"There he is, GET HIM!"
The group of angry men chased after the Teenage thief, following him into a large crowd, taking advantage of the situation, the Redhead, ducked under a table and raced down a back street then turning into an alley, a bag swinging from his fist.
"Ok, I think I'm…gonna lose them…"
He glanced over his shoulder as he turned out of the alley onto the side walk and CRASH!
"OOF..."
He looked down at the person he'd just run into, a girl with long blonde hair wearing a white shirt over a black tank top with jeans. Black leather fighting gloves covered her hands. Her eyes snapped open revealing that they were a soft, chocolate brown colour, darkened with anger.
"HEY WATCH IT!"
She stood, dusting herself down and glared at the boy.
"Idiot!"
Reno suddenly noticed his bag on the floor and scrambled to retrieve it before turning to the girl, his cocky attitude taking over…
"AH damn... Listen, Princess I don't have time to play with you."
"Ha, what's the Rush Pretty Boy?"
The Blonde eyed the bag and smirked...
"Oh, in a little trouble are we?"
"As a matter of fact, I got everything under control. But thanks for the concern: awfully cute of you."
He raised his hand to salute the girl sarcastically...
"Nice knowin' ya."
She raised an eyebrow, glancing from his face to the bag.
"Yeah. Sure you do..."
They both looked up as loud shouting from the main road hit their ears...
"Oh, are they friends of yours?"
The Blonde grinned and moved to the end of the alley, opening her mouth to yell out, the Redhead darted after her, grabbing her collar and yanking her back into the side street.
"Oh, HELL no."
She coughed and wrenched out of his grip, ducking down and swinging her leg into his back, sending him stumbling forward.
"Ah, Damn Punk!"
He staggered upright before turning round and grabbing her wrists, pinning her against the wall and leaning in close.
"Listen. I don't like hurting people. But if they see me there's gonna be hell to pay. So do us a favour and just pretend like this never happened. Got it?"
He noticed a light blush creep onto her face and she shook her head before leaning in closer to him, her breath tickling his neck and she whispered into his ear...
"Well if it didn't happen then why are you still here?"
He was about to answer when she elbowed him in the stomach, Reno doubled over coughing loudly, stumbling backwards before sitting down, looking up through crimson bangs.
"Look, I ain't gonna hit you. So if it's a fight you want, go ahead. Come at me."
The girl hesitated, her fist loosening a little before she frowned and raised it, stepping forward.
"I... Don't Test me Pretty Boy!"
She was about to lunge when a sharp pain hit her, pulsing in the back of her skull, she dropped to her knees clutching her head.
"OUCH!"
Tears began to form in her eyes and she shook them away, looking up at the Redhead painfully.
"Please...Help..."
"Hey, what's your problem?"
Reno was confused but he realised he had an opportunity to run and turned, gripping the bag tightly and began to run...
"Damn it..."
He paused and looked back as the girl tried to stand but stumbled and fell back down; she glanced up at him with pleading eyes once more before collapsing. Reno took a couple of steps back and turned to leave but stopped and sighed.
"...Damn it."
He looked up as the angry voices got louder and panicked, he spied a wooden door to the side, the lock looked pretty old and shabby so he tried kicking it. When the door gave a sharp crack he grinned and kicked again, harder this time and it bust open. Tossed his bag inside before turning and lifting the girl up into his arms, dashing into the room and shutting the door behind him. He lay the girl down on the floor and sat beside her, looking around the room, a store room of some kind. A moan drew his attention back to his companion and he frowned, she had a look of pain across her face and he didn't like it, he stood and looked around for something to use as a pillow for her. When he did, he sat back down and watched her uneasily...
Opening her eyes slowly and blinking a few times to adjust to the dark room. The girl looked around, frowning a little when she noticed Reno sitting beside her. She pulled herself up slowly and looked at him.
"Y...You? Why did You Help Me?"
He didn't answer, keeping his face turned, glaring at the shadows.
"What was all that whining about?"
She looked down at her hands shameful and sighed…
"It's nothing, just an attack, they're painful but they come and go...I uh..."
Reno jumped when he felt a hand on his; he looked up and met the girls gaze. She was smiling.
"Thank You..."
He pulled away, feeling a little awkward and stood.
"Forget about it. And keep your voice down, will ya? I still haven't decided what to do with you and if those cronies are still out there I don't want them hearing us."
He began pacing back and forth. She watched him for a minute before lying back down and crossing her arms behind her head, sighing loudly.
"So we're stuck here for a bit huh? What fun..."
She glanced over at him quickly before looking back up at the ceiling.
"Say, what were you running from them for anyway yo?"
Reno eyed the bag and continued pacing.
"Nothing that concerns you."
She smirked and he looked down at her, pausing by her legs and nudging one of them with his foot.
"How'd you get to be such a pissy little bird?"
She gritted her teeth and jumped up, grabbing him by the collar.
