Woah. __; First fic in a while, to be honest. Lately, I've been in a writing mood...
The first chapter is told in Akari's point of view, because she's going to be the character that appears most in the entire fic. x__x; . And because this is the prologue and introduction. The other chapters will be in third persons point of view. As for couples and pairings, I'm not too sure yet... :/ .
Another note would be that I'll be using most of the original names for the characters. Mainly for the bachelors/bachelorettes and of course, Akari and Takeru. If anyone's confused with the names... Feel free to tell me, and I'll put up a list. ^^;
Bah, I'm kind of nervous to be honest. But - constructive criticism and reviews are loved. (: . It'd be nice to improve my writing style. ^^;
So, without further ado. Here's the 'prologue'. It's not much like a prologue though... but I hope you enjoy?
The sun was out shining today; its magnificent rays were gently shining upon the island we were heading to. Well, at least that was how I saw it from my standing point.
I was sitting on the deck of an average sized boat along with my twin brother. Placed in my hands was a brochure my brother and I had found around a month ago. We both discussed about it between us for a fairly long time, before consulting our parents. By the time we had told them, our excitement was way up the roof. We both loved to go to visit farms ever since we were little, and that was exactly what the advertisement was showing. The chance to run our very own farm. The thought of digging into fresh soil to get dirty and taking care of farm animals was appealing. We nearly drove our parents insane, pestering them about it. After all, our eighteenth birthday was in a week, and we were finally legal to leave the house. Now don't think we hate our parents, because we don't. Our family history is very uncanny. Each generation had left their parents to go somewhere else to settle. In that way, our relatives were very distant from us, but it wasn't at all lonely. Heck, I had my brother, mother, and father at that time to keep me company, that I didn't even notice until our parents told us.
Onto the point, our parents were reluctant to let us go at first, but in the end, gave in to us. It helped that there would be the two of us going, because that way, we wouldn't be alone. There were a few things we had to promise to them, but it was all worth it. It's amazing how far annoying can get you. The price for the farm and home were very reasonable, in my parents view, so they got it for us as a present for our birthday. We were so ecstatic, that we packed way before we had to go. And now here we were, on the boat to follow our dreams.
I shifted my feet as soon as my train of thought was gone. I admit it to be one of my bad habits. Leaning on my brother's shoulder, I watched as the waves of the sea were passing by us. I tried to stir up a small conversation with him. The quiet was killing me.
"Hey Takeru, what do you think the townspeople will be like?" I questioned.
Takeru gave a small chuckle at me, as he raised his arms to hold back his head. "Who knows, Akari?" His lips curved into a tiny grin. "I'm sure we both will be able to make new friends for sure."
I raised one of my eyebrows, lifting myself from his shoulder. I flashed him an odd look. "Oh, and by friends, do you mean a girlfriend for yourself?" I let out a giggle afterward, "You have told me that you've been looking for one." The giggle I had let out previously had transformed into a laugh as soon as I saw his face colour turn beet red.
"W-what?!" He had yelled while flustered. He quickly regained his composure. "Well, I can say the same to yourself too. Y-o-u are going to be looking for a boyfriend, aren't you?" He had teased back, spelling out the letters for the first 'you'.
My face became flustered shortly after that, as I swatted him in the arm. "J-just shut up!"
Silence had filled the air at that time, until a chuckle came. It wasn't from either of us to add to that.
"My my, you two are quite the chatterboxes," Pompeii - the boat driver had stated. "Anyway, the island is coming into view now, so you two might want to gather your belongings."
Takeru heaved a sigh as he went to gather both of our suitcases. It didn't stop him from giving me a light punch in the shoulder first though. "I'll get you back later, for doing that." He said, as his lips played a devious smile.
In return to his comment, I stuck out my tongue at him before he turned around. "Let's see you try then!" I said immaturely.
The boat suddenly turned a harsh corner, as I fell down on my butt. A loud 'Ouch!' had escaped from my mouth.
"Sorry for that, missy!" Apologized the man, "On the bright side, we've finally arrived at the island!"
I let out a pout as my brother pulled me back up. We shook our hands with Pascal, "Thanks for taking us here!" We both chorused in appreciation. I don't mean that in sarcasm too, because we truly did feel that way.
The white haired man had disappeared as soon as we said that, leaving with only a single goodbye. We didn't see him go past us… My brother and I exchanged looks. We stood there, dumbfounded. We just realized that we didn't know what to do. I took a grip on my brother's shoulder, as I pointed again to the ad once again.
