Nanami unpacked her bags, and threw all the dirty clothing into a pile on the floor. She placed her mom's photograph on her desk. She ran her fingers over the photo and sighed. What would life have been like for her if her mother hadn't passed away?

She glanced around the room. She had never slept in such a nice room before, and she never thought she ever would. But here she was. Nanami couldn't quite understand why she was here. Why had Tomoe helped her?

Was Tomoe actually kind-hearted? Nanami shook her head. He had helped her, but he had also yelled at her. He waited around for in the rain and came to rescue her, but once they got home he acted like he didn't care about her anymore. He was so strange…

Nanami couldn't decide what she thought of him. They had never once talked before now, even though they sat next to each other. The whole school seemed to be scared of him. She admitted to herself that maybe she had been too. Nanami didn't think she was scared of him now, but she wasn't overly fond of him either.

His uncle Mikage seemed nice, and at least she was warm and dry here. She felt kind of safe here. As much as she wanted to stay, she would have to leave soon. She couldn't let herself be taken care of here for too long. Tomorrow she would start looking for a job.

Nanami brought her pile of dirty clothes to the washroom and threw them in the washing machine. She turned on the shower and reveled in the warmth. There was nothing better than a hot shower. She washed her hair and her body. She felt much cleaner now and warmed from head to toe.

She transferred her clothing to the dryer and dried herself up with a towel. She looked for a blow dryer for her hair, but couldn't find one. There wasn't a woman living here, so there wasn't a need for one she guessed. Nanami dried it off with a towel as best as she could.

Nanami peaked outside the door to make sure the coast was clear before going out. She didn't want Tomoe to see her in a towel. How embarrassing that would be.

There was a plate of food on her bedside table when Nanami came back. There was a note that read 'I thought you might be hungry. Enjoy. –Mikage'. She smiled at the offering. She really was hungry.

Nanami dug into the pile of snacks. There were some sweet buns, cheese, cucumber salad, and a little bowl of miso soup. She devoured the food.

There was nothing else for her to do right now, so she decided to get ready for bed. She combed out her hair and put on some comfier clothing. She hadn't brought proper pajamas with her, so Nanami decided to just wear a t-shirt to bed. It wasn't the comfiest, but it would do.

Nanami shut off the lights and settled into bed and wrapped the covers tightly around her. The blankets were so soft. She smiled a little. She guessed that this would be a once in a lifetime experience for her, to be in such a luxurious place.

"Good night, mom" Nanami called out to the picture on her desk.

She set the alarm on her watch for the next morning. She wondered what tomorrow was going to be like. She was a little nervous about how Tomoe would treat her tomorrow. Would he be angry? Or maybe he would just be indifferent? Well, it wouldn't do any good to think about it, she would have to find out in the morning.

Nanami rolled over in bed. It looked so bright, the sun was shining in through the windows. She rubbed her eyes. What time was it?

"7:30?" Nanami exclaimed. "But I set my alarm for 7:00!" She looked at the alarm settings. Apparently she had set it for 7:00 pm. Whoops.

She scrambled out of bed and changed into her school uniform. She ran a comb through her hair before leaving her room in a dash to the bathroom.

As she reached the door it opened and Tomoe came out. Nanami blushed tomato red at the sight in front of her and covered her eyes.

"What are you wearing?" she yelled. Tomoe was wearing pajama pants, but absolutely no shirt. His stomach and arms were lean and muscular.

He blinked at her. "Pajamas," he replied.

"You're not wearing a shirt!" She uncovered her eyes to yell at him, but it made her blush even more.

He looked confused. "I don't wear a shirt to sleep. I get hot," he explained.

Nanami frowned at him. "Can't you at least wear a shirt when you come out of your room?"

"Why?"

"B-because this is innapropriate!" she stuttered.

Tomoe frowned back at her. "It's my house. I don't have to wear a shirt." He walked away and back into his room, closing the door after himself.

Nanami glared after him in annoyance. She didn't want to have to see that every morning! She had never seen a guy shirtless before, at least not since she went to the pool as a little kid. And she certainly hadn't thought much of guys back then. Nanami certainly hadn't been expecting this when she had fallen asleep last night.

She hung her towel from last night back up, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. She grabbed her laundry from last night out of the dryer and carried it back to her room.

"Ah, Nanami, you're up!" Mikage called. He was climbing up the stairs towards her.

