Wednesday//December 28//Afternoon//Grocery Store

[lovely_warumono]

The afternoon was slow that day. Ai sat at the kotatsu with her head down, sulking in complete boredom. Her mother, Reiko, was in the other room working on her painting. Her father, Senichi, sat next to her at the table watching sumo on the television. Momo and Aiko were sound asleep in Ai's room. She let out a groan, wishing she had something

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[lovely_warumono]

'Hm?' Ai paused mid-dance, and turned her head to look at where the pressure upon her shoulder had come from. Finding a blonde girl, just slightly taller then herself (thanks to her footwear), with a bright smile, Ai became curious. Turning around completely to face the girl and removing the earbuds from her ears, Ai returned the sunny smile

[lovely_warumono]

Ai glady told Amanda her number as she entered the other girl's into her own phone. Closing it, she dropped it back into her bag.

"I'd like that very much," Ai smiled at Amanda. "And I can introduce you to my family. They'll be really happy to know that I'm making so many friends here in Tokyo. I guess they're really worried about me," she explained, beginning to walk down the aisle and over to the check out area. "I overheard my Dad telling Kyou-chan that he and mom were worried about moving here because I really grow attached to people. Or something like that." She set her basket upon the counter and searched in her bag for her wallet.

"What about you, Amanda-chan? Did you make friends quickly when you first came here?" Ai asked as the young boy behind the counter scanned each item and recited a total. Ai handed over the amount requested and grabbed her two bags, waiting for Amanda.

[amanda_evers]

Amanda paid for her tomatoes and smiled at Ai. "Yes and no...I was a bit overwhelmed when I first got here, so I was slow to make friends as well." she said.

"I'll help you carry." she offered, holding out a hand to take some of Ai's bags.

[lovely_warumono]

Ai reluctantly handed over one of the two bags, knowing she wasn't the strongest of girls. There was something about Amanda, though, that seemed strong and made Ai feel safe.

"I hope to make more friends once school starts again. Its going to be wierd without Junpei, but he promised to visit soon," she went on, beginning her walk home with Amanda by her side. "You have a lot of friends now, I bet. Even though you said you could be mean, I have a hard time picturing it," Ai smiled.

[amanda_evers]

Amanda shook her head. "I have a few friends, and that's good enough for me. My school has a good amount of rough and tumble types...not the type I'd want to be great friends with."

"Is Junpei a good friend of yours?" she asked, letting Ai lead the way to her home.

[lovely_warumono]

"Does Tokyo have a lot of schools like that?" Ai asked, Amanda's description of her school reminding her of what Miyavi had said about Gakuin.

"Junpei has been my best friend since grade school," Ai smiled brightly. "But he's still in Kyoto. He graduates this spring, though, so maybe he'll move here, to Tokyo."

[amanda_evers]

"I don't know too much about other schools...but I do know that Gakuin High is one of the roughest. It has gang members and not just normal bullies. I guess it's because of the location and how easy it is to get in compared to other schools. Even gang members need to get their education I guess. I go to Gakuin High and that's how I know it's rough." Amanda said, then looked thoughtful a moment.

"Gakuin isn't a bad school. Not really. And most the students are pretty nice. It's just that the rough students tend to stand out more, which makes it seem like Gakuin is a school overrun by gangs. And it doesn't help that the student body president is ineffectual as a leader."

She smiled at the last part of Ai's statement. "I hope your friend will be able to come then. I'd like to meet him. Is your house near here?"

[lovely_warumono]

Ai came to a complete stop and just stood, speechless, in one spot. She stared at Amanda with disbelief. She wondered if she were dreaming, if it was really possible that she was yet meeting another student from Gakuin High. Her mind didn't even register Amanda's last statement about Junpei or her home.

"I love Tokyo," she smiled to herself before throwing herself into Amanda and giving her the biggest hug possible. "This is so cool! You're the fourth person that I've met that goes to Gakuin! Sure, Gakuin sounds just like Miyavi-kun said, but I can't believe I'll already have four friends when school starts!" Ai rambled on, giggling with pure delight.

[amanda_evers]

"That doesn't surprise me. Gakuin High isn't too far from here and you've probably been meeting students who live pretty near the school. For some students, Gakuin is simply the closest high school to them and they don't have to take a train to get there." Amanda said, chuckling softly. "You'll probably find that you've met more students from Gakuin once you've started classes than you originally thought."

[lovely_warumono]

"That makes sense. I guess that would be why Gakuin accepted me so easily. A lot of schools don't allow transfers so late in the year. I'm excited anyway," Ai said, restarting the journey home. "Its pretty close now, I think," she said, looking around at her surroundings. "Oh, I found it," Ai giggled, jogging over to her apartment and up the stairs.

"Tadaima~!" Ai called as she entered her home, making sure that Amanda was right behind her.

"Okaeri," she was greeted by her father, Senichi. She assumed her mother had gone back to painting.

"I brought a friend home," Ai said, removing her boots at the door and beckoning to enter.

[amanda_evers]

Amanda followed and when invited in, she slipped out of her shoes and set them just in the door and out of the way. "Konnichi wa." she said, bowing to the father. "I am Amanda Evers-Sawada."

[lovely_warumono]

"Konnichiwa. I'm Ai's father, Senichi. It's very nice to meet you," Senichi greeted as he took the bag from Ai.

"I picked up instant ramen. I wasn't sure what else to get," Ai explained. "But I'm going to make ichigo daifuku, too! Is mom in her room?" Senichi nodded, answering his daughter's question. Grabbing Amanda by the hand, she made her way to and down the hall.

"Mom, I'm home," she called as she entered the room. Reiko turned to her daughter, a paint brush in hand. "I made a new friend," Ai smiled, nudging Amanda further into the room.

[amanda_evers]

Amanda smiled at Senichi, stopping the urge to pull her hand away, though she generally didn't let people touch her. She had the feeling that Ai was more emotionally sensitive and might be hurt by her pulling away, so she let the girl pull her down the hall.

Once in the room, Amanda bowed to Reiko. "Hello...I'm Amanda." she said it simply, guessing that Ai's family wasn't very formal.

[lovely_warumono]

Putting down the brush and wiping her hands on her stained overalls, Reiko smiled at Amanda. "I'm Reiko. Its very nice to meet you, Amanda."

"Mom, Amanda-chan goes to Gakuin, too!" Ai informed her mother.

"That's great, baby," Reiko said, wrapping her arms around her daughter in a hug. "Please take care of our Ai," she said to Amanda with another smile.

[amanda_evers]

Amanda returned Reiko's smile and gave her a formal bow of respect. "It would be my pleasure, ma'am." she said.

[lovely_warumono]

"Thank you. Senichi and I appreciate it very much." Laying a motherly kiss upon her daughter's head, Reiko released Ai and went back to her painting.

Walking out of the room to lean on the hallway wall, Ai smiled at Amanda. "Thank you for meeting them. I hope you didn't mind."