When We Were Young

We were just kids at the time. But no one really knows what that meant to us.

I mean sure, she was a rich kid, mommy's little girl, the princess of high white walls and anything she could ever dream of. Her future was hers for the taking.

I was the street trash, left over of someone's one night stand. I was an orphan living in the streets of the worst part of the city right before the lowest economic period known to man. I was nobody.

We met by mistake; I was 5 years old at the time, wandering the streets looking for a chance to snick an apple or something from the nearby fruit stands. There was a growing crowd by the nearby park as a limo pulled up with a black glossy shine. I found myself internally growling at the sight. How dare they come here of all places, I turned around and huffed, they don't belong here.

I walked down a nearby alley hoping to stay out of sight from the rich bastards that dared to present themselves here. I may have been young, but no one was too small to know the differences between us and them, they had everything, we had nothing… I had nothing, and I was bitter as hell.

I stopped walking as I heard a silent scuffle coming from behind a crate up ahead. My heart started pounding. I didn't have back up with me, and if whoever was in hiding managed to get the jump on me I'd be screwed. I looked back up the alley from where I had come and noticed the heavy flow of police passing by. I hate Cops. They were dirty, all of them. I would have probably ended up worse off if I turned back to them. The only way out was forward past the ambusher that lay in waiting.

So I ran and leapt over the crate and tackled the person behind it hoping to catch them by surprise and buy more time to escape. Straddled over the perpetrator, my fists clenched and ready to pummel whoever was below me, I froze. She looked up at me with startled red eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I looked down on this strange girl. Those eyes were so deep and alive, and I had never seen anything like it before.

I stood up off of her and backed myself up to the opposite wall. I refused to turn my back to her and give her an advantage but at the same time she seemed just as wary of me as she too turned to face me, still seated on the floor.

"Hey you!" An officer called to me. I was reluctant to break my gaze from her but the officer was more of a threat. "What do you want?" I glared at him. "Hey twerp, look at you getting all hostile. Do I need to kick your ass in order to remind you who you're speaking to?" The officer stepped forward. "You're welcome to try," I growled and took a couple steps toward the officer, taking him up on the challenge.

"Kiyo! That's enough! We're supposed to be looking for the little miss not cleaning up the street trash," another officer placed a hand on Kiyo's shoulder. "Psh, whatever. Hey brat you haven't happened to find another twerp about your age running around here with red eyes have you?" I could feel her tense up behind the crate wondering what I was going to do.

I scoffed, like I was going to help them, "Like a little rich bitch would end up here. Go fuck off," I spat. The officer named Kiyo clenched his fists ready to beat the crap out of me but the other officer restrained him. "Come on let it go Kiyo!"

"But Deni, this bitch is trying us!"

"She's just a kid Kiyo get over it. Let's go."

Deni led the other officer away. Only once they were long gone did I turn to the girl with red eyes still hiding behind the crate. Her eyes were bright and she was smiling at me. "What are you smiling at?" I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as her red eyes continued forward piercing into my eyes. She suddenly burst out laughing and I felt my cheeks grow hotter. "Damn you," I mumbled.

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It was always a game, or at least that's how it had started.

I would sit by my mother's side wearing a matching kimono to hers as she tended business meetings with all the big shots of the city. They said I was my mother's business mascot because she would take me with her wherever she went, and have me attend every meeting or event. I was told be silent and remain still, so I did.

My father was on the other side of the world, he and my mother never got along, but they never got a divorce for political reasons. So instead they split the world in half and divided it amongst them two and I was no exception. I would spend every other year with each parent never truly being allowed to settle and make friends or even a home. They were just two places I would visit. They were just two sets of people I'd have to smile to.

Needless to say I hated it. I hated all the smiling and the false compliments from strange adults. I hated it so much, that on one expedition to the inner city I donned a cloak of rags and ran off into the streets. I knew my mother would be furious but her pride wouldn't let her call for my father's back up. So it would be easier to deal with just the local law enforcement. They were easy enough to evade. What I was really looking for was to see how long it took her to touch the street herself and find me.