"Oh, yes. Good morning," Nanami greeted him.

"Did you sleep well?"

Nanami nodded. "I did. And thank you for the meal last night!"

Mikage smiled at her. "I'm glad you liked it." Mikage knocked on Tomoe's bedroom door. "Tomoe?"

"Yeah?" he replied, but didn't open the door.

"Take Nanami to school today," Mikage ordered.

Nanami could hear Tomoe exhale in annoyance even through the door. "I walked her home from there yesterday! She should know the way," he protested.

"Tomoe!" Mikage called threateningly.

"It's okay!" Nanami said quickly. "I know the way." Truthfully, she hadn't being paying much attention last night to where they were going. But she figured it shouldn't be too hard to find her way.

"If you're sure," Mikage tentatively replied.

Nanami nodded. "I'll be fine by myself!"

"I'll be leaving for work now then. I'll see you both later tonight," he bid them farewell, and made his way back down the stairs.

Nanami grabbed her school bag from her room. She checked the time, it was 7:45. Class started at 8:00, she would have to leave quickly. She left the house and started down the street. She knew enough to turn right when she left the house. After a while the street ended, and she could choose to go left or right.

Nanami hesitated. She didn't recognize either of the directions. She swallowed nervously, and decided to walk to the right.

"Stupid!" She heard Tomoe call from behind her. "It's the other way."

Nanami wondered how he had caught up to her so quickly. "Oh. Coming!" She ran back towards him and the two of them continued on their way together.

"Can't even find her way to school, so useless," she heard Tomoe mutter under his breath.

Nanami glared mutinously at the ground. Jerk, she thought. How was she supposed to memorize the way in one night anyways?

Nanami had to half-jog half-walk in order to keep up with Tomoe, and she felt very awkward doing it. He had long legs, and his strides were so big. He didn't seem to notice her awkward pace.

Lost in her thoughts, Nanami didn't notice as she jogged into a hole in the sidewalk. Nanami yelped in surprise as she lost her balance and toppled forwards. Tomoe grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back up before she touched the ground. She felt as weightless as a doll in his strong arms.

"Th-thank you," she stuttered.

"Give me that," he said and snatched her bag out of her hand, then kept walking forwards, this time at a slower pace. "If I'm walking too fast just say so."

"Oh, okay," Nanami relented. "Sorry." She glanced at him. He was being nice again, although in an oddly rude manner. He didn't notice her staring at him. Nanami couldn't understand him. She seemed to annoy him, but here was helping her again. She sighed quietly.

Nanami pondered over the possible reasons why Tomoe was helping her as they went into class together. She sat down in her seat, but for some reason Tomoe stayed standing beside her.

"Nanami," said Tomoe irritably.

"Yeah?"

"You're in my seat," he grumbled.

"Eh? S-sorry!" Nanami apologized. She jumped up and over into her seat. She blushed profusely. She couldn't possibly be more spastic today, could she?

Tomoe sighed and placed her bag on her desk, then sat down. Nanami refused to look over. She kept embarrassing herself today, she didn't want to see Tomoe's annoyed face.

Nanami heard whispering in her class.

"Why did Nanami and Tomoe come into the room together today?"

"He was carrying her bag!"

"She sat in his seat, he looked mad. Good thing he didn't get angry enough to start a fight."

"Do you think Tomoe and Nanami are going out?"

"I didn't think Nanami was the type to like bad boys!"

Nanami threw her head down into her arms on the desk. No! She protested in her head. Now there was even more gossip about her. Why was she always the main topic of discussion in this class? She certainly did not like Tomoe! And they were not going out.

"Hey, Nanami," called Isobe. "Why the long face? You tired from being homeless or something? Or maybe it's a lover's quarrel?" He laughed at himself.

"Go away," Tomoe growled.

Isobe quickly scrambled away. He certainly was terrified of Tomoe. Nanami allowed herself a small chuckle. She wasn't sure if Tomoe scared him away for her, or because he was annoyed. Whatever the reason was, Nanami was happy.

Unfortunately, her stomach was not so happy with her skipping breakfast today. Nanami put her hands on her stomach as it rumbled, trying to quiet it. She wished she had thought to grab something before leaving. Her stomach growled again.

A wrapped pastry was shoved under her face. "Here," Tomoe offered.

