the first step ( Open )

Shiro was out of breath but still he ran as fast as he could. Throwing a look over his shoulder to see if he was still followed the boy did not notice that he was running towards a man. Running into the stranger, Shiro tripped and fell, muttering an apology and jumped to his feet again. He managed to run another two steps, then felt something tangle around his ankles. "Fuck it, you bastards", he mumbled, jumping in the air and cutting through the ropes that they tried to hold him with.

By now the two men had reached him, one of them throwing shuriken at Shiro. The boy managed to dodge two but got hit by the third and fourth one in the chest. Exhausted from running, the eighteen-year-old tried to attack back, armed with nothing more than an old kunai and the shuriken stuck in his chest, which were soon thrown back at their owner, missing him by an inch. "Stop fighting and return with us to the village, if you know what's good for you", one of the men advised Shiro, aiming at him with a claw-like weapon attached to his right hand. "Fuck you!", Shiro replied, he would not let them put him into prison or worse. The man who had spoken sighed and jumped at Shiro, trying to cut him with the claws while his partner stood back and watched, waiting for a situation his help might be needed.

YukikO had noticed the battle and quickly teleported in front of Shiro and defected the blow with her blade, she grinned at Shiro "long time no see buddy, I figured you could use some help" she slashed at the attacker and he fell backwards to the ground.

The attacker's colleague figured he was no match for that new enemy, she was not a street fighter like Shiro was, she seemed skilled. After all, she had just teleported herself. Leaving his buddy behind, the man ran for hit.

Shiro turned, staring at Yukiko. Something inside him remembered her - a little. "Thanks...", he mumbled, trying to figure out who she was.

She grinned and turned, she sheathed her Katana and embraced him in a warm hug "it's so good to see you again, after all this time Shiro" she saw his expression and frowned "what's wrong?"

(btw- in his rp, Yukiko has been away for two years training)

(ok )

Shiro gently pushed her away. He did not mind physical contact, but besides the fact that he was wounded and in pain, he still did not recognize her. "Yeah, really nice to see you... who are you again?", he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She laughed "Yukiko Yumi, your bestest friend in the world, you knocked me into rotted fruit the first time we met" she tapped his forehead, how could he not remember her, it had only been two years after all

Many things had happened which Shiro had managed to forget and this young lady seemed to be an accidental part of Shiro's memory-cleaning. "Sure", he said, shrugging. He had changed a lot, he had grown taller and stronger and he had gained weight, now almost seeming healthy. If it was not for his ragged clothes, the blood spreading from his chest-wounds and the several new scars peeking out below his clothes, nobody would have guessed that he was still living on the streets.

She rolled her eyes, what could she say to make him remember her "you don't remember at all do you" her eyes looked hurt but she offered a smile "it doesn't matter Shiro, I'm just glad to see you is all" she looked him over "you've changed since we last departed" she muttered making small talk, how could she make him remember.

"Mmh", Shiro mumbled, frowning. "I guess you did to, if only I knew", he added. "So... old friend... are you going to invite me out for dinner after I give myself some stitches?", he asked, grinning, although the pain was visible on his face.

She grinned "fine, but this time I won't pull you away from your food to have a sword fight" she teased remembering the first time they met, she turned and started walking back to the village.

Shiro frowned, this girl sure was weird.
"Fine", he said, following her. Before they entered the village he stopped her, pulling out what he needed to give himself the necessary stitches. It hurt but it was better than bleeding. "You think they'll let me enter any restaurant like this?", he joked, stripping off his blood-stained shirt. There were new burn-marks and scars of cuts on his torso, and words carved into his skin with a knife. They shone white against his skin, completely healed up. "Slut", it spelled and "filth".

She looked at his new wounds and tsked "did metal man give you these new marks?" she asked using the pet name she had given to his boss "I thought he would have learnt from last time" she growled lowley then took the needle and strings from Shiro "you don't remember anything" she sighed as she healed his wounds.

Shiro stared at her. At least she seemed to be on his side, not about to hurt him and thus safe to hang out with. "Metal man?", Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow. Did she mean Raijin? He was the only metal man Shiro could think of. "If you mean my patron, Raijin, yes. It was him", Shiro replied coolly. He hated talking about those scars because they showed him he was worthless.

She sighed, "Ill have another talk to him later" they entered the ramen bar and sat down, Yukiko ordered pork ramen and looked at Shiro "think hard Shiro, please try to remember, remember when we were sitting like this, then I pulled you away to sword fight in the medow," she wanted to help him remember but he looked like he wouldn't, she sighed and looked sadly down at the table.

Shiro frowned, she seemed to really want him to remember. "I'm... sorry?", he said, not sure if he actually was. "And you should not go to him. I'm fine, I deserved it", Shiro said, his face emotionless.

She shrugged and smiled "you didn't deserve it, and besides he lost two fingers the last time we talked" she laughed and thanked the waiter when there food arrived "why do you think you forgot me?" she mused, he shouldn't have forgotten her, Mabey it was because of to many bad memories. She looked sadly down at her ramen a d ate slowly.

"Maybe because he replaced his two fingers and demonstrated me the upgrade by carving words into my skin. Do you think that might be enough of a reason to forget about you?", he replied. He sounded calm but his eyes shone for a moment.

"hmm, don't know, I mean we've had good memories but bad ones as well, you were with me when we found my mother dead and then that bloodlusting freak attacked us and we ended up in the hospital and then insaw your boss and started a fight" she shivered, that was a bad memory and she didn't like bringing it up, but she would recount every minute if it would make him remember.

"Are you sure you want to remind me of yourself", Shiro asked. "It does sound like you brought me in trouble quite a lot." He ordered and waited for the food to be served while watching her steadily.

"well we've had good memories as well, like in the medow after the swordfight and I kissed you" she blushed slightly and laughed softly as she stared at her ramen "Mabey we should start again" she turned to look at him and smiled "my names Yukiko, what about you"

She talked about kissing and when she suggested to start again, Shiro hoped she meant the kissing. But she did not. Seeming disappointed he looked at her. "Shiro", he replied, not smiling. "Do you live close by? I have no place to stay for the night", he said. She remembered him, she liked him - she could let him stay with her no matter if he did too or not.

She nodded, she had recently moved back into the old place where her mother had died, it made her feel at peace now "yeah, it's not to far, finish your ramen and well go" she grinned and finished up her ramen placing some money on the counter plus a large tip and waited for Shiro to finish.

Shiro did not take long to finish, he still had his habit of 'inhaling' food. Although his serving had been twice as large as Yukiko's he finished only a few moments after her. "Great, let's go", he said, getting up and ignoring the looks of all those people staring at his blood-stained shirt, wondering while he was in company of such a beautiful girl.

She lead the way back to her place and opened the door and ushered him in. Yukiko closed the door behind him a raided through a cupboard until she found what she was looking for, she handed them to Shiro "the showers the second door on the right. She handed Shiro the towel and some of her fathers old clothes, they would be a little big on him but they would do fine. She gave a kind smile and layed back agaisnt the couch and though about that day in the meadow and the fight with the metal freak.