"I'm NOT! I can't help it; it's what happens if you cross the Origato Gang..."
She sighed and looked him in the eye before releasing him and stepping back.
"Sorry...it's just...hard, you know? I've trained at the Shinra Military Academy for 3 years and yet I get taken down by something as small as this"
She turned away and moved to the other side of the room, looking up at the store shelves and laughed coldly.
"Sorry, you probably don't even give a damn so I don't know why I'm even telling you this"
"What else do we have to do? So..."
He shrugged and sat down on one of the boxes in the corner, looking down at her.
"You're a Shin-Ra brat, huh? And what's this nonsense about a gang. I know lots of them this side of town, but I ain't ever heard of an Origato gang."
She smiled a little at the name he'd given her and turned back to him, smirking.
"I didn't want to go to that damn place but I had no choice... Sounds like you get around a lot, The Origato gang are new to the area, they arrived about 3 days ago, just passing through but their dangerous people..."
"Get around a lot? You could say that."
The Redhead frowned when she lifted her wrist up, wrapping the fingers of her other hand around it.
"You ever heard of Morute?"
He shook his head and began rummaging through the bag.
"Never heard of him."
He looked up when a quiet laugh hit his ears and the girl looked up at him smiling a little.
"It's not a him, it's a drug...a drug they use to keep anybody that messes with them quiet, it acts like a poison, running through your system till it reaches the heart. I bumped into their gang and it didn't go so well..."
He watched as she pulled the glove off her left hand and lifted her sleeve up a little to reveal a needle mark on the vein, badly bruised around the edge.
"They only got half the dose in but it'll have the same effect, just taking a little longer... The headaches are a side effect"
Still being cautious, he climbed down and walked over, taking her hand gently in his to have a look, wincing at how bad it looked...
"Damn. They must be into some bad business to go to all that trouble."
He backed away a little, scratching his neck uncomfortably.
"So, there's gotta be some cure for it, right?"
She shook her head and looked down.
"Not that I know of, I checked in the library, books on all kinds of poison and stuff, nothing about Morute though"
She pulled the glove back on and shifted slightly, eyes glistening.
"It doesn't matter, I've been through a lot in my life so I'm not gonna let this take me down without a fight"
Reno smirked despite himself and looked up at her...
"Not a bad way to look at it."
"Well, when you've got a reason to live then you fight for it, right? And If I'm gonna die, then I'll do it my way..."
She moved across the room to the door and pressed an ear to it.
"You know, you're not that bad kid...I think they're gone"
"Oh yeah?"
Reno moved to the door, accidently kicking the bag as he did, sending several vegetables, a slab of meat and a loaf of bread across the floor.
"..."
She looked from the food to him and back before a small giggle escaped her lips and she moved to retrieve the items, biting her lip, her face growing hot...
"Sorry, I..."
Lifting up the bread and dropping it in the bag she frowned and looked at him.
"You were stealing food? You...You don't get enough at home?"
The look in his eye told her she'd just said something stupid and realization hit her hard, her eyes widened and she looked down shamefully, holding the bag out...
"Oh! I'm sorry..."
He jerked the bag from her hand and bent down to pick up the rest.
"GIMME THAT."
She stepped back and watched him, feeling awful for saying what she just had...
"You thought I was the kinda guy who got around, huh. Well you're 100% right...cuz I don't have a home."
He continued shoving food into the bag, feeling both embarrassed and angry.
"I run with a group of kids. But we ain't fancy enough to have a name. We're just a bunch of no-name slum rats. The younger ones get hungry and do you think punks with no experience or schoolin' get picked up for jobs?"
He finished the last of it and stood, not meeting her eye.
"They gotta eat somehow."
He glanced up when she moved, wiping her eyes hurriedly...
"I...I had no Idea, I'm Sorry"
She turned and pulled the door open, stepping outside.
"You wanna know something funny? I kinda envy you...you don't have anyone to compete with, anyone to make proud... My life's all but planned out for me...I'm meant to finish my studies and become a Turk...a Shinra Lapdog..."
She gritted her teeth and stared up at the sky, taking her wrist into her hand.
"If I live that long anyway..."
Reno felt his anger leave him, overtaken by guilt, true his life wasn't the best but this girl was dying, he felt sorry for her. He walked from the room and joined her...
"Well...they say Shin-Ra technology is the best anywhere. Why don't you ask them about that shot you had?"
"Because I'm just a kid...and I can't do anything for them now so they wouldn't bother..."
She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a handful of gil notes, shoving them into the stunned Redheads hand before smiling.
"I gotta get back, but take care of yourself"
She turned and began running, calling over her shoulder...
"See Ya around Pretty Boy"
Reno blinked in surprise and looked up, finding his voice and yelling after her.
"Hey...Hey wait! What's your name, bird?"
She turned around grinning.
"ELENA"
Then she disappeared round the corner. Reno smiled a little and looked down at the notes before dropping them in the bag and leaving the alleyway...