"Didn't you bring that because you were going to eat it?" She protested. She didn't take the pastry from his hand.

"Obviously," he agreed. "But I don't want to hear your stomach rumble all class. It's annoying." He dropped the pastry onto her desk.

Nanami blushed and stared at it.

"Eat it," he insisted.

Nanami picked it up and started to eat. She didn't bother to say thanks, since Tomoe never replied to it. Whenever he did something nice he always said something mean to make up for it. Nanami grumbled about him in her head. Stupid, mean Tomoe.

She tried to focus on class, and refused to look over at him.

When lunch rolled around Nanami left class and went to the cafeteria. She hadn't brought anything, so she had to buy today. Tomoe was also buying lunch, and he walked a ways in front of her.

Tomoe bought a sandwich and walked out of the cafeteria. Nanami purchased some sweet bread. She walked up the stairs after Tomoe. Instead of leaving the stairwell at their floor, Tomoe kept walking up.

She wasn't sure if she should follow Tomoe outside or if she should go back to class to eat. She didn't think Tomoe wanted her around, but she didn't want to go back to class by herself. If she went back alone there was no doubt that Isobe would be all over her, making stupid jokes. And, she kind of wanted to know where Tomoe was going.

Nanami followed Tomoe up the stairs. He walked up the top floor and left. Nanami reached the top and opened the door. They were up on the roof of the school. Tomoe was sitting on the ground with his back against the cement railing. His head was tilted up and his eyes were closed.

She walked closer to him. When she was beside him he opened his eyes and looked at her.

He looked at her like he didn't understand why she was there. "You don't have to eat with me," he told her, quite emotionlessly.

Nanami shuffled her feet and hesitated. Was he telling her to go away? Or did he not mind one way or the other? "I don't have anywhere else to go right now," she responded.

Tomoe nodded. She took that as an invitation to stay, so she sat down beside him. She started munching on her bread, and Tomoe ate his sandwich as well. They were completely silent. Nanami couldn't decide if she felt uncomfortable with the silence or not. Tomoe seemed content in the silence.

A cool breeze blew over them and Nanami shivered. She had only brought a thin sweater today. She didn't have any thick, warm ones.

"You're cold?" Tomoe asked.

"A little," she admitted.

Tomoe shook his head. "You don't have any warm clothing. You should have just worn my sweater from yesterday, it's thick."

Nanami would have felt weird wearing Tomoe's sweater to school. What would people think? Too embarrassing. She'd rather be cold.

Tomoe took off his jacket and threw it on her lap. "Put it on."

"Okay." Nanami slipped her arms through the jacket and wrapped the front closed around her. "Thanks."

"Next time think ahead, so I don't have to be cold," he said.

Nanami gawked at him. "If you're cold then take it back!" she protested.

"No."

"Fine!" snapped Nanami. "I'll bring my own next time."

Tomoe looked away from her, and silence settled back in. Nanami felt tense in the silence this time.

"Do you have to add a mean comment to everything nice you do?" Nanami complained.

Tomoe shrugged. "Maybe. Who said I was doing anything to be nice though?"

"Giving me your coat so I won't be cold isn't a nice gesture?" asked Nanami.

"Maybe it is, but my motives might not be," he said. "Maybe I think you're weak and you'll catch a cold without a jacket on. And maybe I don't want to listen to you cough and sneeze all night at home, or maybe even get me sick too." He didn't look at her the entire time he said this.

Nanami frowned at his suggestion. She really couldn't understand him. Was that really his reasoning? He had said maybe, so it might be, or it might not be. "Are you being confusing on purpose?" she asked.

"Who knows."

Nanami sighed. "Well, whatever your motives are, I'm still grateful," she murmured.

Tomoe looked over at her for a moment, but said nothing. Nanami forced herself to meet his eyes. He looked like he was studying her. His gaze was intense, but she couldn't let herself look away.

Suddenly, he stood up and said "Let's go back to class."

Nanami followed him back inside. She took his jacket off and handed it back to him. The pair walked to class in absolute silence.

This is the longest chapter so far, I believe. Is this too long? Should I make the chapters shorter, or does it not really matter to you guys?

I have all my final exams right now. So stressful. And this is what I'm doing instead of studying. Lol. Why is it that there always seems to be so much fun stuff do when you know you have lots of work to finish?

Hopefully I'll see you guys again soon with another chapter! :)