she want to? The guy broke up with her through text… How much did she really want to fight for him? She loves him… she’s in love with him. Did he not love her back? Did he care? Was four years really nothing to him? She guessed he hadn’t really been in the relationship since he left for university in Midgar… but she was going to go visit him in a few weeks… why wouldn’t he give her a chance when she got there?
Yuffie couldn’t stop the tears that fell. What was the use… he had made his decision right… she should be mature about it and gracefully bow out. She pressed the palm of her hands to her eyes, a crappy attempt at trying to stop her tears. She stood up and walked around her room, pacing. She should say one final thing… no she shouldn’t… nothing was going to help the situation anyway. Hanzo had made his decision…
She tossed her phone on the bed and followed it, landing on her pillow, her best attempt at stifling her sobs. Her body shook with the force of her cries, the young girl heartbroken at her first break up. She had really thought it was him and her forever.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Yuffie refused to leave the house the rest of the weekend, her mind made up. Her friends had texted her late last night, asking her what was up. Apparently Hanzo had changed his relationship status and removed all photos of him and her from his social media. That was quick, that dick. All of her direct messages were pinging, so much that Yuffie silenced her phone and refused to even look at it. She spent the majority of her morning cleaning house and eating ice cream at eight am.
The morning after it happened she had begun removing every single thing that reminded her of Hanzo. The polaroids were gathered from her wall, the mirror in her room and promptly thrown into the garbage. She had hesitated, what if he had changed his mind? Then she scoffed because she had always told herself she wouldn't be the kind of girl who was on again and off again with any boyfriend. She knew her worth. The photos of her friends that included Hanzo were covered with any stickers she could find, placed perfectly over his face as she didn't want to punish her friends and ruin the memories she had with them. There had been several shadow boxes (four, in fact) that held different items, each a special artifact from their anniversary that Yuffie dumped into the garbage can and then took it outside so she couldn't be tempted to pick it out later. What a waste of a good shadowbox.
The young woman was currently on her twenty-fourth episode of her favorite cooking show and even she couldn't find the joy in it today. She sighed and picked up her phone. Her room was almost empty as the majority of her high school belongings were now packed and put in her closet and the rest of her memories with Hanzo in the garbage. She had to block him now… Yuffie’s eyes welled up… and she blinked back tears, her head raised in a shitty attempt at stifling them, again. There was nothing wrong with crying. That's what her dad had always told her.
She hadn’t even told her father. He would be so disappointed with her… be probably pissed at Hanzo. The last few months had seen Yuffie disappointed several times, each time the young woman had tried to schedule a time to visit Hanzo he would always make an excuse. Godo had told her to break up with him a few weeks ago. It turned into an argument and Yuffie was embarrassed to tell him… he had been right. She wiped her face and sniffled. She deleted his number and blocked him, her hand moving to delete all their conversations from her phone too. Her hands moved before her brain could catch up, a loss felt deeply in her chest before erupting in another sob.
Her head fell against the pillow as she cried for another twenty minutes.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A knock on her door followed by, “Yuffie, are you awake? It's dinner time.”
Yuffie had fallen asleep, her dad’s knock waking her. She buried her head further into the pillow, her best attempt at ridding herself of the headache she had given herself from crying. She mumbled out to him, but he didn't hear her, the older man opening her door and taking a step into her room. He didn't say anything and Yuffie didn't move. Her room was empty . He was going to say I told you so. She pulled her blanket over her head securely, refusing to look at him.
“Oh, honey.”
Her eyes were open and the tears were already falling at his words, her lower lip trembling. The light came through her comforter as she stared ahead and tried not to make a sound. He was walking around her room now, Yuffie releasing a shaky breath but refusing to talk. If she spoke it would only lead to more crying.
“Baby girl, I'm sorry,” he spoke softly to her, sitting on her bed and Yuffie did cry this time. He gently reached for her blanket, pulling it down and Yuffie let him, moving to sit up and throwing her arms around him as she cried.
“I'm sorry dad, you were right.”
“That doesn't matter, sweetie.”
She hugged him tighter as his arms came around her, rubbing her back gently. She cried into his shoulder and her father let him, his suit getting full of tears. She was gross and she pulled away, apologizing again and trying to clean his suit. He shook his head as he held her by her shoulders.
