Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton or Claire or anyone else in this story, they belong to Level 5 games and nobody else!

Learning how to love.

Hershel walked aimlessly down the hallways, a book or two held under one arm whilst the other one swung like a pendulum back and forwards with every step he took through the building. He kept his head low to hide the fact that he was wearing an eyepatch but that didn't exactly make him inconspicuous.

He was just on his way back to Mr. Collin's classroom after a lesson about conducting police investigations -although what that has to do with anything later in life unless you wanted to be a police detective was somewhat beyond him- and people had been bumping him on the side as they passed through the dim-lit halls of the school.

It had been about maybe a day since he had met that girl and he couldn't stop thinking about her. He had yet to formally see her in a class introduction, let alone in the whole faculty, and he found himself suddenly thinking about how he had helped the young lass out in a jam with the expenses of the lemonade he had made for her himself.

He couldn't help but wonder how she had been faring since then.

Little did he know was that he was about to run into her again sooner then he had originally anticipated...much, much sooner.

"Oh my goodness, LOOK OUT!" A voice yowled, just barely grabbing Hershel's attention in time before he and whoever yelled this obviously collided into one another before they were both knocked on to the floor with their eyes screwed shut as they tried to register what had just happened.

The knock sent the books Hershel carried slamming to the floor, though.

Hershel groaned as he clambered up to stand on his hands and knees, his posture resembling that of a crawling infant, and he slowly opened his eyes to see who he had bumped into moments earlier. His vision was a tiny bit hazy at first but he eventually managed to get a good assentive on who it was as he made out the outline of her face in the dim lighting of these hallways.

His eyes fell upon a pair of familiar purple rimmed spectacles and then the woman they most likely belonged to.

He was shocked to find that it was the same girl he had met in the shop before!

The young lady blindly searched for her glasses, her hand shifting through the air as if to make a blind grab for them. She squinted her pretty eyes at nothing as she gave a thoughtful murmur as her hand reached sideways to feel where her glasses had fallen.

Hershel quickly realised that the girl couldn't see well without those glasses fitted on her face, she was probably near-sighted, and fished them up from the floor before he took the liberty to clean the lens of her glasses with his sleeve before handing them back over to her.

"I must apologise for that, madam, I should have probably looked where I was going." He said more to himself than to the young lady in front of him, watching with a kind grin as the girl took the glasses out of his hand and began to readjust them on her face.

She sighed in relief when her glasses were back on her face but her eyes widened in shock to see the familiar eyepatch-wearing young man with the bouncy Afro knelt before her. She smiled happily in recognision as she climbed to her knees with a bright little smile.

"Oh its you!" The young lady exclaimed, a happiness shining in her eyes. She jumped to her feet and dusted herself off from the dust that may or may not have accumulated after both herself and the young man in front of her bowled each other over to the floor.

Hurriedly and with a heavy blush sporting his face, Layton quickly scooped up the books he had dropped and pushed himself up into a standing position so both himself and the young lady could meet in direct eye level. They stared at each other for awhile but the young lady cleared her throat to rid themselves of the awkward air lurking and she extended a hand out towards him.

"My name is Claire Foley." She smiled in a sweet, bubbly way "Sorry about yesterday, sir."

Hershel chuckled lightly at the girl's attempt of brushing it off but he happily returned the handshake as he stuffed the books he carried into one arm so he could extend his other one and grasp Claire's hand in his own.

"Pleasure, the name's Hershel Layton." He shook his head dismissively "And please there is no need to apoligise."

The two shook hands firmly as they exchanged warm grins as they stood in the hallways before they wandered down the hall towards the class room, Hershel acting as her chaperon for this little amount of time, and Claire walking alongside him with an intrigued smile. The two shared a brief conversation as they wandered along aimlessly through the corridor that dragged out in front of them but it seemed like a lifetime as they chatted.

"So what are you doing here in Stansbury, miss Foley? Surely there must be something here that intrigues you other then the historic sights and views..."

Claire was surprised. This guy seemed to pick up quick on the finer points and that was a very interesting quality to have equipped in a battle of wits. Winking deviously, Claire teased as she folded her arms across her chest in a cheeky manner "Well now, aren't you just a clever duck?"

Hershel didn't know whether the term "clever duck" was supposed to be a compliment or an insult but he wasn't going to complain, it was easy to see where this was going. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head and stammered nervously.

"Oh...Um...I...Er...That is..." He stopped trying to speak since he knew it would bring nothing but turmoil if he opened his mouth to respond to that. His mouth dropped into a small frown and his dark little eyes drooped to the floor to stare at his heavy feet that moved in long stretches that would most likely bring him aching muscles when he got to a more feeble age.

Despite giggling at the man's shy nature, Claire replied to the initial question "I heard tales that there was hints of a lost ancient civilisation here in this quaint little village and I came here to investigate."

Hershel's throat seized up and his chest tightened.

Why did that have to be brought up!? He could feel the mere memory of that day slice his heart in two before the blurred image of Randall's face filled his mind and burned into it, as if it was the type of tattoo meant to be permanently stamped on a horses flank as it burned on direct contact it had to the horses flesh.

His breath quivered as he breathed in and out to keep himself steady. He couldn't break down, not here and most definitely not now.

Claire noticed the pause the young man gave and knitted her brows together to paint a look of worry on her face, her lips drooping into the biggest frown.

"...Hershel, are you alright?"

Hershel sighed and nodded although the weak smile he gave to assure her proved to have been a very poor choice in movements if that was supposed to do its job. He didn't want to worry the little lady but he couldn't help but feel a little down now, now that he had just been reminded of the very thing that made him feel so lonesome.

The young man kept walking with Claire towards Mr. Collin's class and each step they made just inched them further and further to their destination.

Another subject bothering her, Claire looked right at the polite young lad's eyepatch and she asked with concern swimming in her blue pools, a finger twirling one of her long locks of vibrant red hair "So. What's with the eyepatch, Hershel?"

Hershel didn't reply verbally, he just simply put a hand over one side of his face -the side where he had been smacked- and just kept walking. He wanted to hide everything that would make him stick out in a crowd since he didn't exactly place any value in himself...not anymore, anyway.

He trudged forwards and tried to make her drop the subject "...Let's just not speak of it, please?"

And so Claire had to admit defeat for now. She wasn't really one to just surrender in things like this but she didn't really know the poor guy so she could not just go around batting around that he should tell her otherwise she could be rude and poking into his private affairs.

She only nodded, accepting the fact that this was one subject that shouldn't be brought up again in awhile, and she lightened up when a smile blossomed on her face and she brought a stiff Hershel Layton in for a sideways hug as she basically dragged him towards the classroom.

"What are we waiting for, Mr. Collins' will probably be having kittens by the time we get there! Come on, come on, let's go!"

And without another word, Claire pulled the reluctant Layton with her as she broke into a full on sprint -clearly disregarding the school rules due to pure excitement- and dragged him along behind her.

Hershel had to admit that this girl was a really admirable person and her optimistic smiles were delightfully contagious but he just couldn't understand her. She was a really peppy young lass and her intentions were noble but still...

Let's see what else he could find out from her later on. He had a feeling he was going to be tied to her for the whole day so he might as well get to know her a bit better.

A/N: This is where Hershel and Claire first meet officially and in the hallways of school, no less.

I am just trying to make this as realistic as possible by making it so it wasn't a cliché whirl-wind romance. I do find their relationship to be downright adorable, though, so don't blame me for trying to recreate their Love story.

Please review.

-Chloemcg