Hi everyone. I am so, so sorry for taking so long to update. We've had so much goin on lately that I'm having a hard time keeping up. Well, you're not here to listen to me. You want the new chap so here you go. Enjoy and thanks to everyone that favorited/reviewed/etc/etc. You guys keep me going!!!! See you on the other side, Karent79

Manami realized soon after the other students started appearing that Toshio must have been extremely popular in his old school. It seemed that as soon as he was within their sight that everyone came to greet him. Judging by many of the glares aimed her way, he was definitely a hit with the girls.

'That's not a big surprise. Something about him just seems to attract people.'

To his credit, Toshio tried to introduce her to everyone that he'd known in middle school, which was the majority of their classmates. That was met with one or a mix of the following reactions: curiosity, disinterest, or hostility.

'Apparently, Daichi and Ryuu were right.'

Obviously, everyone had assumed Toshio would take his rightful place at the top of the class and having some unknown girl take the spot that belonged to 'their' Toshio was a shock.

'I probably would have reacted the same way if I were in their shoes.'

Being the object of so much scrutiny was unnerving to a girl like her. She was uncomfortable being at the center of so much attention, especially from people she'd only just met. She sighed in frustration at somehow ending up in this situation again. Hearing the sigh, Toshio realized that she'd probably been uncomfortable with all the attention he'd sent her way.

'Guess she's just not ready for all this. It's probably just too much for her to take in all at once.'

He refrained from introducing the few remaining stragglers that came their way and just decided to let her take in new things and people at her pace. Just before the teacher walked in, while everyone was still getting settled in, he turned toward her.

" You okay?"

She nodded in response.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that.'

She stared at him silently, not knowing what kind of response he expected to that. She shouldn't have worried because he wasn't finished speaking.

"Those guys didn't mean to act like that. You were just a shock to them, that's all."

She gave him a skeptical look and it made him feel a little guilty.

"Just give them some time to get to know you. It'll get better. Like I said, they didn't mean any harm."

She sighed again for the second time.

"I hope you're right", and with that she turned toward the front of the class where the teacher had anxiously had been trying to get everyone's attention.

Over the next couple hours the teacher the explained what was expected of the class and the class rules. After he'd gone over all the formalities, he started lecturing in the first couple subjects that they would be studying this semester. Now, everything was almost as Manami had expected her first day of class to be. She followed along with what the teacher was writing on the the board but she could swear that she felt someone watching he every move, expecting her to slip up in some way. She looked around and didn't see anyone looking her way, but that feeling just wouldn't go away. She turned toward Toshio and even though he wasn't looking at her, just his very presence put her at ease.

'Funny, I just met him and I'm already finding myself depending on him for so much.'

Remembering her past interactions with other students, people she thought that she could trust, she realized that she still wasn't sure of his intentions.

'Why would someone like him want to be friends with someone like me?'

It was hard for her to trust anyone other than her family. After all those years of people saying that they wanted to be her friend and then pushing her away when they didn't get what they'd wanted or even expected, she'd learned to be cautious about letting others get too close. She rationalized that if she didn't let anyone in that they couldn't hurt her. She'd been that way for so long that now it was almost second nature fro her to be alone.

'It's just easier that way. For everybody involved.'

Lunchtime came around sooner than she'd thought and Manami found herself eating lunch with Toshio. They'd both brought lunches from home. Her dad had apparently made her lunch before he left this morning. She could tell because her mom tended to throw things together, she'd get the hang of it eventually, but her dad made everything with a professional style that would always irritate her mom into hysterics.

'Dad loves getting under her skin for some reason.'

Manami looked over at Toshio's lunch and after some careful consideration on her part, she realized that he'd made his own lunch.

'He made his own lunch? What boy his age actually makes his own lunch?'

As she wondered to herself over that topic, she felt eyes on her again. She turned around to see if she could figure out who'd been glaring holes in her back, but this time she actually caught the guilty party, in this case make it parties, in the act. She realized that a couple girls that she'd met earlier were watching the two of them intently. They knew she noticed them watching her but that didn't stop them from staring, in fact, it just made them stare even more.

"Shouldn't you spend time with the others too? You don't have to spend all your time with me."

"Maybe I wanted to eat lunch with you. Is there something wrong with wanting to eat lunch with a friend?"

Manami heard the hurt in his voice when he said it and she apologized, "I'm sorry, Toshio."

He rested his head on his head and replied in a teasing tone, "I want you to feel comfortable around me. Besides I wanted to see if I could make you smile again. You have a really pretty smile."

He grinned and shocked Manami into blushing and letting a tiny grin escape.

"Thanks", she tried to remember what he wanted to be called and, suddenly remembering, finished off with, "Shio."

Her sudden use of his nickname caused Toshio to blush, 'She actually remembered?'

"I guess if you want to and only if you want to, I'm not forcing you to, you can call me Ami."

It was the first time that she'd ever given anyone besides her family, natural and honorary, permission to use that name. It was something that her aunt Suzuna started when she'd been just a little girl. It was special to her and her family used it only when they were alone. It showed him that she really wanted to trust in him and his offer of friendship.

"Ami? It suits you."

With that the two went back to eating in companionable silence.