When lunch came around, Nanako was more than happy to go to the roof to take a breath and collect herself. She placed her hands on the cool railing and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply through her nose and releasing it out her mouth. Repeating the process a few times, she was finally calmed and had regained her appetite. Making her way to the corner of the roof, she opened her bento and smiled at how delicious it smelled.

"What are you doing up here alone?" a voice asked. Ken Amada stepped onto the roof from the stairwell. "You're not avoiding people, are you, Dojima-chan?" He crouched in front of her. "You know, lunch is more enjoyable with more people."

"Says who?" she grumbled at him. "Thanks to you, people haven't left me alone all day. Why didn't you tell me that a rent-a-cop like you was such a big deal here? That way, I could have avoided you."

"That's not a nice thing to say to your savior, now is it?" he asked, grinning at her. Ken chuckled to himself for a moment before saying, "You really are family of Souji. It's always the poker face with him too when he doesn't feel like talking." Taking a chance, he sat down beside Nanako. "What did you bring for lunch anyway?"

"Just some onigiri and octopus hot dogs," Nanako replied, not even looking up at him. She picked up one of the hot dogs with her chopsticks and took a small bite. After swallowing, she looked up at him. "I make it myself. Here, try it." She picked up another hot dog with her chopsticks and held it in his direction.

His face flushed a deep crimson. "I don't think that's appropriate," he quickly replied, almost tripping over his own words. Ken stood up. "I just came to check on you. You seemed like the shy type. But if I may give you some advice, I think you should make some friends. When you're a transfer student, bonds with other people can really make it a lot easier." He began to walk away, waving to her without turning around. "See you after school, Dojima-chan!"

For a moment, Nanako just sat there, stunned by him. Her heart began to race as she heard a powerful voice in her head. "Thou art I," it said, "and I am Thou. Thou hast established a new bond of the Justice Arcana. This bond will guide you through your fate as a soul which matches yours."

Nanako snapped out of it in a cold sweat, gripping the sides of her head. She checked her watch and saw that lunch break was over. Cleaning up her barely-touched bento, she hurried toward the door to the school. "Justice, huh?" she mumbled to herself. "What in the world could that possibly mean?"

.

The rest of the day, Nanako mulled over the word "justice" in her head. What did that voice mean, and where did it come from? Lost in her thoughts, she failed to pay attention during the afternoon lectures. Some of the girls noticed it and offered to let her have their notes if she would introduce them specially to Amada-san, considering that Nanako was the only female student they've ever seen him joke with.

"How did you meet him?" the girl who sat in front of her asked, twisting herself in her chair at the end of the day. "It's strange to think that you were so familiar with him on your first day here. Are you two related or something?"

"I met him last night," Nanako replied, putting her homework and books into her bag. "I got a little lost at the station when I arrived and he happened to be coming by and helped me get to my dorm. That's all."

The girl looked as if she didn't believe Nanako, but went with it. "So your name's Nanako Dojima, right? Is it okay if I call you Nanako-chan?"

"Um, sure," she slowly replied, curious about if she had managed to make a new friend on her first day. "My big bro always called me Nana-chan."

"My name's Mikoto Hasegawa, but you can call me Miko-chan!" the other replied with a bright smile. She twisted her shoulder-length ginger hair around her finger as she smiled at her new friend. "Starting tomorrow, let's eat lunch together. I was the transfer student last year, so I know how lonely it is to eat by yourself."

"Thank you, Miko-chan," Nanako softly replied. "That makes me happy."

"Don't mention it," she giggled. "We transfers have to look out for each other." Her eyes then drifted past Nanako to the doorway near them. "Amada-san? What are you doing here? Are we in your way? I-I'm so sorry! We can move!"

"You're fine, Hasegawa, but I do need to take Dojima with me, if you don't mind," Ken stated, giving the girl his most charming smile. "Her big bro is a friend of mine, and he wants to see her. Let's go, Dojima-chan."

Nanako quickly stood up, awkwardly bowing to Mikoto. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Miko-chan," she told her. "Thank you for taking time to make me feel less lonely today." She then rushed over to Ken and sighed. "Do you have to draw attention to yourself at all times? You that full of yourself, rent-a-cop?"

"I told you not to call me that," Ken complained, leading her down the hallway. "You may not know this, but I actually have a good reputation here."

"You don't say," she sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I've experienced every single level of that today in some way, shape, or form. If I knew I would be dealing with a celebrity in exchange for being saved, I'm almost wondering if it would have been better to let the monster get me."

"Your sense of humor is kinda scary, Dojima-chan," he laughed. "You're completely different from the way Souji described you."

"Souji still only sees me as a seven-year-old," she laughed. "And enough with the 'Dojima-chan'. Just call me Nanako, okay? There's no need to be so formal, especially since I'm much younger than you."

"Not that much," Ken sighed, wearing a pained expression. "Your words cut me deep, Nanako. How old do you think I am?" His expression became hopeless. "All my life, I've wanted to be treated as if I'm older than what I am, but this isn't what I wanted." He groaned. "Come on, Nanako. Let's just get going before you ruin my day further."

With a skip in her step, she obediently followed, wondering how else to knock him off balance.