"We should be going to the Town Hall." I said, repeating the advertisement. "But, this stupid thing doesn't even provide a map!"
I threw the damned thing in frustration, until a very… How should I say this? A very chubby man had appeared in our view.
"Oh dear! I'm so sorry for being late. Pascal had just told me of your arrivals!" He grabbed our hands to forcefully shake them. "Nice to meet you! I'm the mayor of this town, Mayor Herbal to be more exact." His cheeks were a cheery pink. The mayor was surely a bit too friendly.
"Oh, um… My name's Akari." I said pointing to myself. I then motioned my finger to my brother. "And this guy here is-"
"Takeru. Pleasure to meet you too." He said cheekily, cutting my sentence off. I flashed an angry glare at him, and boy, did he notice it. I turned to face the mayor again. He then did a certainly weird action.
His hands flew up to his cheeks, "Oh my! Are you two twins? You certainly look very alike!" He gushed. His eyes kept darting back and forth from my brother and I.
"Yes, we are. Thank you for noticing." My brother mumbled politely. He moved from his spot to pick up the ad I had threw to the ground before. "Since you're the mayor, do you mind showing us the way to the ad so we can purchase this?"
"So you two aren't tourists!" Exclaimed the mayor flamboyantly. "It's nice to have some new residents after a while! Now come, let me show you the way." He took hold of both of our wrists with his large and sweaty hands as he pulled us along.
We were not amused .
-----
"So you two want the town plot?"
"Yep!" The both of us replied at the same time. "It's in the middle of everything, so we find it convenient."
"You two are quite smart!" He let out a hearty laugh, patting us both on the shoulder. "I'm sorry to say that your farm won't be ready for another three days though." He added. His mood was miserable at that moment, and seemed to turn out for the better later. "You two can stay at my house in the time being!" … What did he have, mood swings?
Realization finally hit us then. Our faces both paled.
"Oh come on, I won't bite! My house is spacious, and I have a son around your age. He won't mind a little bit of company for a short while of time!"
No. That just couldn't be. Living three days… With this… … Person. Wait. Wait. He said he had a son, right? Was he the same? Like over friendly, moody, and a jumping piece of large flesh?
"Okay, let's hurry along!" He said, before dragging us along again. "It's getting late~"
My brother just let out a dramatic pose, as if something climatic was going to happen.
Oh no. Just, oh no…
----
Maybe we were over exaggerating just a bit. Okay, that didn't sound right. We were over exaggerating a lot. Herbal wasn't that bad. We just needed to get used to him a bit, that's all. We were sitting at the dinner table. He was showing us the map of the island, until we heard up coming footsteps. Probably his son… I was kind of curious to see what he was like, but most likely, I shouldn't be expecting much coming from someone whose father was Herbal. As he took his final step, I could see that he was… slender. I looked up to see his face, meeting his eyes. Woah. I was a bit taken aback. That was way unexpected. He gave a grunt, as he turned his head.
"I heard some noises so I came downstairs. I didn't know we would be having guests tonight Father." He stated his eyes were not giving my brother and I another glance.
"Sorry Gil, but they're newcomers with nowhere to go until their house is built, where else would be better to stay than our own?"
I could see that this 'Gil' guy was gritting his teeth. Did he hate us at first glance? That disheartened me to say the least. "Did it ever occur to you that there's an inn that's a mere block away from our house?"
I furrowed my brows together. It wasn't exactly polite to eavesdrop, but hell, they were loud. I stood up, with a frown clearly evident on my face. "I'm sorry for bothering you, Mayor, but if your son feels so strongly about our staying, I'm sure it would be better for us to go to the Inn."
Gil seemed to get even madder as he stared me straight in the eye. "Just stay." He said as if it were a command, as he spun on his heel to march back into his room.
I plopped back down into my seat. That guy seriously pisses me off! Takeru supported me with a reassuring glance, but I shrugged it off.
"I'm sorry for my son's outburst!" shrieked Herbal a bit worriedly. "He's a very nice man, there must be something troubling him today!"
Jerk. That's what he was. That Gil. "It's perfectly fine, but I still think Takeru and I should go to the inn." A vein popped in my head. No, it wasn't perfectly fine. It was peachy.
"No no no! This cannot be!" Huffed Herbal.
