'Where in the world did you fly to Clare! Man, Deneve and I were almost worried for you, while Miria was literally in tears!' Helen whispered not-so-quietly and grinned cheekily at Miria, while Clare settled down in her seat without a word.

'Did you have a fall?'

Clare followed Miria's line of vision and ended up looking at a tiny abrasion on her own right knee, something that she had failed to notice during the little episode from before.

She's…real observant.

'I... bumped into someone.'

Miria lifted her brows, as if suspecting that there was more to it.

'Well, at least you're okay. But I hope you didn't bump into any bullies or worse still…that particular Year Three senior.'

'What Year Three senior? Is she scary? Is she like the boss of the bullies and the leader of the fiercest gangs in school? Tell me tell me Miria!' Helen was a tad bit too loud, earning a stern look from their teacher.

'I believe…her name is Teresa of the Faint Smile.'

Helen looked at Deneve in disbelief. 'Deneve you knew and you never told me? Meanie!'

'I told you to listen when Miria speaks didn't I? Apparently that brain of yours fails to process things that you hear.'

'Oh come on, I was probably in the toilet when both of you talked about this!'

' "of the Faint Smile"...?'

Ignoring the other two, Miria responded to Clare's question.

'It's basically just the typical nicknaming that students engage in. Though in this case, they do it out of reverence of Teresa and the smile that is an omnipresent feature of hers.'

'Back to the main point, it isn't Teresa herself that is scary, rather her 'followers' are the ones to beware of. She's a transfer student actually, but she already has a big fanbase that she has inadvertently accumulated in the two weeks of extra classes the Year Three students have before the official start of school. However, it's the few that always follow her around- more like her 'bodyguards', I would say, that are the dangerous ones. Rumours are that there was once an innocent student accidentally spilled coffee onto Teresa's shirt in the canteen, and the next day her seat was vandalized, and subsequently she was harassed for quite awhile... Though surprisingly, there aren't any rumours about Teresa herself being mean.' Deneve continued for Miria.

'Wow Deneve… I swear, you and Miria must be working together on some top-secret research project on our school! How could you leave me out on this? I thought we were buddies!'

'It would be a misfortune to include you in anything... Anyway, that was just stuff that we heard around school… Something which, as I have emphasized, you sadly fail to do so.'

'Alright alright that is enough, we really should be listening to the lesson now.' Miria helpfully indicated at the teacher who looked like she was ready to permanently remove Helen and Deneve from the class.

Helen not-so discreetly stuck out a tongue at Deneve and then faced the front. Deneve did the same.

And Clare could hardly concentrate.

'Here's your 100 Yen change. Thank you and have a nice day.'

Clare turned away from the cashier counter and continued her Japanese homework on the adjacent table. There was not much, but her motivation for completing it was unfortunately lacking. She leaned on the backrest of the chair and turned her head to glance lazily at a random item on the racks in the shop, then her eyes darted towards the maroon-haired man restocking the Calbee snacks.

The guy was twenty-three year old Joshua, the owner of this convenience shop named "Sweet Home". He had been a neighbour and family friend who was close to Clare's grandparents. After they passed away, Joshua was the one who took charge of the funeral arrangements and all the miscellaneous stuff. Because Clare was not of-age and had no legal guardians anymore, she had initially been slated to be sent back to an orphanage again by the officials. It was due to Joshua's intervention and choice of taking up the legal role of being Clare's guardian that allowed the girl to continue to live by herself in where she wanted to be. That was of course under the condition that Clare had to be "supervised regularly by her legal guardian to ensure her safety and well-being including healthy development", though Clare wasn't too sure if Joshua was up for the latter. In addition, the officials occasionally drop by to check on the girl's overall condition.

Even after doing so much, Joshua even offered Clare this part-time job at the convenience shop, which was strategically situated just opposite the block where Clare stayed. There probably wasn't any other shops that would hire a person under sixteen, but Clare needed a minimal amount of allowance to scrap through, since there was no one supporting her. The older man had proposed that he 'loaned' Clare money all the way until she graduated and started working. But Clare could never resort to such dependency – she might as well be a leech if that was so. Moreover, knowing Joshua, he would probably refuse to receive any payment back. So in the end, their compromise was the job. It was arguably only enough to pay for bills and food - But it would suffice, or rather he would ensure that it sufficed since he often treated Clare to meals(despite her futile resistance) and gave her the leftover bread and onigiri every night to pack for lunch in school.

Whenever she was working, Clare would be the cashier while Joshua would do restocking, accounting, or go dating with his girlfriends.

'Finally done!'

Joshua stood up, stretching his back, relief written all over his face.

'I'll be going then, can't let Riful wait for me. After all, a gentleman can't let a lady wait, he sure can't!' He flashed his goofy smile.

