'Crap, my first day of school and I'm late for class. Who is this girl anyway? Why'd she pass out in the middle of the street?!' he thought in wonder and worry.

Spotting another kid trying to get to class, he shouted at him.

"Hey kid!! You know where the nurse's office is?!" asked the boy. His appearance scared the kid but he answered him.

"Uh, uh... y-yeah... just swing a left down this hall and it's the first door on the left," said the kid as he ran to his class in haste.

'Every school...' thought the boy. 'They run away...'

Running to the nurse's office with Umeko in his arms, he looked down on her for a quick sec. 'She's cute though...' he thought.

The boy finally reached the nurse's office and opened the door. Umeko was placed on a bed to rest. The nurse asked what happened and the boy told her that Umeko (he still doesn't know her name... duh lol) fainted in the middle of the street and was about to be hit by a car.

"Oh... what a hero! Thank you for saving Umeko-chan. She usually never does that. Well, um... I'm sorry I didn't catch your name," said the nurse.

"Sorry. My name's Taka Shigomaru. Today's my first day of school, but I ran into her," introduced Taka.

"What a good person you are and I am glad you saved Umeko-chan. Would you like a pass to class?" asked the nurse.

"N-no.. if it's all right with you, can I stay to make sure she is all right?" asked Taka, looking at the floor.

"Why not? I'll be back in ten minutes. I have to get some filing done and notify her teacher that she's in here," smiled the nurse as she left.

As soon as the nurse left, Taka sighed with relief that he can finally think of what to do next. He stared at Umeko wondering if she's all right and when she was going to wake up. His eyes then wandered to her tightly clutched hand.

'Hm? Her hand is still clutched tightly. What's she holding?' Taka thought.

He walked over to her and was about to find out what was in her hand when she started to open her eyes. She sat straight up in panic, looking around in fright. Taka tried to calm her down as she did.

"Did... did you bring me here?" Umeko asked, rubbing her head.

"Of course I did! I had to, unless you wanted to get hit by that car!" Taka said in a scolding tone.

"W-what car? All I could remember was a light and then a vision came up... then nothing at all," Umeko said quietly.

'A light huh? That just happened to me a while ago... but I didn't see any visions,' Taka thought to himself.

"Well... you're okay now, so I'll be going to class... but where is the room?" he asked himself after.

"Wait!" Umeko said, grabbing his wrist. Taka turned slightly. "Um, I want to thank you for saving me... and my name's Umeko Shioru. What's your name?"

"I'm Taka Shigomaru. It's my first day here at Juko High," said Taka.

"Oh, cool! Do you have your schedule? I'll help you around," Umeko said excitedly, putting the gem away in her pocket. She always loved helping new kids find their way to their classes. 

Taka took out his schedule and gave it to Umeko. She took it and looked carefully at it.

"Hey! You're in the same grade as me! And in the same first and second, and third... and fourth...?! What the?! The only class we're not in same is seventh!" said Umeko in disbelief.

"That's weird," said Taka. Umeko gave Taka back his schedule and led the way.

They walked out of the nurse's office and started walking down the hall. The two of them were quiet for the while, with nothing to talk about to one another. Umeko didn't like these awkward situations so she cracked it.

"Taka is it? Mind if I call you Taka-kun...?" she asked, staring straight ahead. Taka didn't look at her.

"Sure."

"Um... where did you live before here in Kyoto?" Umeko asked nervously.

"Somewhere where people would treat kids like me with dirty looks and ignorance," said Taka.

"Why would they do that?" asked Umeko looking at Taka. He stopped.

"What? You can't tell? People take one look at my face and they run for it," said Taka.

"Why?" asked Umeko.

"Because I have a scary face!"

"What's so scary about your face? What? Is it because you glare all the time that intimidates people?" smiled Umeko.

"N-no... .... yeah... that," said Taka.

"Aw, you don't look scary to me. Come on, I bet if I ever make you smile and laugh, you'll look better and everyone'll want to know you," smiled Umeko.

"You really serious...? I've... I've never had any real friends before," said Taka, looking at the floor.

"Well.. do you want to give it a try? Come on. I can be funny when the time calls for it. Actually... it comes unintentionally (is that a word?) so just bear with me," said Umeko.

"Okay... I'll give it a try then," said Umeko.

"Great! We can try that when everything flows smoothly. But come on! Sensei is one who doesn't like kids who cuts class for more than ten minutes!" said Umeko, grabbing Taka by the wrist again and lead Taka to their first class together.

"Ehey! Don't pull so hard!" said Taka... almost letting a smile slip.