“Did you want to talk about it? I know I’m old, but I know a thing or two about heartbreak.” He was trying hard to cheer her up and she gave him an A for effort. She smiled sadly at him and shook her head, reaching for the tissue box on her night stand to blow her nose.
“That’s not the same dad… Mom didn’t decide she didn’t want to be with you… with us. She was taken away.” Godo allowed her the space and scooted further back, only slightly as he rested his hands on his lap.
“Yuffie, as much as I loved your mom, and I admit she was the love of my life… I have dated others. Some who’s hearts I broke and others who broke my heart.”
“Yeah, cause men suck.”
“Not all of us… and not all the time, but that Hanzo kid… yeah he definitely sucks.” He tried to catch her eye and she smiled at him again, appreciating his efforts. They didn’t typically do all this feeling stuff.
“Well, if you aren’t going to talk to me about it, should we order pizza and bust out the ice cream? We can watch some of your favorite cooking shows? It’s best not to be alone when it’s still fresh, honey.”
“I’m gonna be alone forever,” Yuffie sulked.
“That is definitely what it feels like… but if you’d like, we can be alone, together?”
Yuffie smiled, “Deal.”
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The rest of the night and following day, Godo did his best to cheer her up. They watched movies and binged her favorite foods, snacks, and ice cream. On Sunday he took her out for breakfast, followed by a long day of shopping. She was grateful he was making an effort to cheer her up. She had noticed he had silenced his phone and gave his daughter his undivided attention. Yuffie smiled at this… she missed when her dad acted like dad. She wished he’d do it more often, but she didn’t mind that distraction. They could always talk about that later… when Yuffie wasn’t being selfish and taking in all his attention just to keep hers away from Hanzo.
With her dad’s distraction and efforts, she had been able to delete their messages on many of their social medias. Yuffie knowing it was the right thing to do. She had answered her friends’ messages, stating that Hanzo broke up with her through text and didn’t really give a reason. Despite not needing reassurance that it was an asshole move, her friends ‘picked’ her side. Yuffie rolled her eyes, it's not like they needed too, there was no argument… just Hanzo being done with her. She’d get over it…
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Vincent
Vincent sat at his desk, staring at his phone as he contemplated what to do. He could hear Miranda’s voice in his head… telling him to block her number, delete the conversation, and stop thinking about her. It was difficult to say the least. He had deleted the conversations… multiple times. But she either texted him, or he reached out to her. They clearly were not finished with one another… as much as Vincent wanted to be. If he was still deployed this would be easier. He had reached out to his superior but there was no need for him right now. He had deleted the number but unfortunately had previously memorized it. He couldn’t bring himself to block her.
He grabbed the phone and tossed it behind him on his bed. He stared at the computer in front of him… Vincent had long given up on getting any type of work done today. There was no use. He missed her. As much as he hated her and hated himself, Lucrecia was on his mind. There was a knock on his door and he stood, moving out into the hall before calling out that he was on his way.
He opened the door and there stood Miranda. She must have forgotten her keys again. He looked at the pegboard near the door and sure enough, there they were. She was leaning on the door frame, her arms crossed as she narrowed her eyes at him.
“I know that look.”
“What look? The disappointment at you forgetting your keys again?”
“Did you text her?”
“Text who?” He decided he’d play dumb.
“Oh shut up. Let me see your phone.”
“No.”
“No I can’t see your phone or no you didn’t text her.”
He sighed heavily, “No I didn’t text her. But you’re not checking my phone either…”
“Vince, look man, I’m here for you, but you gotta let her go. She’s a bitch.” He was glad she had dropped the request to search through his phone. He may have not texted her today, but he was sure the previous texts from last week were still there. He mentally sighed, they were both pretty pathetic to continue to do this to one another. Although Miranda had told him multiple times it was more of a her problem than him.
“Randy—”
“Nah, nah, nah. Don’t Randy me. I’m your best friend and I haven’t forgotten how she broke your heart. You’re having angry sex with her on repeat because you are still grieving the loss of your relationship with her. Let it go, you gotta find someone else.”
