Disclaimer: I do not own Ayashi no Ceres or any of its characters.

Chapter Two

Do I Know You?

Yuuhi dashed across the street, towards the tall figure who was now in front of him. She stared at him curiously, while he had his hands on his kneecaps, gasping for breath. He shot his gaze up towards her, locking his blue eyes with her brown one. In an instant he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a warm embrace, as tears streamed down his eyes. "Chidori. Chidori," he repeated over and over again, wrapping one arm around her slim body tightly, while the other supported her head. "Where have you been?" he asked loudly. "I thought you died that one time. How come you never came to look for us?" he asked, tightening his grip on her.

The girl reached for his arm and began to remove it from her body. "I'm sorry, she said, a sense of kindness enveloped the tone of her voice, "but, do I know you?" she asked, slowly pulling away from his tight grasp.

Yuuhi felt as though he had just been shot. His body and thoughts seemed to have froze with time. 'What does she mean she doesn't know me?' he asked silently. His heart throbbed painfully and loudly, as if everybody who was staring at him could hear his own heartbeat. 'How could she not remember me!" he asked himself, hurt.

Than suddenly, a shout from the other end of the street broke his chain of thoughts.

"What in the world were you thinking?" shouted Shuro, on the top of her lungs. "You could've been killed! You know th..." her voice trailed off into a loud, raspy gasp as she stepped next to Yuuhi. Her body and mind seemed to have petrified, just like Yuuhi was. A single word slipped from her lips, audible only to the girl and Yuuhi. "Chidori."

The girl's face softened and saddened as she spoke up, "I understand that you guys may want to explain some things to me, so why don't we head for the coffee shop across the street," she suggested.

Yuuhi and Shuro nodded in agreement, breaking free from their frozen state. Finally, they were aware of the loud and excited whispers that surrounded them.

"Isn't that Shuro?" asked a girl loudly.

"Are those her friends," questioned another.

The girl quickly led the two of them out of the crowd and into the coffee shop, before the crowds could realize that it really was Shuro.

They entered the coffee shop and sat down, still mesmerized by the girl.

The girl noticed the amazed stares on both of their faces, "Are you okay?" she asked worried, before taking a sip of her coffee. The both nodded, realizing how rude they had been acting. "My names Yukiko Kakamura," she informed smiling kindly. "I'm sorry," she said politely, "but my name isn't Chidori."

Yuuhi finally seemed to have snapped out of his trance like state. "You have to be Chidori!" he exclaimed. "You look just like her!" he shouted, his body halfway out of the chair.

"Calm down Yuuhi!" ordered Shuro, pulling him back down to his seat. "I'm sorry Miss Kakamura," apologized Shuro, "we didn't mean to cause you any trouble. My name is Shuro and his is Yuuhia Aogirl," she introduced, pointing to Yuuhi. "We only stopped you in the middle of the road, because you do look a lot like a very close friend we knew. Her name was Chidori Kuruma, she was a very dear person to us." explained Shuro

The girl stared at the two of them, a sense of genuine sorrow streaked her face, "I am very sorry, if I had reawaken some bitter memories."

"That's okay," assured Yuuhi, having gotten his control back. "It's our fault for troubling you like this. I should have known that you weren't her. I'm sorry."

The three of them sat at the coffee shop for a while, talking here and there, but mostly silent. Sometimes Shuro and Yuuhi would bring Chidori up, but as time flew by and night drew closer, they all decided to leave.

Before they left however, Yuuhi and Shuro made one last comment. "It'd be funny if Chidori really did come back," commented Yuuhi.

"It would, wouldn't it," thought Shuro aloud, "She'd probably laugh. Look at us we found her twin."

"I know," said Yuuhi, "who actually looks like she really is supposed nineteen years old," the three of them laughed lightly at the joke.

"Three years..." sighed Shuro. "It's ironic isn't it. That we'd find Yukiko the same day she died three years ago." Yukiko's eyes widened at the comment.

"It's getting late Shuro. We should leave," informed Yuuhi. Shuro and Yuuhi began to take a last sip of their coffee when Yukiko spoke up again, chewing nervously onto the nail of her thumb.

"Um..." she paused for a moment, considering a thought. "Did you just say... that she died three years ago?" asked Yukiko urgently. Yuuhi and Shuro nodded affirmatively. "Um..." she paused for a moment again. "You two don't seem like such bad people to me, so I think it's alright to tell you two." Yuuhi and Shuro stared at her, their coffee cups frozen in mid-air. "In all reality, I lost my memories. I don't remember anything over three years ago," she informed.

Yuuhi and Shuro gasped loudly.

'Could this girl really be the same Chidori from three years ago?'