At that moment, we knew that any attempt at escape during the next few days weren't possible.
We were doomed .
-----
Dinner was shortly after we had met that arrogant jerk. The food was great, to be honest. We had spaghetti. Definitely yummy in my tummy! My brother seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself with the meal too. Well, until the stupid priss decided to leave the table in the middle. Were we that terrible? Herbal seemed to frown, and hoped that we both dismissed it. Takeru may have, but I certainly didn't.
After supper, we ended up in the guest room of the house. There was only a single twin bed. Herbal seemed to think that us being siblings that we didn't mind. It bothered me a bit, since I haven't shared a bit with my twin for a long while, but I trusted him enough. A gave a weak smile to my brother, but he was already fast asleep. What a lazy bum, I thought. Taking a peek at the clock that was mounted on the wall, I noticed that it was still only seven p.m. I guess I'd take the time to confront Gil about his attitude. I knocked on his door, as I heard his calling voice. Opening it up, I leaned on the doorframe and made sure to make eye contact with him.
"Hey, you." I mumbled loud enough so only he would hear me. "Do you have a problem with me or my brother?"
"I believe I have the right not to tell you." He said, glaring back at me. "I am busy, so would it be alright for you to leave?"
"Yeah right you're busy. Busy surfing ______!" I crossed my arms in annoyance. "You're such a prick!" I then unfolded them shortly after and softened my gaze a bit. Perhaps I was being a bit too harsh. "Anyway, I just wanted to be friends, want to call a truce?"
"With you? I'd like to refuse the offer." His face seemed to have a look of disbelief. "I wouldn't want your idiocy to rub on me, I am an important man."
"You… You…. $)*!)I!" I spazzed out, I could feel my face heating up.
"Please don't use such vulgar language around me." He said calmly, taking out a book from his shelf to read. "Or maybe you're too uncivilized to do so."
That was the last straw. I slammed the door after hearing a sigh, and returned to my room. Figuring that since I had nothing better to do, I thought I would change into my pyjamas. Since Takeru wasn't awake, I wouldn't have to worry about him. Taking out the plaid clothes, I began to take off the current ones I was wearing. As I reached for the top of the set with my bra still on, the door to the room was suddenly opened. By him.
"Look, Akari-" Gil began. Then he had noticed that I was barely clad in any clothing. He shut his mouth immediately.
"EEEK!" I shrieked, then I took a pillow to throw at the door. It closed. "HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF KNOCKING? AND YOU CALL ME UNCIVILIZED!"
My rant was very loud, even I could tell. What I couldn't tell was that a very flustered Gil was standing outside the closed door. He walked back to his room as calmly as he could, to evade the deafening chatter. This did not bother him. This did not bother him.
"- NOW DON'T GET ME STARTED ON YOUR ATTITUDE-"
I was cut off when my brother told me to quiet down. I then snapped back to my senses. Luckily, Takeru was too tired to face the other way. I quickly put on the top and bottom, and collapsed on the floor with a small thud. I could feel a migraine coming on.
Gil was not good for my mind.
-----
" 'Morning Akari!" Beamed a boy, whose face was blurry to me at the moment. I rubbed my eyes, until the picture came clearer. It was my brother, obviously.
"Morning Takeru…" I let out a yawn. He sure was up early today. Most likely it was because he slept in early yesterday.
"Come on sis." Said Takeru, as he pulled on my arm. "Herbal said that you didn't have to get changed yet, we're just going to have breakfast."
I was dragged yet again. This had been happening a lot lately. But before we left the door, I took a peek at the clock. It read 8 a.m. Oh my goddess. Why were we up so early?
We arrived at the dining table; as Takeru pulled me down to sit next to him. Herbal and Gil were already seated. The incident that happened last night seemed to be clear off his mind today. Looking in front of me, pancakes, eggs, and bacon were placed on the plate in front of me, along with silverware.
"Sleeping beauty has finally awakened I see." Laughed out Herbal, as a spoonful of eggs went into his mouth.
"Sleeping beauty?" Rhetorted Gil. "Hardly. She's a walking disaster, her hair's a mess."
I scoffed at Gil, way to ruin a day that could've been great. "And why would you be paying attention to my appearance?" I questioned back, raising a brow.
Gil began to mumble something incoherent, and sighed as he went back to his breakfast. Yes! Akari 1 - Gil 0.
It was thirty minutes before we all finished the meal, and Herbal began to dab a napkin on his mouth.