Vincent scoffed and turned away, moving into his apartment, allowing her to follow him. They moved into his small living room. She sat on his recliner, her large bag placed on the floor beside her, the taller man sitting on the couch and sighing heavily.
“I’ve tried to distract myself, but there isn’t much to do these days.”
“You could get a job.”
“I don’t need to work…”
“Woe is you. Must be nice.”
“If I recall correctly, you get to play video games all day…”
“Yeah, but only because I gotta keep my views and subs up. If I drop, I don’t get paid.”
“You make it sound like you're a stripper.”
“With the way some of these people send me stars and money, I might as well be. But I can’t help it if they like what they see… even if it’s not my gameplay.” She smirked at him shrugging.
Vincent chuckled and shook his head, the brunette leaned over toward his coffee table, reaching for the remote on the table before clicking on the tv. She found a movie quickly, Vincent watching it, needing a distraction. However, as he watched the movie, his phone silently called to him, begging him to check to see if Lucrecia had reached out.
Miranda was right… he was angry with Lucrecia. It was why he continued his relationship with her. He wanted to hurt her like she hurt him, but he didn’t think it was actually working. If anything, the young scientist was getting what she wanted. No strings attached, but the perks of having a fuck buddy. It was something Vincent had never wanted to be. His mother was a hopeless romantic and Vincent wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he was as well. Despite Vincent’s dislike of his father, and his father’s treatment of his mother, he still believed in love. When he first started dating Lucrecia he had believed it was love at first sight and he had no doubt he was still trying to make it work in his head. Like if he waited long enough she’d come to her senses and change her mind.
He had long ago stopped watching the movie and apparently so had Miranda. The curly haired woman was now on her phone, her fingers swiping at her screen, clearly moving through reels. He moved to stand, if she was on her phone, it was only fair he could be on his.
“Where ya going?”
“To get my phone.”
“No,” she stood up, her phone forgotten.
“Yes,” Vincent sighed and stood to his full height, not that he was intimidating and not that she cared.
“Are you gonna text her?”
“I didn’t plan on it.”
“Liar. Let’s play some games.”
“I—”
“Come on, it’s been a long time since we ran a few games and dominated lobbies.” Vincent hadn’t played games with the younger woman in a few years. She had continued to follow her dream of making her hobby her career, Vincent had gone out and continued into the army then special ops.
“Will it get you off my back?”
“Yes,” she smiled, her hands coming up and clapping in front of her. Vincent agreed, but only after they got something to eat beforehand, knowing that Miranda could get sucked into playing for hours.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Vincent and Miranda had just finished cleaning up after their early dinner, the younger woman going down the street to gather some snacks for their gaming night. Vincent had to reinstall some of the games Miranda had planned on playing tonight, but it didn’t take long. Miranda had picked the fastest internet speeds and had made sure Vincent had a wired connection, her distaste for wireless obvious.
Miranda was excited, telling Vincent she was going to start her streaming, promising her fans she was on tonight and with a special guest. Vincent rolled his eyes, glad she was in her room with the door closed. The viewers would only hear his voice, which he didn’t often say much, so it didn’t matter. Miranda didn’t typically play with others, her stream consisting of solo streams or playing single player games.
It had been several months since Vincent had even bothered to play, Lucrecia calling it childish and a waste of time. Vincent disagreed, enjoying the distraction from everyday life. Not to mention it was something Miranda was very passionate about. Miranda had been his best friend since high school and he wasn’t one to discourage her from following her dreams.
Vincent was pretty good at it. He had played it with other friends besides the brunette in the other room. Just like his real life career, Vincent was an excellent shot with a sniper, his reflexes and reaction skills amazing, even on a keyboard and mouse.
They loaded up, Miranda informing Vincent they would run a duo. The game was Call of Duty, Miranda deciding to play Warzone Resurgence. She informed her viewers they were giving Vincent a chance to dust off the rusty skills he had .
The rest of the night was spent doing just that. Vincent and Miranda had a great time laughing and joking. A few of Miranda’s watchers told her they were excited to see her running with a duo, many of them excited to see her play more team based games lately. There had been comments asking if she planned on sending in gameplay for the open spot on Midgar’s professional team, Midgar Zoloms. Miranda had said she was definitely considering it, teasing her watchers with the possible chance to catch her trios and quads in the near future.