AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter in an intro, so it's very short compared to what other chapters will be like in the future. The next chapters will be longer :) Thank you taking the time to read. It means very very much! I'd love feedback, but I appreciate the fact that you simply dropped in. Your time is very valuable to me.

Also! This story was requested by ben4Kevin. :)

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Raeger

The town wasn't very well off when he arrived-the new farmer. The economy was lacking and the market was barren. Day in, and day out, Oak Tree Town was becoming increasingly desolate. The old town was stuck in time. Empty homes were strewn around the community, the inhabitants who resided there hardly a community at all...Because, the farmer who once kept the town going had left. Taking his son with him to boot.

It had been years since a successful newcomer made their mark. Everyone who'd come, either they left or gave up. It was a pity, something my beloved late grandfather would have been very shamed to see. Surely, the town he'd grown up in would return to the vibrant, bustling place it once was. That was the hope, anyways.

But, with every new arrival and departure that followed soon after, that hope was lost. I spent my days honoring my grandfather, caring for his pride and Joy- the restaurant he'd loved so much. I came to Oak Tree Town years ago to help him run the restaurant, but soon he passed away. My grandfather and I were close, very much so. His little business held memories, and it held potential. Both of which I refused to let slip away with my grandfather. In such depressing times, my grandfather's legacy was all I had.

It was all I had for a while.

When Ibuki arrived it was Spring, the busiest time for farmers. The nineteen-year-old was undeniably inexperienced. He was a friendly face, that was for sure. He came in to my restaurant early on that Spring, not too far from Noon. Covered in dirt and dust, he was a mess. His face was flush from running around. Behind the counter I kneeled, organizing menus and cutlery when the front door jingled with his arrival.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Welcome." I greeted him, politely. "Who would you be?

"Me? Oh, I'm Ibuki."

He approached the counter, spotting me. As he introduced himself to me, I couldn't help but think how quickly his name would probably slip from my memory by Summer time. He'd be gone just like all the others who came and left as soon as they saw how run down the old farm land was. A new farmer? Not for long. They never lasted. I had no reason to expect he would.

There was nothing particularly impressive looking about him either, not for his job description. He was a rather petite blonde teenager; hardly what one would consider deemed fit for such a laborious job. He didn't look strong, maybe he was energetic? I wasn't impressed.

He smiled at me as I took in his appearance, leaving me briefly intrigued. He was a cute guy, his looks still just as youthful as he was. His vibrant white grin stuck out to me. The women in town would eat him up. Not for long. He would be just like the others, temporary.

"Ibuki? Welcome to Oak Tree. And, to my restaurant." Accepting his introduction for the sake of being polite, I smiled very slightly from my position crouched behind the counter.

Grandfather didn't approve of sour faces in the restaurant, impressions were everything under his roof. Standing up, I then introduced myself properly.

"I'm Raeger. It's nice to meet a new face."

"..."

Ibuki seemed taken back a bit by my size as I stood. He paused, looking me over as he eventually reached my eyes. From behind the counter crouched on the floor, I didn't look large in stature, my body partially hidden. For a moment he looked...frightened? I knew he was just caught off guard and waved it off as he turned a little red in the cheeks, him voicing that he'd worried his gawking came across rude.

"I probably wasn't what you were expecting when you saw me all crouched down over here. I get it." Appeasing him with brisk reassurance, I let it go. "Are you hungry?"

"Y-Yeah, I am. Could I see a menu?"

"I'll get you one."

He ordered what he wanted and I set out to prepare his food, wondering exactly how many more times I'd see him before finding out his land was, once again, under poor old Eda's possession. I didn't expect him to stay and I doubted others had more faith. That poor old woman couldn't last too many more years. When Ibuki left, she'd probably give up trying to pass along that land.

Ibuki surprised me that year, however. He surprised everyone.

Xxxxx

Klaus

Large blue eyes were what I remembered the day I met young Ibuki. Venturing from my home for a walk, I took the backroads up the hill. The wind was light, carrying pleasant scents of new foliage and flowers. I knelt down amongst the grass when I spotted him, the petite man with blonde hair wandering in from the North road late one morning.

He looked horribly lost, and I briefly wondered who the unfamiliar face was before noticing his attire. Simple folk wear. His plain blue cotton shirt was untucked, the article of clothing clearly a size or more too large. His trousers were horribly plain, brown loafers on his feet. He wore a brown hat atop his smooth, wispy head of blonde hair with a loose scarf was wrapped around his neck. What looked to be second hand coat kept him warm from the Spring breeze.

A simpleton.

I'd heard rumor of a new farmer coming to stay in Oak Tree. I was never one who paid the useless gossip of Oak Tree any mind. The younger residents often chatted amongst each other but it seldom ever interested me. Neither did the apparent truth behind their gossip. I felt no desire to go beyond my means and greet him, instead, I went about my business. The lad would miss me in his lost haze, most likely.

"Excuse me...um, I'm new here." He had spotted me though and I paused my foraging in the grass.

He waved, smiling brightly and then approached. He neared me confidently but without assertion, holding out his hand to shake mine.

"My name's Ibuki..."

Standing at my full height to greet him like a proper gentleman, I humored this introduction.

"I would be Klaus."

As I rose, his eyes widened. Looking down at the small man I estimated that he was no taller than an average woman. His head reached the underside of my pectorals, meaning he couldn't have been much bigger than perhaps five and a half feet. Having passed six feet in height, I outsized the petite man by eight inches. Nearly three quarters of a foot separated young Ibuki and I in height.

The hand he held out to me now hesitated and I reached out taking it in mine, shaking it firmly once. Mine completely devoured his, the lad's fingers so small. Dainty almost. The skin was smooth and silken, no callous. Not the hands of a manual laborer. Curious, I squeezed his hand in mine, unsurprised at the strained intake of air he took. I could have easily crushed his fingers in mine had I reason to do such a thing.

"My apologies." I assured him. "Hadn't realized what delicate hands you have."

Loosening my grip, I let go of his hand. He pulled it back, flexing the joints I'd experimentally tested with my strength. Very, very lightly experimented. His fingers were still intact. Peculiarly enough, I was fixated on his small stature. He was just far too small.

"I have little hands, it's okay. It's not your fault."

I intended to bid him goodbye with an exit once he finished introducing himself but, I found myself drawn to his wide, marble eyes. Awestruck, his heavy lashes batting down to his cheekbones in heavy, slow, blinks. He had such unique coloring.

As small as he was, his eyes were anything but. They seemingly took up most of his face, or rather they were what I was far too focused on. His eyes were a soft blue, almost silver around the iris. A beautiful pigment I'd never seen.

A very beautiful man.

The lad seemed to have caught himself gawking and apologized, not noticing my subtler observation of him.

"I'm the new farmer here." He fully introduced himself.

Moving on from introductions, he informed me that he was lost. Something I could clearly see. He came from the North road, leading me to believe he'd been at Fritz's farm.

"I'm trying to get to Town...got detoured around here and I don't know how to find my way around, yet."

The land of Oak Tree was very large, yes, but I hardly considered it hard to navigate through. The new farmer having found himself lost so easily left me with the impression that he truly was a simpleton.

"That way." I directed him towards town, where he'd been trying to go. "Head down that path, you can't possibly miss it."

"Thank you so much, Klaus. I thought I was going to be lost out here all day."

Grinning bashfully, he told me goodbye and ran off. I didn't plan on seeing much of him. He'd disappear just as all the farmers before him. With age comes wisdom, but by no means was I right to make assumptions about Ibuki. He proved himself to be a fine young lad.

Soon, everyone could see that.

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