"I was thinking of sending you two over to Rucola today to show you how to farm." He said after the long period of silence. "I spoke to her and she said it was fine, since a pair or two of hands would help. Besides, you two have no experience in farming, right?"
My brother nodded hesitantly, and I joined in. "That would be nice."
Gil gave a chuckle, "The two need as much help as they can get." He mused, as if mocking us. "I need to get to the Town Hall for work now Father, so I'll be seeing you later."
Another of my veins popped, but miraculously, my temper remained under control. "Stupid Gil." I muttered under my breath.
"Souffle Farm is located here." Pointed out Herbal, pulling out a map that was folded in his pocket. He didn't mind his leaving son. "Would you two like to take the map?"
"Yes please." Said Takeru, graciously taking the map. "Let's get going, Akari."
"Yeah sure, but do you think I could go change first?" I said, pointing to my attire.
"Ugh, fine."
Herbal had a pleased smile and then handed over a key to Takeru. "I trust it in your hands for the next few days. I'll be heading out now, so I wish you and your sister luck!"
I rolled my eyes as I continued onwards to the room. Today would most likely be a very long day.
-----
"You guys did pretty good, eh?" Remarked Cresson – who was the man that was teaching us how to farm. "No where near as good enough to run a farm better than mine though." He added in a bit unnecessarily.
"Pfft!" I said, throwing up my arms in defense. "I'll show you! Me and Takeru will surpass you one day, just you wait!"
The man gave a chuckle. He seemed to be amused at my behaviour. "We'll see if you can handle it first."
Then, we had heard Rucola calling us in. My brother and I waved to Cresson to show him we were going to go inside. She was waiting for us by the door, and drew us in to show her counter full of seeds.
"Go ahead you two." She smiled to the two, "Take three bags each. It's payment for helping us around."
Takeru looked at the seeds, before turning to face towards the lady again. "It's fine, Miss Rucola. We're thankful for you and your husband for teaching us how to farm, and that's more than enough."
"Nonsense!" She said, before pushing a basket full of seeds into our arms. "Just take these then, I suppose. They're strawberry seeds, they'll earn you a lot of cash when they're ripe."
I accepted the basket with a thank you, and nudged an elbow into Takeru. What a goody, always trying to get on everyone's good side. That was a positive thing sometimes though. Since he always got us treats and the works from others. He returned the nudge with a sly smirk. It was a good thing Rucola didn't see the little exchange.
"Anyway, we have to be getting back to Herbal's house…" I began, seeing as the clock in front of me read five thirty.
"It's fine, dear." Rucola said, "I told Herbal that you two would be staying for dinner, since a meal would be nice before walking back to Herbal's."
I was a bit reluctant, seeing as my brother was not saying anything. "I guess that would be fine." I mumbled, staring at the wooden floor.
At that precise time, I heard coming footsteps. I turned to see a very pretty girl, who also seemed my age. Hopefully she was nothing like Gil, but that was very unlikely. Her appearance gave off an elegant and polite feel.
"Oh, Anise!" Said Ruth, rushing over to the girl's side to introduce her. "This is my daughter, Anise."
Anise bowed, and gave us a friendly smile. I elbowed Takeru. "Wink wink, nudge nudge." I whisepered quietly, so only he would hear me. He hit me back lightly.
"Hello Anise." Grinned my brother. "I'm Takeru, and my sister here is named Akari."
I could feel the girl felt as if she just felt a wave of relief. Maybe she thought we were unfriendly people. "Nice to meet you, Takeru and Akari. Mother was telling me before that you're staying over for dinner."
"Yes, yes we are…" I responded. My mind instantly flashed to last night. "I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind." She replied, "It's nice to have some company at the table."
She didn't seem too bad, that Anise girl. I gave it some thought. Maybe I could hang out with her a bit, she could after all, be one of my first female friends on the island.
Beeeeeeeeep!
A loud beep came into my hearing, and Anise's eyes widened. "Oh! The rice is done." She said hurriedly. "Dinner is ready to be served. Mother, do you mind calling Father?"
Rucola nodded at her daughter, and pointed to the dining table that was near the kitchen. "Why don't you two go and sit down?"
We both sat down again. Together. Anise came with a pot of rice and a few dishes, and sat herself down.
"I hope you don't mind that we're having Chinese cusine during dinner today. I picked up its cuisine in a few cooking lessons."
