After the class, which, surprisingly, I had found I wasn't completely lost in for some reason, Mari and the different people sitting around me, including Soul, gathered on a small balcony area on the roof of the school. It had grass everywhere, and the sun was high in the sky.

My eyes hurt a little as the bright light hit me so suddenly. I swayed a little, and I felt someone catch my arm as all of the other people continued in front of me. "You okay?" A voice said, and I looked to the side and up to see a boy who was a bit taller than me, and with spiky blue hair. I recognized him from the classroom, and I felt my cheeks heat up a bit.

I nodded, and he steadied me, holding onto my arm maybe a fraction too long. It made my skin crawl a little, the touch of his fingers warm but a little uncomfortable. I smiled a little and looked into his eyes, and I felt as if their dark green color was seeping into me. After a second of us looking into each other's eyes, he let go of my hand, stepping back a little. The feeling that his fingers had cause left me a little, and then he smiled, and warmth filled my chest.

"Black Star." He said, and his smile widened into a grin. "You're blushing. It's because of my awesomeness, isn't it?" He said, and I looked at him blankly, and then he started laughing. "I know, I'm that great." He said, and then walked off toward the other people, his hands resting on the back of his head. His arms were toned like he worked out, and since he went to the academy, I figured that he did. His shoulders were broad and he was a little taller than me.

My cheeks were hot and I could feel them cooling down as I joined the others at a blanket that they had set up on the green grass. They had all taken their shoes off and were now sitting on the quilt, small boxes in their hands wrapped in clothes with pretty designs on them. When they untied them and opened them, I saw that they were lunches.

I could almost feel my stomach rumble as I saw all the good food, moving my arms to hold my stomach. When was the last time I had good food? I thought. I walked to Mari and bent down, my ribs aching with a dull pain and I pulled the string that I figured would unlace the shoes I wore. In wonder, I watched as the bow Mari had made with the thin white laces seemed to weave around itself and through the other laces, twisting each other and come undone.

I moved to the other foot and pulled the same lace like on the other shoe. It did the same thing. I starred in awe for a moment, and then realized that everyone had become silent and were watching me. I pulled my shoes off and moved onto the soft blanket next to Mari.

Mari laughed and ruffled my (h/c) hair. "That was cute." She said, and I looked at my hands resting in my lap. Mari bumped my shoulder with hers. Why was it when she touched me I was okay? Was it because I knew she wouldn't hurt me? I didn't know it for sure that she wouldn't, but she had had that look in her eyes that she had been through something similar. Maybe that was why.

"Don't be embarrassed." She said. Everyone was smiling at me, and I tried to move my lips into something someone might call a smile. I looked up, and my eyes were met by a pair of golden eyes. It was the black haired boy from earlier, and for a split second, I could see a blush rise in his cheeks, and then he looked away. What was that? I thought, and looked back down to my hands.

"You don't have a lunch?" Mari said as she popped something that looked like meat into her mouth with chopsticks. How could I?

She pushed some stuff around in her lunch bento, like one of the girls had called it, and found another piece of meet. She held it out to me, and I hesitantly opened my mouth, accepting it. A burst of flavor exploded in my mouth as I chewed, and when I swallowed, a warmth filled my stomach.

I looked down at her food, my mouth watering, and my stomach let out a small growl. Mari and the others laughed a little and I tried to smile again, the feeling of my lips curving upward becoming less unfamiliar.

"Here!" The girl named Tsubaki said, leaning forward with her chopsticks held out. She dropped a little piece of what looked like some kind of vegetable into Mari's box. Mari lifted it toward me and I opened my mouth. Different spices his my tongue and I swallowed, sad to have the mix of tastes no longer in my mouth.

After a few minutes, everyone had put something into Mari's bento, which soon ended up in my mouth. They had all been good, and it was the best, or actual, food that I had eaten in a long time.

Everyone was talking now, me just sitting quietly next to Mari ant the blonde Maka. My stomach felt odd, like there had been something wrong with the food, but I knew that it was fine because everyone had given something from their own lunch boxes, from the things that they were eating.

