Ok so this next one is in Gray's POV, just saying. :D by the way, extended use of italics means its something that happened in the past. …but im sure that's pretty obvious. ^^;

Chapter 3:

I followed Claire out of her house. Honestly, I had expected to have to carry her all the way to the mine. Not that I would have minded of course, I mean, she's so small and light… and soft… and the way she clutched onto me was…

I shook my head fervently, my face red as a tomato. I glanced ahead at Claire, who got more and more enthusiastic as we got closer to the mine. Please, just don't let her turn around and see me like this…

I let out a hefty yawn. I hate getting up super early… but… but Claire said she couldn't get very deep in the mine, she looked so sad… and well, if we want to get deep, we need plenty of time. …But still… way too early.

We soon reached the mine entrance and entered. I got out my hammer, and she her hoe and we set to work.

We worked for a while and I occasionally glanced up to see how Claire was doing. Of course, she was just fine. She's way stronger than she looks. Sometimes, it seems as though she's invincible. I chuckled to myself, remembering the first time we had met.

"What do you mean it's no good?" I yelled furiously at my grandfather. I held a dainty necklace in my hand that I had made. I was pretty proud of it. And yet… that old man just can't approve of ANYTHING that I do, can he?

"ting ting" the bell on the door chimed as someone entered that shop. I didn't turn around, I was too mad to care.

"Just tell me what's wrong with it!" I demanded.

My grandfather became agitated, "You must look inside yourself and see!" He then noticed the person that had just come in. "Ah, hello there, miss. I'm sorry that you had to see that"

I still refused to turn around.

"N-no it's fine. I'm sorry for intruding," she said, her voice soft and sweet. It pissed me off. Somehow, I got the feeling that if I turned around and saw her, all my anger would melt away. I didn't want that. I wanted to stay mad. She continued, "My name is Claire. I'm the new farmer."

"Ah, yes," Grandpa responded, "I've heard about you from the mayor. My name is Saibara, and this here is my grandson and apprentice, Gray." He motioned at me, but I remained silent. "Gray! Don't be rude! She's a customer!" he bellowed angrily at me.

That's enough already. I'm done. I can't do anything right. These thoughts crossed my mind, and all I could think to do was throw my necklace on the ground and shout at him. "Shut up!" I turned and rushed for the door. The girl put out her hand to stop me, but I smacked it away. "Leave me alone!" I slammed the door behind me.

I ran to the empty, overgrown lot a little ways away from my grandpa's place and stopped. I clenched my fists tightly and cursed at myself. I was too busy wallowing in my own anger and self-pity that I didn't even hear the pit-pat of steps as someone came up from me.

"E-excuse me?"

Great, I thought as I turned around, it's that girl.

She held something out to me. "You dropped this back there." She smiled at me.

Damn. I was right. I couldn't stay mad anymore. I stared at her for a moment as she held out the little necklace I had thrown back at the shop. "Are you stupid? I threw that." I turned around and waved her away. "Whatever, I don't need it."

I glanced over at her, and she was inspecting the necklace. "W-what?" I asked her apprehensively.

She just smiled again. "It's so pretty though! You should hang on to it." She held it out for me again. I looked at the necklace hanging in her hand.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I reached over and retrieved the necklace from her. "Thanks, I guess…" I mentally kicked myself. Man, why can't I just thank her like a normal person? "I wish my grandpa thought so…"

She looked at me and tilted her head to the side. "He doesn't think so?"

I nodded. "He says I'm no good. I mean, he's so hard on me all the time for every little think! It's unbearable!" Great, now I was complaining to her. Not a good first impression…

She chuckled, and I looked down at her, shocked. "Well," she said, "It's called TRAINING." She smiled at me again. "It just means that you have to keep working and trying and you'll get better. You have to keep working hard and improving. Your grandpa's just got a harsher way of telling you that." She smiled up at me again. I was overwhelmed in all honesty. She was way stronger than I am, for sure.

I coughed and pulled the brim of my hat down to conceal the blush that had strangely appeared on my face. I thrust my hand –the one holding the necklace—out to her. "Here. You can have it. …er… Since… since you're the only one who seems to think it's any good, anyways."

I shyly looked at her as she took the necklace from my hand. She smiled thankfully at me and extended her hand out towards me.

"Claire," she stated.

I looked at her hand and smiled, taking it within mine in a handshake. "Gray."

I chuckled to myself again and looked at Claire, digging away in the min. We've been great friends since that day. Sure, it took a while to really open up to one another, but that's to be expected.

She turned and looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and quickly turned away, getting back to work.

Truth be told, she's my best friend. And if you really want to know: I'm in love with her. But I could never tell her that.