I never thought about the possible dangers, I never thought about the area we were in. I was arrogant and unstoppable as I ran through the dirty alleys. Looking back now I guess I'd say I was just downright lucky that I ran into her then, or maybe it was just fate. Either way, at the time I felt like I owned the world so it was only natural that it give me a body guard. I was 7 when I met her.

She startled me when she pounced on top of me, yet her deep emerald eyes seemed to be more shocked than I was. They were alive with questions and wonder like if she was staring at a mythical beast she had never seen before. I was slightly amused and slightly put off by the way she looked at me like if I was a strange creature.

She hesitantly stood and put distance between us. She never released me from her gaze as I imitated her and kept my back to the wall. Ara, what is this girl doing?

"Hey you!" I could see the flash of inner turmoil behind her eyes as she furrowed her brows cutely in concentration. Then reluctantly she snapped her heavy gaze away from me and snapped back at the officer, "What do you want?" Her once curious eyes seemed to freeze over with pure malice at the policeman. Ara, not very mindful of the law is she?

"Hey twerp, look at you getting all hostile. Do I need to kick your ass in order to remind you who you're speaking to?" I recognized his voice. It was Kiyo. If this girl got into a fight with him it could turn out very ugly for her. "You're welcome to try," she growled like an angry puppy. "Kiyo! That's enough! We're supposed to be looking for the little miss not cleaning up the street trash," ah yes, suspicions confirmed. The other one must've been Deni, my mother's personal escort. My eyes widened, she must be close. This makes the chase a bit more interesting.

"Psh, whatever. Hey brat you haven't happened to find another twerp about your age running around here with red eyes have you?" Oh no, she's going to give me away. Then my mother would definitely be angry with me, and who knows, send me with my father two weeks early.

I hated going to my father's most of all. He always left me at home and never let me go anywhere. And at night he would come home drunk with another fling every day, and a hangover that made him grouchy and irritable in the morning.

She scoffed, "Like a little rich bitch would end up here. Go fuck off!" I was relieved that she didn't give me away, but at the same time irked that she had just called me a bitch. Well whatever, she was cute defending me.

"Come on let it go Kiyo!"

"But Deni, this bitch is trying us!"

"She's just a kid Kiyo get over it. Let's go."

She turned back to me, "What are you smiling at?" I didn't notice that I was smiling, but then the cutest blush came across her fair skin and I couldn't contain my amusement any longer. She turned a deeper shade of red and mumbled something under her breath.

"Come on. Let's get out of here before those losers get back." She grabbed my hand and dragged me along behind her.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Her crimson eyes never let me go.

I woke up naked and alone like every other night for the past ten years. Her eyes would haunt my sleep and I was reluctant to return to reality from these cruel nightmares.

There was banging on my door, "Hey! Get your ass out here you mutt," Nao yelled form the other side of the metal door. "Yeah yeah I'm coming damn spider," I mumbled as I stood to get dressed for the days leisurely activities of kicking the Collective Federation's ass.

The CF had overthrown several world powers by means of blackmail or downright assassinations of different political heads, uniting the world under one sovereign corrupted nation in the short time of 5 years. In reality I'm not sure if things started falling apart 10 years ago or 5. My judgment was heavily biased leaning towards the ten since that was when she was forced to move away and left me alone.

I walked out into the main command center, it was just a small room that used to be our fort when we were younger, where some of the others were waiting for me. "Midori what's the report?" I took a seat in my rickety lawn chair, setting my assault rifle down across my lap.

"Viola is sending another wave of troops into the inner city sector. They should be there by tomorrow."

"How is that flank holding out from the last wave?" The CF troops have been bombarding that sector for weeks now. They must be looking for something. The squads I had stationed there have held out so far but it was a matter of time before they needed back up. "They are just barely recovering from the last wave. Those bastards sure are determined to get into that place. I wonder why?"