I soundlessly held my stomach, hoping no one would notice me. It felt like something was twisting in my stomach. Maybe I ate too much? I thought and shifted, catching the boy with the golden eyes and black hair's eyes.

"You okay, (Y/n)?" he asked, and his voice was deep but soft, making something in my stomach, which wasn't the upsetting feeling in my stomach. He smiled a little, and I looked at the ground, holding my stomach.

"Hey." Mari said, and everyone quieted, looking at me. "Did you eat too much?" she asked. I nodded, my gut twisting again. "Aw." She said, and rubbed my back. She stood and helped me up. "Lets take you to Stein." She said. We started walking away, her holding my arm gently to keep me up.

"I can help." A voice said, and I looked back to see Soul standing up and dusting himself off a little and coming over to us.

Mari glanced at me, her hands gently on my arm, and then to Soul. "I guess so." She said.

Soul reached out to take my other hand, and I felt panic start to run through me. What would happen if he touched me? His hands rested on my other arm to catch me before I could fall. A wash of an uncomfortable tingle ran over my entire body, and I shivered once, my stomach flipping multiple times. I leaned forward and threw up.

* * *

I sat in the infirmary, and ice pack resting on my burning forehead. My stomach ached with emptiness, and my throat was still burning from the bile of my stomach.

"It looks like you just ate food that was a little too rich." Stein said, scribbling some stuff down on some papers, leaning back and forth every once and a while on his rolling chair. I was laying on the bed next to the window, my head aching.

He looked at me, my most likely red cheeks standing out. "And I think that it may have triggered something in your body, and now you have a fever." He said.

I rubbed my forehead with the back of my hand, my stomach finally having settled down, only to be replaced by this fever. One thing after another. I looked to the side as I heard the door slam open, and footsteps run into the infirmary.

"(Y/n)!" I heard Maka's voice say loudly, and I flinched a little. Stein saw it, and he wheeled his chair around the curtain around my bed, held up by a metal bar. It seemed that he had stopped the group, because the stampede of feet had stopped, only to be replaced by a barrage of questions.

"Quiet." Stein said as the level of noise almost reached an unbearable volume. "She's fine." Stein said at a whispered question from a voice that sounded like Tsubaki's. "She just has a fever. You can see her." He said, but just before everyone could run around him to see me, he added, "Don't touch her, you guys. Except for Mari." He said.

There was a moment of silence as everyone took in the question. "Why not?" Patti's voice asked.

"Because she might be contagious." He said. I knew it was a lie, and I was happy he had said it. I knew that the thing that had pushed me over the edge and cause me to throw up was Soul touching me. There was something wrong with me.

"Why only Mari?" It was Soul's voice this time. I heard Black Star and Kid add something that was inaudible.

Stein formulated another lie. "Because of her black blood I'm confidant she wont get sick if (Y/n) has something contagious." He said. I wondered how he was that good at lying. I knew a few of my new friends – if I could even call them that yet – were meisters, which meant that they could see ripples and changes in a soul to tell if the person was lying. It took great practice to master this, and either they weren't skilled enough to sense lies from someone as powerful as Stein, I'd seen his soul, or they sensed the lies and just chose not to question their teacher.

The curtain was pulled back, and I saw my friends faces. They were smiling, but I could see their worry. Do they think that I'm weak?

"Are you okay, (Y/n)?" Liz asked, coming over, and everyone followed her. I smiled a little, and I saw Black Star grin back at me. I felt the redness on my cheeks deepen.

I nodded, and Mari pushed to the front of the group. "Don't scare us like that, (Y/n)!" She said, her smile bright, but her eyes looking a little frightened. I nodded again, and they all sighed with relief. "Good." Mari said, her blue hair falling into her face. "Now," she said, sitting up a little straighter. "Get better already!" she said, making everyone laugh and I silently joined them, no sound coming from my lips.