Daichi had been Umi's friend for as long as she could remember. Though at some point over the years a distance had grown between them, which helped Umi realize she liked Daichi. Though this brought with it a problem, simply being around him made her flustered. Words that came so easily when they were children were much harder now in fifth grade.

This became even more of a problem as his birthday was right around the corner. She wanted to get him something, but she didn't know what he liked anymore, let alone what boys liked. Of course she wanted the gift to be a surprise so she couldn't just ask him (not that she could speak to him normally anyway).

She could also ask the transfer student, Daichi seemed to get along well with Takada, and if anyone would know it was probably him. But the transfer student was a little overwhelming. That isn't to say Umi disliked him, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the class that didn't like Takada even begrudgingly. Plus what would he say if he found out about her crush? She didn't want him to blab!

Then there was her…

Umi looked up to see Daichi, Takada and Nishimura on their way to school, discussing a program they'd watched. Since she and Daichi lived relatively close to one another she'd sometimes see them walking to school.

Ok, maybe half the time.

Alright, it was a lot of the time.

She and Daichi often left around the same time, mostly he walked to school alone, but it wasn't until recently, since Takada transferred here, that he walked with a group. Though the real surprise was that Nishimura joined them. While Takada was friendly and outgoing, Nishimura seemed to be the opposite. Though she also seemed to get along well with Takada and Daichi.

It's not like Umi hadn't tried to befriend the other girl but… well…

It was the first day of first grade and Umi approached the girl in black. Of course she had Daichi to play with, but this girl seemed lonely. Besides, the more the merrier right? "Hi, I'm Adachi Umi, do you wanna- eep!"

She was cut off by the glare the other girl gave her.

"S-sorry, n-nevermind…" Umi scurried off.

If Umi recalled it wasn't long after that Kitagawa called her grim reaper for the first time, and it stuck. Of course it's not like she believed that sort of thing. She hadn't believed that sort of thing since second grade.

Umi walked with purpose into the library, in her hands a large binder full of her observations. Of course with her dad being a biology teacher, he'd passed on for all creatures that swam, crawled and flew, and had taught her how to observe specimens and take notes. So thorough note taking was child's play, which was appropriate for the second grader.

She slammed the binder down on the table startling her classmate Inada. "Jeez, why are you being so noisy?" The tired girl asked, annoyed.

"I have been observing Nishimura for weeks!" Umi replied, manic energy edged in her words. Her hair was unkempt and there were bags under her eyes. "Observation and diligent note taking, every rumor, every curse, and you know what I found?"

"Nishimura isn't a reaper?" Inada asked in a bored tone.

"No! Nishimura isn't a-" Umi faltered, "Wait how did you guess?"

"I mean it's obvious isn't it?"

"B…but my research! My observations! You didn't watch her water the flowers! Or feed the fish!" Umi protested, upset that all her research seemed to be pointless.

Inada stared at her unimpressed. "It was a rumor started by Kitagawa." She pointed out, "you know… the same person who said a scorpion has enough venom to kill fifty men?"

"How could he be so dumb?! As if a scorpion could have that much venom!" Umi started an all too familiar rant, before catching her classmates eye.

Inada simply looked smug.

I… I see what you mean…" The bespectacled girl began, "But everyone else jumped on the reaper band wagon, if she's not a reaper what is she?" Umi sat in the chair with her head in her hands.

"Maybe I'm just a normal girl with mean looking eyes?" A flat voice suggested.

Umi froze and looked over her shoulder. There, fixing her with an intense glare, was the scientifically proven, non reaper herself. "N-N-N-Nishimura! S-sorry I'll be going!" She collected her research binder and hastily made her way out of the library.

Umi winced at that memory, it wasn't her best moment. She remembered when she brought the binder of her observations to her dad, he scolded her as it was technically bullying. That made her feel worse, Umi considered herself a nice girl, she never wanted to bully anyone. She did her best to try and avoid Nishimura over the next couple years. She was sure if Nishimura hadn't disliked her before she would now.

Though there was the group project they had to do together in fourth grade…

"And Nishimura and Adachi will be a group." The teacher said, dully.

"Hah, Adachi stuck with the grim reaper!" Kitagawa yelled.

"Hey don't call your classmate the grim reaper!" The teacher scolded, unaware it fell on deaf ears.

