A/N: My contribution to the practically dead fandom, I'm sorry for coming in so late...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rune Factory 2 or any of its characters, this is for entertainment purposes only.

"Orland!"

The elf boy's ears rang when he heard a high-pitched voice call out his name, it was obvious who's voice it was, Orland's heard it everyday greeting him with a "Good morning!" Or a casual "Good afternoon Orland! What do you have for lunch?"

Leonel.

The blonde son of Dorothy and Barrett, it puzzled Orland, the fact that Leonel was blonde when it was very clear that his parents weren't. Actually, everything about Leonel puzzled Orland. But unlike some things about Leonel, there was one thing that the elf boy would never come to understand...

Leonel's kindness towards him.

No one at school is a big fan of Orland, sure there was Leann, but after awhile Orland could tell that the girl was faking her kindness towards him and thats what everyone else did. To his classmates, Orland is just a big jerk. Shame, because Orland had taken a liking to Aria; the daughter of Kyle and Mana, but look at what happened. Orland didn't really mind if people didn't like him anyways, he brushed friendship off as a thing that would get in the way of his studies.

But, the one person who seems to not be like the rest when it comes to thinking that Orland is "a big poopy head" is Leonel. It was like the blonde boy had been oblivious to everything that was happening around him, especially to events regarding Orland. Whenever that boy talked to Orland couldn't sense any bit of disdain or sarcasm, every word felt real and full of truth that Orland couldn't come to the reality of it. Just what was this boy's problem?

"Orland!"

The voice was louder now, did he zone out? Orland realized that if he continued to ignore the boy's calls and carried on with his studies something bad would surely come out of it, so he glanced up at Leonel, signalling that he heard him. Leonel's face gleamed, whenever he smiled it was like a bright light was emitting from the boy and Orland couldn't even cover his eyes...

As Leonel cheerfully walked to Orland's desk, the elf boy took a glance at the classroom around him, he could see the other children whispering and narrowing their eyes directly at him. Could they just let him be for just one day?!

"Orland, could I ask you a question?" Leonel asked, standing beside Orland's desk bobbing his head up and down like a 5 year old. Orland hoped that it would just be a question concerning math or something so Leonel could leave quicker, but unfortunately that didn't seem to be the case at all.

"What do you want?" Orland replied back, looking directly at the other boy's eyes, like a glare of some sort.

"Well I was thinking..."

"...?"

Orland gave Leonel a confused look and the boy replied with a sheepish smile.

"Would you like to walk home with us?"

"Us?" Orland repeated questioningly, who was the other person?

"Oh! The other person is Aria, normally it's just me and her when we walk home but today I thought I would invite you!"

Leonel smiled at Orland, awaiting the elf boy's answer. Orland sighed, what did he do for this to happen to him? This type of thing wasn't good, but wasn't bad either, Orland didn't really know how to react to the situation, perhaps it's because this is the first time something like this has happened to him?

"Is Aria okay with me tagging along though?"

To tell the truth, a part of Orland wanted to say yes to Leonel's offer, but the other part of him wanted to reject the boy, since Orland wasn't really on board with the idea of walking home with a person who hates him yet still bothers to go get him Fried Sunsquid for his birthday. Put Aria on the list of people and things that Orland was confused by.

"E-er, actually..." Leonel paused for a moment, "...she might be? I mean, Aria is a flexible person! So please walk with us?"

Hearing Leonel's response made Orland sigh, he was ready to flat out reject him but he stopped himself before any words came out of his mouth. Perhaps...today would be a day were Orland would try a new thing, he also wanted to see Aria's reaction at the end of the day. So, maybe just for today...

"Fine, I'll accompany you."

Leonel's eyes widened with happiness, "Okay! We'll see you at the end of day, front of the school. Promise you'll be there?" He said, Orland nodded then did a shooing hand motion so Leonel would finally leave him alone. The cheerful boy walked back to his desk and Orland let out one last sigh before going back to his studies. This was going to be one long walk home...

Once 12 o'clock rolled around Orland had almost forgotten about the promise he made with Leonel earlier in the day, but when he had exited the class he saw Leonel and Aria, waiting for him at the door. Leonel was as cheery as ever, but Aria didn't seem to be excited for this at all.

Their first stop was Aria's house, as they walked east of the school they had a conversation that Orland barely participated in, he could also tell that Aria was a little out of it, he assumed it was because he was present at the moment. Leonel though, hardly noticed anything and continued to chat with Aria about school.

When they finally reached Aria's home, the girl waved farewell to Leonel and ran inside her house, completely ignoring Orland. He scoffed at the girl's action and the two boys once again set off. Their next destination was Orland's house and the walk there seemed so slow that the elf boy considered leaving Leonel right then and there but he brought this upon himself, so there was nothing that Orland could do about it.

Their walk through the right pier was quiet, which was fine with Orland. At some point Leonel tried to commence conversation with the boy but he had just ignored his attempts and continued walking on. After a few tries Orland was starting to get annoyed, couldn't Leonel take a hint!? He obviously didn't want to talk to him but the other boy kept on trying and trying and Orland couldn't take it anymore!

"Why do you keep trying?!" Orland shouted in a cold tone, glaring at Leonel. This action had surprised Leonel, making him stop in his tracks. He wanted to say something but no words would leave his mouth, so Orland continued talking.

"Why are you so nice to me?!"

"I-I..."

"Everyone else in school hates me, except for you! Why!?"

Orland could see Leonel's eyes begin to tear up, was the boy going to cry? Orland stopped and took a breather, he didn't mean to make Leonel cry!

"A-aren't friends supposed to be nice to each other?"

"F-friends?" Orland watched Leonel rub away any tears in his eyes.

Leonel had considered Orland to be a friend? Well, Leonel might've nice to anyone even if they weren't his friend but Orland was a jerk and yet the boy was still nice to him. Orland was taken aback by it, but so no weaknesses could be shown he scoffed once more and went back to walking.

Once they had reached Orland's house, Leonel had waved goodbye to Orland and the boy had given a small wave back, making Leonel's face gleam once more. Orland watched Leonel run to his own house until entering his.

"Welcome home Orland, how was school?" Cecilia asked.

"It was fine Mother." Orland replied, before walking up to his room and shutting the door behind him. When he thought about what had happened during the day, all Orland could do was sigh.

There were a lot of things that Orland couldn't come to comprehend, like how Aria bothered to give Orland Fried Sunsquid on his birthday, or how monsters returned to the Forest of Beginnings.

But what confused Orland the most, was how he was starting to like the kind boy named Leonel.