The boat sails steadily away from the amicable little town where Minori has lived for the past two years. The place is now so far away that if she is to put her thumb in front of it, she'll cover it completely.
She blinks slowly, as the gentle sea breeze lifts her soft golden hair, pushing it towards her face as she continues to watch the waves and the growing distance between her and Oak Tree Town…her home.
Practically all of the villagers came to see her off earlier that morning, though even she couldn't hide her disappointment at the lack of a certain chef. She was crestfallen as she walked onto the boat, though she tried her best to look happy and smile.
She misses the townspeople, her dearest friends, but her heart aches with longing for only one person. She wants to believe that he feels the same, but if he did, why didn't he come talk to her, or at the very least see her off? It's Wednesday, his day off.
She has run various scenarios through her head, and so far she's come up with:
- Maybe he was just enjoying his day off.
- Maybe he forgot about her departure.
- Maybe he was hanging out with his fangirls…
- Maybe he didn't care enough to come.
That last thought hits her harder than she expected, and she tries her best to think optimistically, as she always does, though she feels her heart begin to sink.
Pull yourself together, Minori! You are going on a vacation of sorts, anyway. Just take a deeeeeeeep breath, and calm down. You're on vacation. You're allowed to relax.
She reminisces on the last time she'd seen him, and realizes she hasn't spoken to him for two or three days. She'd been packing, and had planned to go visit, but then, she got a knock at her door…
Minori had entrusted Elise with her secret—not by choice, of course. Needless to say, it didn't stay a secret for long.
Elise had waltzed in while Minori had been packing, and refused to leave until Minori explained what was going on.
"Tell meeee, Minori! I'll do anything!" she had whined repeatedly for 15 minutes or so.
Minori had wanted to pull out any of her handy-dandy tools and made excellent use of them. During Elise's visit all she could think about was bonking the girl in pink on the head with a watering can.
She'd smiled to herself at the thought, though she knew she wouldn't (more like couldn't) ever do that, since Elise would probably sue her or something like that, or at the very least never speak to her again. The last thing she needed was more stuff on her mind.
She'd finished packing quickly since she worked without rest. Her boat would leave on Wednesday – two days from then. She'd left her farm to Elise, who did say she'd do anything to know about Minori's departure, and who'd care for her animals and the couple of crops left growing in the field.
Several people had stopped by to say goodbye: Otmar to tell her to travel safely, Lillie to give her best friend a huge hug before departure, Iris to gently pat her as she held her head in her hands wondering what she was doing with her life, Marian to give her advice on how to lure in some attractive men on her voyage, and Fritz…who had dropped by asking if he could take crops from the farm while Minori was gone. To that, she gave a small smile and then abruptly closed the door. Fritz was a good friend, but even friends have to have certain un-crossable boundaries. Besides, she knew Fritz would find his way into her fields somehow…
News had ended up spreading like wildfire, and soon enough practically everyone knew and came to see her off. That is, aside from the handsome young chef that had her going head over heels (literally, though thats a story for another time). She always radiated around him. He made her heart want to burst out of her chest and leap around in circles and run free in fields of happiness and glee.
Oh goodness. She was in too deep.
"Good thing I'm on vacation," she muttered.
He had no idea why nobody had been coming into the restaurant for the past few days. The place was practically deserted save for the occasional group of fangirls who came by to stare in awe.
Today, a particularly obnoxious group of girls showed up, even though it was his day off: they sat down at the counter and demanded selfies with Raeger. He'd refused every single time they'd asked, though one managed to sneak one while he was cleaning the counter. He still had no idea why he hadn't asked them to leave already. Today was his day off, after all…Goddess, what a bunch of creeps those chicks were. He put his mind toward getting the coffee stain out of the counter.
It was the moment after the creepy girls left that Fritz had burst into the door, screaming at Raeger that he was super sad now that Minori had gone. He flung his hands about, wondering who would hang out with him now.
Raeger had to forcibly put his hand over Fritz's mouth to get him to shut up. Fritz looked up at him with wide, confused eyes.
"…Minori left?" Raeger asked, disbelievingly.
"Mmph! Mph mph mph mph mppph mph!" Fritz replied, to which Raeger rolled his eyes and let go of his mouth.
"Her boat left this morning, Raeger!" Fritz yelled, flinging his arms even more crazily than before.
"...what?" Raeger looked at him in disbelief, as he turned his head towards the door.
Minori and I are good friends...wouldn't she tell me if she was leaving?
Raeger then decided that had to find Minori, to convince himself that she hadn't actually left.
By the time he had reached the farm, he was out of breath but still determined to push forward. He noticed a blonde figure in the distance, and breathed a sigh of relief as he jogged up to her.
He closed his eyes in sudden relief, panting as he reached up to put a hand on her shoulder, but she turned around before he could, her green eyes scanning him quickly before raising an eyebrow.
I'm so glad she's still here, he thought. What would I have done if she weren't?
"…something you need, Raeger?"
Huh?
He opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face not with Minori, but with Elise. His eyes widened in shock, and the awkward hand he still had up in the air was suddenly brought down to his side as he stepped back.
"…erm, hey, Elise. Do…do you know where Minori is?"
She uncrossed her arms, though her eyebrow still remained raised.
"Last time I saw her, she was getting on a boat to…ah, where was it? Sunshine Islands? Wait, no…maybe it was Mineral Town? I don't remember…"
His heart tightened in his chest. So Fritz was right after all…
He thanked Elise and headed to the restaurant. He locked the doors, walked upstairs, and ran his hand through his hair as he wondered why nobody had told him. Why he hadn't heard. Why Minori hadn't just told him herself.
He ended up with several possibilities:
- Maybe she was just enjoying spending her days alone.
- Maybe she forgot to tell him about her departure.
- Maybe she was too busy packing…
- Maybe she didn't care enough to let him know.
He felt stupid for not going to see her: he had noticed that she hadn't dropped by in 3 days. He should've gone to her, he should've made sure she was okay, he should've gently hugged her, should've kissed her right then and there…
Oh jeez. Here I go again daydreaming. Get back to reality, Raeger.
For a moment, he'd forgotten that she'd left, as he thought of her. Her honey-colored hair, her fantastic hazel eyes that appeared golden in the sunlight, and would glow brighter with every captivating word she said, the tiny freckles lining her upper cheeks…
Her cute button nose, her pale yet creamy complexion, her light pink lips…
Her tall, lanky form, her lean, thin fingers, her calm, cool but clumsy demeanor…
Her way of being elegant, intelligant, and radiant...
She was just so beautiful.
He was going to miss her more and more with every second that she was away.
The thought frightened him.
So, how was that? This is actually my first time writing HM fanfiction! Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to the fandom :D Please R&R!