'So remember to lock up properly yeah? And yes, the security camera is down but I'll get it fixed by tomorrow, so don't you worry! Alright, see ya~!'

With that, he skipped out of the shop gleefully, the bells on the door knob ringing behind him.

This friend of hers... was a tall and dashing man with a friendly personality, undoubtedly. Despite the vibe of aloofness he gives off whenever he's with Clare, the girl knew that he was serious when it came to dealing with things and relationships. Unfortunately, he seemed to be picking all the wrong ladies and had been "changing" girlfriends on a weekly basis. Basically "changing" was a pseudo word for "being dumped". The week before was Luciela, the last week was Agatha, and this week Riful. Hopefully this time he had paired up with someone nice enough to appreciate him.

Letting out a sigh, Clare glanced at the wall clock. 7.45p.m. Another three and a quarter hours to the end of work. Not that she minded though- There were few customers at night, and she relished the time alone, in the peace of four walls, with only the soft sounds of the air conditioner and the dull motor of the fridge racks to accompany her. She could allow her mind to wander wherever her thoughts took her and immerse in herself.

Though today, her thoughts drifted from abstract to a particular person she bumped into today. Thinking about the incident made her frown uneasily.

That was a pretty...weird encounter. She looked so familiar that it almost feels like I've known her before somehow. In some past life maybe. Tsk. Even she felt the ridicule of that trail of thought.

I wonder what kind of person she is.

She gazed at the road outside the shop, then turned back to side table to resign to her fate of homework, only to hear the door bells ringing a few moments later. She looked up to acknowledge the presence of customers. A trio of male students entered the shop, heading straight towards the counter. Clare could not recognize their uniform, but assumed that they were middle high school students.

The 'leader' of the group stopped just right in front of Clare, with only the counter to separate them. He towered over Clare and the other two stood by either of his sides.

"Money in the cashier box, girl. We can do this the easy way all the hard way."

His lackeys sniggered and started cracking their knuckles.

"Sir, there are security cameras."

"One look at the black screen obviously tells you that they are out of order. We've been observing it for days. The owner is a total block head. And you are one too if you refuse to hand over the money nicely."

Clare mentally rolled her eyes at Joshua. She would probably chide him about this matter tomorrow.

The guy roughly grabbed Clare's right wrist, clearly demanding to be obeyed.

"So, make your decision girl."

She thought about the mess it would make if she knocked the guys onto the food racks. It would probably take some time to arrange everything back.

Time to demand more money from Joshua tomorrow.

Just as Clare was about to retaliate, the door bells rang, alerting the trio as they spun around in alarm, only to relax at who they saw.

"A group of guys bullying a girl…shame on you all."

Hearing the familiar voice, Clare frowned, trying to recall who it was. She tilted sideways to glimpse at the newcomer and her eyes widened slightly. It was the senior, Teresa. She had donned track pants and a tight-fitting singlet, her face slightly flushed with beads of sweat. And of course, she was flashing her famous faint smile, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

The leader was the first to react.

"We were just using… gentle means to get money. Anyway, not that you can do anything about it, eh? Besides… a beauty like you could serve other purposes." He looked creepily at Teresa, who was unperturbed.

"Let go of her hand."

"What? My ears don't seem to be hearing properly. Or maybe you're just too soft, sugar."

"Let. Go. Of. Her. Hand. Now."

This time, her voice was filled with threat, emphasizing on every word. The atmosphere suddenly became very tense.

"That was really terrifying sweetie, let me comply to your wishes..."

Clare let out a small yelp as the grip tightened on her wrist. It wasn't pain at all actually, but she happened to be caught off-guard at that sudden increase in pressure. However, that reaction was enough to let all hell loose.

The next few moments were a blur. Within a split second, a forceful punch from each fist sent the two sidekicks flying to either side of the shop, their bodies knocking hard against the shelves. Wincing in pain, their hands covered their faces protectively as the items displayed on the shelves started raining onto them. All the while, the Teresa was smiling and kept her eyes on the 'leader', and suddenly she gripped his wrist that was holding on to Clare, increasing her hold with each second. The guy howled and finally released the grip on Clare, only to be elbowed in the stomach, causing him to crumple to the ground.

Awe-struck by the turn of events, Clare only stood there, too hypnotized to do anything.

'Scram. Now.'

The sidekicks hurried over to help their 'leader' up and scrambled out of the shop soon enough.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Teresa turned her head to face Clare, their eyes meeting fleetingly for the first time since she stepped into the shop. Once again, Clare felt the warming feeling of familiarity, but this time, concern and relief too. Before she could utter anything, Teresa pouted awkwardly, randomly took a pack of seaweed from the rack beside her, whipped a couple of coins from her pocket, dropped them on the counter and sauntered out of the shop.

Just like that.

Clare would later count the coins and realize that it was the exact amount, much to her surprise.