We ran through the streets after school. "Shoot you're so slow!" I shouted, turning around to face him.

"That's cause I'm not ever trying!" He shouted back, speeding up.

I smiled and turned back around to be met face to face with a light pole. My forehead was as red as my face was. Shoot stopped running because he was too busy laughing.

I shook it off and started running again. He noticed and shouted, "hey! That's not fair!"

"We never called time out!" I shouted back and smiled. Ignoring the pain coming from my forehead.

We reached the movie theater and looked at the price of the tickets. "What!? It went up!" I exclaimed.

"And we saved up all our money. Oh well, come on (y/n)." He said, dragging me by the hood on my hoodie.

"Hey!" I choked and he let go. "That hurt!"

He rolled his eyes, "yeah yeah yeah. Come on let's go."

I pouted and nodded.

We walked back home, my face was hanging low.

"(Y/n), don't look so sad." Shoot said, "we will get in one day. I promise."

I shook my head, "we'll be dead by then have you forgotten where we live?" I replied, looking up at him.

He shook his head, "n-no but still... we can be happy. You'll see."

"Whatever." I mumbled like the child I was, "what can a nine year old and a ten year old do?"

"Well we make some money mowing laws, babysitting and cleaning. That gives some money to where we live at." He said, "sometimes we get to keep it for ourselves."

"Sometimes is like twice a year." I replied, "since when are you so happy? Its not like Knuckle coming back."

Shoot grinned, "but he is."

My eyes widened, "r-really? But how?"

"He says that someone is willing to train us." He said with a smile.

I grinned, "when is he coming back?"

"Tonight. That's why I asked the people who work at the movie theaters to jump the prices. Not because I don't want you to see anything but..." Shoot trailed off.

"You want the money to go to our orphanage, right?"

He nodded, "yeah." He took my hand, "come on. We better hurry before Knuckle leaves us."

I nodded and we ran off, back to the place we were finally able to leave.

----

It have been about five years since Knuckle has come back to get Shoot and I out of the orphanage we once called home. Training almost everyday was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I did the cooking while Shoot and Knuckle did the cleaning while Master was away on a mission. Sometimes we would get beastiaries who would attack us. Most of them were easy to handle.

Today was different. This time it was a crowd of them. Shoot saw them out in the field and shouted at Knuckle and I to follow him.

A herd Great Stamps was running towards us. Knuckle and I smiled, finally being able to fight something.

"Ready?" Knuckle asked, looking over at us.

"Always," I replied then looked over at Shoot. He looked more timid than usually. "They're just huge pigs," I said to him, "just remember that."

He nodded and we charged right at them. A few of them were knocked out on the first try, but Shoot would not fight them.

One of the huge pigs charged right at Shoot in his blind spot. I jumped in front of him, taking the hit and went flying back words before landing on the ground. A little dizzy, I stood back up quickly and tried to get my eyes back into focus. Taking too long, the last thing I saw was another pig sending me upward into the air, it was a nice sunny day. A few clouds in the sky made it beautiful.

----

I woke up to the sounds of whispering. Like I was wake and they didn't want to hear me. Then one of them shouted, "that's because you're date got knocked out by a crazy pig!"

I tried to sit up, but shouted in pain. Shoot and Knuckle ran into the room, "I wouldn't move if I were you." Knuckle said while Shoot looked down at me with a sad face. "I'll leave you guys be."

Knuckle closed the door behind him, Shoot still started down at me in pain. "Are you going to say anything? A 'thank you' would be nice."

His eyes moved into a glare, "what do you mean 'thank you'!? You put yourself in more danger (y/n) by doing that!"

"So what, this is nothing. I'll be back on my feet in a few days. Hopefully you both don't starve without me." I replied with a chuckle.

"That's not the point! I should have been hit not you! I was too scared to hurt the damn pig and you got hurt for it!"

"Why are you so upset over this? Yeah I made sure you didn't get hurt because that's what happens when a person likes another person!" I shouted at him.

"Well most people don't like seeing the person that they like get hurt!" He shouted, "I would kiss you but-"

"Oh hell no! If you don't kiss me then I will knock you into next week when I can sit up!"