"Their leader, this Viola person must be an idiot. There's nothing left in those slums except the poor helpless bastards," Nao examined her nails with boredom.

"Those 'poor helpless bastards' are the people we're trying to protect Nao. And not too long ago they were us," I glared at her. She just rolled her eyes. "They must be looking for something in there," Midori said scratching her head, "or someone." At this I looked up. Could they be looking for someone, but who? It took me back those 20 years to when I had first looked into her red eyes. The cops had been looking for her in there too.

"We should go in this time and try and intercept them," I stood up and walked over to the map pinned to the wall. "They need to learn who they are dealing with."

"That's right. Justice always prevails," Midori exclaimed. Nao rolled her eyes. "Let's mobilize and cut them off before they reach the innercity sector. Whatever they're after we don't want them to get."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I could still feel the silk of her long pitch black hair as it ran through my fingers.

I sat in the empty board room in my large chair wrapped in nothing but sheets. Her arms used to hold me and keep me safe from the dangers I was so unaware of. I missed her every day and night for the past ten years. "Where are you now?" I wondered aloud as my fingers played over the holographic map display of the inner city sector. "Are you still in there?"

Since that day we had met I spent as much time with her as possible. I would run away every chance I could get just to hang out with her. She introduced me to some of the other neighborhood kids and let me into their secret fort that was made up of wooden boards arranged against the alley wall. She taught me how to get around the city without running into much trouble and where to go if that's exactly what I was looking for, which it never was, and for the first time I had found a friend. Even when I'd go spend the year at my father's house I showed her how we can keep in contact and we always did.

There was even that time she convinced me to try stealing bread with her. I decided it would be a fun thing to try, not that I had a need for bread, but she was really excited when I told her I would come with her and who could deny the cute blush and eager green puppy eyes. I was 16 at the time.

I walked up to the counter and gave my best smile up to the man standing behind it.

"Why hello there little lady? What can I get for you?"

"Ara let's see…what is that on the end?" I pointed to the curious looking roll at the far end. He walked over to it with a smirk. "That is my pride and joy." He went off explaining the history of how he made the recipe with the gentle nudge of well placed smiles and polite questions. I gave her the signal and she snuck in from the other side while the man was distracted. She cleaned out half of his counter and gave me the thumbs up as she disappeared around the corner. The man was still ranting about how his aunt tried to steal his recipe. "Excuse me baker-han, but my mother is probably worried sick about me. I should be heading home."

"Ah you're too polite. Are you sure you live around here? Well then have a good day and be safe." I bowed politely and headed off to where she had disappeared. I found her waiting for me with a great big grin across her face. I could hear the baker swearing loudly at the discovery of his missing stores. We bolted as fast as we could down the alley and around some corners as the man chased behind us. She pulled me into a tight doorjamb where we hid until the footsteps disappeared.

We burst out laughing at the thrill of it all. I had never done anything like that before and I could still feel the adrenaline running through me. Suddenly her cheeks flushed a deep red and she stopped laughing. "Ara, Natsuki is blushing and I haven't even said anything yet?" Her cheeks darkened and she looked away from me, "idiot," she mumbled. Than the two of us became silent realizing how close together we were.

I could feel her heart quicken, or perhaps that was just mine pounding away at my chest. The thrill of the run was still coursing through me making me bolder than else I would have been. I raised my hand to her hot cheek and turned her head to face me. Her usually clear green eyes were hazy as they looked at me. My thumb gently caressed her under her eye while my other hand ran through her black silky tresses. I leaned forward feeling her puffs of warm breath caress my lips.

"Kaichou," the easy voice called to me pulling me from the realm of my most precious memories. "Yes Reito-han?"

"Some of the board members are wondering why 'Viola' is sending troops to the inner city sector."

"Tell them it's to achieve a strategic hold against the rebellion. That should quiet them down for some time yes?"

He bowed to me before turning to leave, "yes Kaichou-sama." I chuckled to myself. Reito, Reito, Reito.