"O-of course not! I love Chinese food!" I stammered. I didn't realize that we were going to be talking to one another so fast. "S-so Anise, do you enjoy farming like your parents?"
She gave it a bit of thought before answering. "Actually, I'm more interested in herbs and medicine…"
Takeru gave a low whistle at this, grinning directly towards her. "Woah! That's pretty cool. I guess I should go to you whenever I feel unwell then."
"Oh no," said Anise a bit shocked, "I think it'd be better for you to see Doctor Won. He's certified, and I'm not."
He gave a laugh at this, "I'll go to you for all my medical needs then, is that more correct to you?" I couldn't help but let out a giggle too. Anise did have a good and cute personality.
Anise blushed lightly; it was a bit easy to tell that she was embarrassed. Before we could continue our light-hearted discussion, her parents arrived on the scene, and then, dinner had commenced.
An hour later, I sat in my seat; very content with the meal I had just eaten. "You're a very good cook Anise! Let's hang out together soon, okay?"
She smiled back at me with a slow nod as she gathered the empty plates, while her parents saw me and my brother off. It was a happy day indeed. Excluding this morning, and possibly later tonight. As the both of us began our walk back, I joked to my brother about Anise.
"She's a nice person, don't you think, Takeru?" I said, pressing onto him.
He was a bit absentminded. The food must've done that to him. "Oh, yeah, she is." He said, coming back to reality. "I don't think she's my type though, to be honest."
"Type as in girlfriend?" I continued.
"Yeah… She'd make a great friend though, I think."
"I see…" I was a bit disappointed by his answer. It wouldn't hurt to marry a girl that was a good of a cook like her. Feeling the outside getting colder and colder by the minute, I took a glance at my brother. "Last one back to Herbal's is a rotten egg!" I yelled out, encouraging my brother to go faster.
He was quite the competitive one.
-----
We both were panting when we got to Herbal's, and we collapsed on the carpet near the door. Both Herbal and Gil were watching T.V.
"Such active kids." Marveled Herbal as he looked over to us. "Gil, you should do more exercise!"
Gil spat out his drink right there, and refrained from glaring down at his father. "I am not overweight, and I'm perfectly healthy."
"If you say so…" said Herbal back at Gil, a bit worriedly. Normal 0 !-- /* Font Definitions */ font-face {font-family:"Bookman Old Style"; panose-1:2 5 6 4 5 5 5 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} font-face {font-family:"Chronicles of a Hero"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 5 3 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ , , {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} , , {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Chronicles of a Hero"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} , , {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-indent:.5in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} 1 {page:Section1;} --
He sure was lucky that he didn't catch that remark. Herbal was dense. Which came to the question. How on Earth was he mayor?
"For tomorrows agenda, I was hoping that you would show Takeru and Angel around, Gil." Herbal said, changing the topic. "They don't know many of the townspeople yet, and that just cannot go unnoticed!"
"I will not go with that person!" Gil and I had said, pointing to one another. I found it rather weird how we both were in sync.
There I shot a dirty look at Gil, and faced Herbal. "I think I'll tour myself around tomorrow, I think I'm capable of it myself."
"If you say so, Akari…" Then, it dawned on him. "OH! My dear Gil and Takeru can become even more acquainted and may even rise to be best friends!"
Takeru felt like a brick hit him. I could tell. I was his twin, right? Gil then narrowed his eyes to turn towards stairs. "I'm going to bed now, good night Father. We'll discuss this tomorrow morning." Yep. Now he was the one ticked off.
"Hm…" said Herbal glancing at his watch, "You and your sister should be going to bed too… It's already 10 p.m."
-----
It was the next day pretty quickly. I waved to my brother as I wished him luck. He would be going with Gil to tour around the island. Better him than me! I fastened the rucksack around my shoulders, as I carefully placed on my running shoes. I would be heading out soon too, and I was thinking of going around the Ganache Mine district today. Locking the door behind me carefully, I felt a sudden rush of energy come to me after seeing the sun.
"What a nice nice day." I said happily to myself. "Now let's just hope I can keep it this way."
I took a look at the map Herbal had given me a few days ago, and smiled to myself contently as I reached the Souffle Farm. I could remember that the place was in the Ganache district. Walking over to the narrower path, I saw a cave. It was intimidating to me, so I didn't dare enter it yet. Maybe some other time, with Takeru, I decided to myself. Right beside the cave, I saw a shop. It had an anvil, so I put one and one together. Must be a blacksmith. As I walked towards it to see who was in, I tripped and fell. Hard.
