Wow. I've never really written a Harvest Moon fic before (well, there was one for a quality check, but that was for Magical Melody). I really love the series, so I don't know why... Maybe the fear of getting characters OOC? Anyway, I got the idea for this from what Chase says at six or so hearts... Hopefully he's in character and hopefully, other people enjoy this. ; A; Also, I'm sorry this chapter is so short, I really couldn't think of anything to make it longer...

Disclaimer: Ceray does not own Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquilty characters or concepts.

The aroma floating about the house was just heavenly. Anyone who might have entered the house at that given moment might have thought they died and went to food heaven. Chase couldn't blame them for thinking that either; he knew that the smell floating about his house was too amazing for words.

And Chase also knew that it got so much better than that.

The little timer on the oven rang, signaling that his creation was ready to pull from the oven. When he opened the oven door he felt like he had been knocked down by some amazing force of wind. Well, that's just what his cooking was: amazing.

He breathed in deeply. Chase smelled a first place dish. The young chef grinned to himself. It was just so irresistible, if it weren't for the fact that this dish was for a cooking competition, then Chase would have gobbled the thing down whole. He checked the clock. If he wanted to win the aforementioned competition, then he had to leave.

Chase quickly pulled the fish out of the oven as carefully as he could before wrapping it up so that it could stay hot. He inserted the ceramic casserole dish into a basket before exiting his house and high tailing it towards the Brownie Ranch District.

As he made his way to his destination, only one word could describe how Chase was feeling.

Perfect.

Just Like Losing
Chapter One: Fluke

Stunned.

That was the best and possibly only word to describe Chase when he heard Yolanda announce the winner of the Harvest Festival's cooking contest. He was stunned; stunned that he had not won. Of course, he was still young and had so much to learn about cooking still, and maybe his herb fish was not as perfect as he thought it was, but…

How in the world did he lose to that farmer?

Naturally, it would have been a thousand times worse if he had lost to Maya, Waffle Town's worst cook; however, he still couldn't fathom how he had lost to the farmer girl. Sure, he didn't know her well since he had only been back to Waffle Town for less than a full season, but she hadn't been in Waffle Town for a full year, and, as much as he was aware, she hadn't full set up her farm yet. So, how could someone like that have the time to manage a farm and cook an award-winning dish?

Chase had no clue.

He went to claim his second place (inwardly grimacing) from Hamilton, before appealing to Yolanda, hoping to get some sort of explanation.

"Yes, Chase?" Yolanda asked, cleaning up as she spoke.

"How did that farmer girl win?" Chase was rather blunt, and a bit rude, but that was how he was, especially since he was agitated.

His mentor paused for a moment, thinking. Chase briefly wondered if she, too, was wondering how in the world a person like that could out-cook someone who was completely devoted to it. Finally, after a few moments, Yolanda spoke, her words slow. "I could taste everything she put into it."

"There aren't that many ingredients in herb bread. It's a pretty simple dish," Chase found himself almost sneering. "Could you taste everything in mine?"

Yolanda gave him an odd look, and shook her head, muttering something that Chase couldn't hear… "Yes, but she put love into her cooking."

Chase twitched. Love? Was Yolanda being serious? "I put my entire heart into my dish, just like I do with all my dishes!"

Yolanda let out a sigh. "Chase, there is no doubt in my mind that you put your heart and soul into everything you cook. I know you do because you love the art so much."

"Then why?" he exclaimed.

The elderly woman was silent for a moment, until she finally spoke. "Chase, for someone so young you've accomplished so much as a chef, but there are still things you need to learn, and this, I'm afraid, is one of them."

With that, the woman walked away from, leaving Chase angrier and more confused than he had been when he had started talking to her. Talking to Yolanda achieved nothing, so maybe…

He quickly turned his head to see all the other attendees from the festival leaving the Brownie Ranch District, the farmer girl being among them. Maybe she had his answers. He started racing down the meadow following after her, nearly knocking Maya and Phoebe over as he went. Chase didn't have to run so fast, he was sure that she was heading home and since the two lived on such a small island, he knew where her home was too… But the sooner he got to her, the sooner he would get his answers.

As he ran, dozens of possibilities raced through his head. Maybe one or both of her parents were chefs and she got her skills from them. Maybe she had been a chef before becoming a farmer… Maybe she was an alien or something and cooking skills had been just installed in her brain. No, that last one was silly.

Finally, Chase caught up to the farmer at the fork between the Maple Lake District and the Praline Woods. "Hey!"

She turned and looked at him, her light brown eyes appearing somewhat confused. "Yeah?"

"How the hell did you win?"

She blinked, totally disregarding the obvious hostility that was in Chase's question. "Um, well… I made this herb-"

"No! I know what you did, but…" Chase reached up and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't get how you beat me. I'm the best cook, besides Yolanda, in this town. Were you some sort of renowned chef before becoming a farmer or something?"

The girl gave him a slightly skeptical look due to what Chase assumed was his declaration of being the second best, but she shook her head, "Nope."

"Were your parents chefs?"

She shook her head again. "Nope. Dad was a farmer, Mom kind of was too."

Chase grimaced. What other options were there? "Was it some secret family recipe? Was there a secret ingredient?"

The farmer girl thought for a moment before she responded. "No. I saw the recipe in a cookbook at the library in Town Hall when I first moved here… I don't think there was anything extra added. It was just ordinary herb bread."

The light haired cook scowled. If it really was so ordinary then how did it beat him? He used the best ingredients to make his herb fish, he cooked it to perfection. If he remembered right, the girl's herb bread was a little lopsided when she entered it, so how in the world did it beat his perfect herb fish? "Are you some sort of… freakish cooking robot that farms on the side?"

The brown haired young woman stared at Chase blankly before she let out a few laughs. Of course, Chase didn't really see what was so funny about it, but didn't say anything out of annoyance. Once she calmed down, she spoke, "No. I'm pretty sure I'm just a plain old farmer."

Chase frowned. He really didn't like that answer. If she were anything than just a "plain old farmer" then he would've been less annoyed about losing to her… Maybe.

"…You really must have wanted to win, huh?" the girl said. Chase snorted. Of course he wanted to win. He wanted to prove just how good of a cook he was, despite his own personal circumstances. He didn't say it though. He didn't say anything to this girl, nor did he plan to. He was about to walk away when he heard her rummaging around in her rucksack. Chase looked as she pulled out a large brown bag and offered it to him.

"What is it?"

"The prize for winning first place."

Chase grimaced. He didn't want the prize. He knew what it was. It was ten extra-large sized bodigizer drinks. He didn't need any of those. It was better suited for someone who did a lot of physical work all the time. It was better for the farmer girl; she looked like she didn't have very much physical strength at all. Besides, it was her prize, not his. "I don't want it, Amari."

She shrugged a bit, and placed the bag back in her rucksack. Chase was about to walk away again, but she spoke, effectively stopping him. "Akari!"

"What?"

"My name is Akari!" she repeated. Chase shrugged. He didn't really care. What difference did her name make to him? All he knew was that she beat him doing what he did best at without really even trying. Now that all the plausible reasons were pretty much thrown out the door, Chase couldn't deny that her victory must have been because of some of fluke. There was no way she could have won with something as plain as herb bread, especially when he had been training for so long to be the very best cook. But, fluke or no fluke there was one thing that was very clear to Chase. If there was anything he didn't like, it was losing.