I stood outside my new school and stared up at it glumly. When the bell rang I sighed and hefted my bag higher on my shoulder and headed inside. Here goes nothing. I reached room 2-D and just stood outside it for a moment before sliding the door open and stepping inside.

The teacher, a very pretty lady who wasn't dressed formally, looked up at the door and gave me a welcoming smile. "You must be the new student." I bowed and she waved me to stand next to her. "Class this is Takahashi Amaya." She continued to talk as I looked around the class listening to her with only half an ear. Most of the students were ignoring the teacher and whispering to each other. But not all the students were uninterested, in the back there was a group of people who were calmly watching and seemed genuinely interested in hearing about the new student. One of the two boys had silver hair and eyes, it wasn't the silver of old age, it was something silkier…sexier, it didn't make him look odd or old. It suited the pretty looks he had. He sat leaning forward onto his desk tapping his pencil against the desktop as he looked at the teacher and me. The other boy had orange hair and red-brown eyes, he was lounged back in his chair without a tie and his top button undone. He studied me and when he saw me staring at him he shifted uncomfortably and dropped his gaze. My eyes moved onto the three girls that sat with the two handsome boys. They were watching me and whispering to each other. I didn't know what they were talking about but I hoped it wasn't them planning a trick to humiliate me. The one in the middle had brown hair and eyes and had a very sweet smile. The one on her left was tall with blonde hair and green eyes. She had the look of a fighter in her eyes. To the right was another slightly shorter than the blonde girl. She had braided black hair that lay over her shoulder and deep violet eyes that seemed to look into my soul. I couldn't tear my eyes away from hers and after a moment she looked away and freed me just in time to hear the teacher point me to the chair beside the orange-haired boy.

I bowed to her and made my way silently to the seat and sat looking down at the top of the desk. Please let this be better than my last school…I thought clenching my hands under the desk top. I felt a hand touch my shoulder gently and looked up startled to see the brown haired girl standing next to me and smiling. The rest of the class was filing out the door.

"It's time for lunch would you like to sit with us?" She said holding out a hand to help me to my feet.

I gave her a timid smile and nodded and let her help me up. Behind her stood the rest of the group, the two boys and girls. "Thank you." I said softly and picked up my bag as I followed them down to the cafeteria. Once we had gotten our food they led me outside and we sat in the grass beside a fence.

The brown haired girl sat beside me and smiled. She seemed to smile a lot. "My name is Honda Tohru. This is Uotani Arisa, Uo-chan, and Hanajima Saki, Hana-chan. This is Sohma Yuki, Yuki-kun, and Sohma Kyo, Kyo-kun. They're cousins."

I bowed my head. "My name is Takahashi Amaya."

Uo-chan tapped her chin for a moment and stared up at the sky. Then she smiled and grabbed my shoulder, "We'll call you Amaya. Your name is too pretty to shorten like Hana-chan and I have."

For a moment I studied them all and then began to smile. "Alright."

Kyo-kun was lounging beside me and he gave me a curious glance. "So where do you live?"

I paused with my food almost to my mouth and the others sensing something was amiss looked up as well. "Well…for right now I am living in my grandmothers' old apartment but when the rent runs out I don't know where I'll go."

"Why are you living in your grandmothers' old apartment?" Tohru asked giving me a small frown. "Why aren't you living with your parents?" Hana-chan looked at me sadly as if she knew the answer before I said it.

"It's a long story." I said and continued eating.

Yuki-kun leaned forward and placed a hand on my arm. "We want to be your friends Takahashi-san. You can trust us."

I sighed and placed my sandwich on the plate and nodded. "Alright but please…call me Amaya. Well a month ago my Grandma died and I had been living with her. The rent was paid only until the end of the month and I don't have enough money to pay for more time. My parents and I…we don't get along."

Flashback (got to love them)

I stood beside grandma's grave stone and watched as the rain feel gently onto the smooth stone. For a moment I was at peace. Grandma was old it was time for her to go and she went without regrets…well almost. I felt a hand grab my arm, hard enough to bruise, and begin to pull me along. I cried out but the hand just shook me and continued to pull. "Come on we are heading home."

"I don't want to live with you!" I cried and dug my heels into the ground.

The hand spun me around and the other hand gripped my other arm as the person shook me. "I am your mother Amaya! You will live with me!"

"No!" I cried and managed to wrench myself from her grip and backed a few feet away. "I will never go back to that house!"

"Fine…go back to the apartment you lived in with your grandmother and when you get kicked out because you can't pay the rent don't expect me to let you back into the house." My mother stormed off and I was left alone in the graveyard.

I bowed to grandma's gravesite and after a moment I was able to walk away without crying. When I got back to the apartment building I sought out the owner. "How long is grandma's apartment paid through?"

"The end of the month. I am sorry Amaya but I can't let you stay there any longer than that." The manager gave me a small bow and headed back into his room.

I walked silently back to my room…a month to move schools and find another place…Grandma…watch over me.

I sat there silently as the others digested my story. Yuki-kun stared at the ground then stood up. "I'll be right back." He walked off and I felt tears rise in my eyes at his rejection. Again Hana-chan seemed to read my mind. "He is going to try to find you a place to stay."

Tohru-kun clasped her hands and smiled. "Maybe he is asking Shigure-san if you can stay with us!"

Kyo-kun sat up. "Another girl in the house! Who wants that?" His face hit dirt as Uo-chan kicked him in the back of the head.

"Don't be rude boy. I think it would be good for Tohru-kun to have another girl at the house." She said before settling back down.

"I…I am sorry I don't understand." I said leaning against the fence. What was going on?

Kyo-kun held his head but looked at me with kinder eyes. "Tohru's mother died around a year ago. Since then she has been living with Yuki and I and another of our cousins Shigure."

"I see." I said looking down at the grass. "Please you don't have to put yourselves out to help me. I wasn't asking for help."

Hana-chan put a hand on my leg. "It's what we do. Please don't worry about it."

I nodded and sat back concentrating on thinking. The others continued to talk around me but I didn't listen. Could this be real? Could they be serious? I looked up when I felt a hand touch my shoulder hesitantly. Kyo-kun was squatting beside me with a faint blush on his cheeks.

"I didn't mean that you were unwelcome in our home." He said quietly then stood as Yuki-kun came back up to us.

"Shigure-san said that she was allowed to stay." He said smiling at Tohru as she grabbed his sleeve.

"Really?" She asked looking up into his face.

"Really." He gave her a smile that seemed to be for her alone.

I saw Kyo look down and away from the corner of my eye and without quite knowing why I reached my hand out to hold his. When our fingers touched we both jumped slightly and turned to stare at each other pulling our hands away. What was that? I shook my head and picked up my bag as the bell rang.

Tohru grabbed my hand and pulled me after her. "Come on we don't have any more class today. Lets go get your things and we can show you to your new home!"

I stared at her and as she pulled me along I felt a smile crossing my face. For once there were people who cared about what happened to me, wasn't life funny?