Over a rock.
My knees had gotten scraped. I winced; the pain was getting to me. As I sat there, a tall and large figure loomed over me. I was a bit scared at first. The guy was very buff.
Very.
Scrambling to my feet, I fell back down shortly after. The man in front of me gave a short chuckle.
"I take it you need help?" He asked, pulling me up with his hand.
He had a strong grip, but that was no surprise. "Would you like to take you to Meringue Clinic?" He asked. "You're starting to bleed."
"That would be nice, really." As I was standing, another pain shot up to me. "Eeeek, it seems I got a sprain or broken bone too..."
It became more excruciating. I could feel it throbbing. The man in front of me could clearly see it. "In this case, here, climb onto my back. We'll get there much more faster."
I looked a bit bewildered. "Are you sure about that? I might be heavy."
"Come on, it won't be bad. I lift heavy things all the time."
That I could clearly see. It was evident in his muscle. I climbed on the massive back slowly, and relaxed as he began to walk. I suddenly noticed that I did not know this person, and he was acting a bit kind for a stranger. "By the way, who are you?" I curiously questioned.
"Everyone on the island helps each other out, if you're wondering why I'm doing so now." He answered. "It'd be a bit cold blooded of me to leave you there alone too. On the topic of who I am, I'm Ose." His speech was rather rough, but all in all, he didn't seem like such a bad guy.
"Thanks for helping me, Ose, I'm Akari."
"Heh, no problem."
Our 'journey' continued along rather smoothly, as he set me down on the Clinic's bed. He began to talk to the doctor. His name I think was Won; Anise mentioned him yesterday.
"So you're telling me she tripped over a rock." Mumbled the man with the ponytail in disbelief.
"That's basically it." He responded, scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, I have to get back to my job. I heard the girl was staying at Herbal's, so you can just send her there when you're done."
He left afterwards, and the doctor came to examine me. He took out some disinfectant and bandages after taking a look at the damage.
"You're rather careless, aren't you?" He said, his back still faced towards me.
"I'm sorry…" I replied apologetically. "But can we not use the disinfectant? It really hurts." I said, moaning a bit.
At that, his back was no longer turned towards me. "If I don't, you could be looking at just more than a few cuts."
"Aw… But seriously, it hurts so much!"
"Quit whining."
That was the last word spoken between us for a while and as soon as he was done, he went into a cupboard. It held many crutches of various sizes.
"No. You GOT to be kidding me. I will not use crutches." I had pride, and no way in hell was I using those.
Won gave me a stern look, before forcefully placing them in my hands. "Tell me then, how else would you walk with that bad of a sprain?" His arms crossed.
"Ugh… Fine." Then and there, my pride took a hit in the gut. "Am I dismissed yet, doctor?"
"Not yet." He answered before handing me a sheet. "Here are the guidelines for taking care of your sprain, and now, you are dismissed."
I gladly took the paper, as I limped with my crutches. These things were a lot harder to use than I expected. Stumbling a bit on my first few 'jumps', I got used to them after a few tries. They weren't so bad, I thought. Going over to the harbour that I found myself arrive on, I saw an unfamiliar boy, with hair that was a pale blue. His eyes were closed, and a fishing pole was clamped in between his hands. Fishing… I had never tried it before. Walking over to him, I peered over the rail to see if there was anything that was biting.
"Are you new?"
I jumped back a bit, but that didn't really work and all with my crutches.
"O-oh." I said dimly. "Y-yes, I just came to the island a few days ago."
He nodded his head, as his face turned back towards his fishing. Oddly, his eyes were still closed… Did he see anything?
"H-Hey, are you blind?" I asked. I had to. My curiosity was killing me.
The boy fell back in disbelief. "No, I'm not." He said, trying to contain laughter. "I can see perfectly well."
"T-then why are your eyes closed?!" I pointed out.
"My eyes are opened, aren't they? I see you have crutches. An accident, I'm guessing."
Okay. This guy was just weird now… It was obvious his eyes were closed. But how was he able to see?
"… I'm going back to my nap, if you don't mind." He mumbled; as his tone was getting more and more quiet with each word.
"Ah! Before you fall asleep on me, can you tell me your name?" I always had to get the name of a person I just met. Another one of my bad habits.