Umi was torn, while she was excited it was a biology project, she was nervous because of who it was. She glanced over at her partner who now seemed to be glaring a hole into her desk. Umi doubted Nishimura ever forgave her for the binder incident in second grade. Felt like she always glared at her whenever she looked at her.

Though Umi corrected herself, Nishimura seemed to glare at her even before the binder incident. And everyone else.

Umi took a deep breath and moved over to her project partner. "So…"

"We can just break up the project into parts. I'll do half and you do half, and that way we can do it separately." Nishimura interrupted, with the same flat tone she always had.

"Um… But wouldn't it be better for us to work on it together?" Umi tried to argue.

"You'd risk getting cursed by the grim reaper?" Nishimura asked in a low voice.

Ah there it was, she really hadn't forgiven her for the binder incident. This must have been Nishimura's way of telling her. "I-I understand…" Umi finally said defeated.

Looking back Umi remembered they did well on that project too. Still that wasn't the point, the gloomy girl had seemed as hard to talk to as ever. Still she reminded herself, the transfer student seemed to have an easy time talking to her, and so did Dai-chan now that she thought about it. Maybe she wasn't so intimidating?

Still Umi bided her time, waiting until recess. She knew Nishimura typically spent her break in the classroom more often than not, opting to avoid the others who went to play outside. She seemed to keep this up most days even after becoming friends with Takada. She wanted to catch Nishimura alone, not only would she be less likely to be overheard, but she might also have an easier time talking to the other girl without their classmates around.

Probably.

Finally, the last few students trickled out of the classroom. Nishimura meanwhile had pulled a book from her desk and was about to start leaving.

Alright, it was now or never!

Umi took a deep breath and approached the gloomy non reaper. "Um… Nishimura…" Umi flinched slightly as the other girl fixed her with the familiar glare. "Do you have a moment?"

"Er…" Nishimura took a moment before recognition dawned on her, Adachi? What do you want?" It wasn't exactly unfriendly, or short. It was direct and to the point.

"I, um… I wanted to ask you something!" Umi blurted out quickly, "um… maybe somewhere more private?" Suddenly the classroom felt too public, despite it being only the two of them there.

Nishimura blinked, her glare never leaving the young biologist's face. "Ok," she finally replied, placing the book back in her desk.

The pair walked the mostly empty halls, Umi leading the way to the secluded alcove under the stairs. The silence between the pair seemed deafening to Umi, who was getting more nervous the closer they got to their destination.

"Wait." Umi stopped before they got to the alcove, the guilt was eating her. This would be the longest she's been in the other girl's presence in the whole time they've gone to school. It didn't feel right to ask for help after what she did.

"I wanted to apologize first…" She said finally fidgeting nervously.

The gloomy girl's usual frown deepened, and her glare seemed almost… questioning? Come to think of it, she'd never known a time where the other girl hadn't been glaring.

"U-um…" Nishimura waited silently as Umi continued, "I may have… accidentally… bullied you." She finally said.

"In second grade…" she continued.

"When I made a binder logging my observations…" Nishimura remained silent.

"O-of you…" Umi couldn't read the other girl.

"To find out if you were actually a grim reaper." Shame and guilt washed over Umi when she said this last part.

To Umi an eternity passed between the girls.

"I don't remember that…" Nishimura finally responded.

"What!" Umi balked, "B-but you've been glaring at me ever since that day!"

"T-that's just how I look…" Nishimura hesitated with a hint of sorrow in her voice, "P-people think I'm scary…"

"Maybe I'm just a normal girl with mean looking eyes?"

For the first time several pieces began to fall into place, and Umi nearly slapped herself. Nishimura wasn't some intimidating loner, she was just a lonely girl, who looked a little scary, but that wasn't her fault. The budding biologist reflected on the different lizards she loved, and how some of them could also look scary. Her dad had once told her they were more afraid of her than she was of them, and that was kind of the same with people wasn't it?

Umi smiled, maybe she and Nishimura could be friends, she reflected as the pair made it to the alcove under the stairs.

Well there'd be time for that later, "So uhm…" Umi said changing the subject, "You spend a lot of time with Dai-chan don't you?"

I originally posted this on archive of our own, but Latiosfan suggested I post here too.

Umi is probably one of my favorite characters, she's shown to be a genuinely kind and friendly character, and it seemed a little odd she wasn't already friends with Nishimura. I thought it would be fun to explore it from Umi's side. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it!