"Tao."
Then, I lost him. He sure was the heavy sleeper.
-----
I was getting lectured. I knew it. But something was unexpected about the situation. Gil was the one lecturing.
Gil .
The guy who couldn't care less about who I am or what I do. I zoned out after a couple of sentences, and my brother did too. Herbal wasn't back yet. Then, I had to pay attention. Gil slammed the wall behind me angrily.
"Just be more careful next time." He grunted out. "Not that I'm worried about you or anything."
He then pulled a Houdini and was no longer there. That was a bit of a scare, that punching the wall thing. My brother laughed at the fact I was just lectured, but was still quite concerned about my well being. They both were, to my surprise. As I waited for them back at the house, the moment Takeru and Gil saw the white bandages, they nearly blew. There was something that didn't make sense though.
Why Gil?
It confused me a bit, but I brushed it aside. It was probably nothing. Maybe it was because he would get in trouble with Herbal.
Yeah. That had to be it.
As I was scooting closer to Takeru, I soon found myself right beside him. "Hey, we're getting our farm tomorrow…"
"I know that, you dummy." He said. "But you can't expect to be farming out with that injury of yours."
I knew that, obviously. "I know, I know." I replied stubbornly. "I can at least water!"
He shook his head, and frowned. He disapproved of it. That wasn't going to stop me though. Come on, it's not that hard to water. Well, it may be harder than it looks, but in now way does it require leg strength. So I won't be lazing off, and be following Doctor Won's orders. Win-win situation!
"So." Said my brother changing the subject while wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "How was your day today?"
I began to explain, and we both occasionally gave a laugh or two. A blonde haired boy seemed to be watching us with a smile tugged at his lips, but of course we didn't notice at all.
-----
Great. Just great. I received another lecture, except from Herbal this time around. You can't really classify it as a lecture though… I just couldn't put my finger on it. Tossing around my side of the bed, I could hear Takeru's soft breathing. Falling asleep wasn't my specialty. Perhaps I should ask Tao for some tips next time I see him. He seemed to be the perfect candidate to ask that to, seeing as he did it with ease. Reminiscing, the past few days were way eventful. More than back at home with mom and dad for sure. Blinking, it just came to me that tomorrow would be my last day at the Herbal residence.
"Score!" I yelled out in achievement, still lying down on my back.
Then I remembered there was a sleeping person beside me.
Shoot .
-----
Today was our last day in Herbal's house. My brother and I were shoving back our things back into the suitcase to drag downstairs. I felt on top of the world today, despite my leg injury. I no longer had to see that guy anymore every single day.
Or at least I hoped so.
"Hey, Akari, can you take this bag?" Called my brother, as he tossed a pack over my way.
I caught it in between my hands, and sent him a nod. I placed the straps through my arms, watching as my brother made the bed. Being injured does have its good points, I suppose.
"Done." He said finally, patting the blanket on the bed. "Now let's get the heck out of here."
I followed him without hesitation. It was strange that we didn't see Herbal there, since he always was around at this time. Instead only Gil stood there. He raised a brow at all the luggage we were carrying before dismissing it.
"Father told me to lead you two to your plot since he was busy." He said finally, motioning towards the doorknob.
I made a funny face at him when his back was turned back, and Takeru let out a single laugh. He turned around immediately to see what we were doing, but didn't catch a thing. His eyes held suspicion. "As I was saying, we should be going." He said bluntly, twisting the knob in his hands. "Then I'll no longer be bothered by two idiots."
"W-why you!" I started, getting heated up. After Takeru clamped my mouth though, I gained back my cool.
Reaching the Caramel River district, Gil halted his steps and pointed towards a building that was about the size of a cottage. "That will be where you will be living from now on." He said, putting his hand back into his pocket.
I didn't know what to say. It was… It was perfect, in my eyes. Sure, we'd do a few remodels during our stay here, but momentarily, it was great. I looked over to Takeru, who also seemed to like what he was seeing. My previously bad mood turned great, as I looked over to Gil.
"Thanks so much! I really appreciate it." I said with a broad smile.
He turned away from me with an 'hmph!' but I it didn't bother me at all. Adrenaline was bubbling in my blood, I could hardly feel the pain my leg made anymore. Facing towards my brother, we both hi-fived each other.
This my friend, was the start of our new life.
On a brand new island, and a different community.
We're looking forward to it, so Goddess, throw anything you want at us!