A/N: Hello! I'm CGA, and this'll be my first Harvest Moon (okay, Story of Seasons) story, though I've dabbled in Rune Factory before so it's not completely new to me.

Anyway, uh… Raeger is my totally unbiased favorite bachelor in SoS and I've decided to write about it. I don't have anything against the others (in fact, I reeeally like them all this time around, actually, way done making them not so boring, Xseed!) but, like others, Klaus reminds me of Soseki. He's got his moments and of course his blushy face just makes me melt, but most of the time, even when you're dating him, it kinda feels like he's more concerned with how much "older" he is than you. I mean, at least Soseki looked like he was a bit older, but Klaus looks mid-twenties tops, right? He's waaaay too handsome to be over thirty.

…Might as well rant about the other bachelors while I'm here. I probably like Mistel and Fritz the least but that isn't to say I wouldn't marry them. I love Mistel's blunt personality; he kind of reminds me of Arthur from RF4. He's really polite and always caring for you, it's nice. He's got a good face but I just wish he was a little taller so I didn't think I was marrying a 12-year-old… And Fritz is a bit too silly for my taste, though I do like a guy who makes you laugh. (I've also heard someone say that at a certain festival, if you win while dating Fritz, he's so concerned about others saying you're out of his league and he isn't good enough for you, so he's going to try his best to win stuff too so he can stand proudly at your side. That's so sweet, Fritz! Say that stuff all the time!)

But yes, unfortunately, this only leaves the two unattainable-until-a-later-time bachelors, Nadi and Kamil. I'll admit I honestly only like them for their looks (duh, because I haven't met them yet), but I saw a picture of Nadi pre-release when in his Japanese text he was all blushy and adorable and was saying, "Oi… aishiteru." If you're not weeb like me, it's just like, "Hey… I love you." Well, okay, if you say so… And then Kamil/Cam was my unbiased favorite from ToTT, so seeing him return with possibly a little different personality will be interesting, plus dat leg convo.

So uh… I think I'll stop there before I get even more carried away. I'll leave off saying that SoS has the best villagers we've seen in a LONG time, I think. Like, since ToT/AP. I just loved all the choices in those.

I'm so sorry, this is like my longest author note to date, I promise I'll stop talking now

Now, without further ado, I present Backfire! (Also you can expect more from me in the future)

Backfire

Even though Minori did this every night, and was especially excited for tonight, she found herself more and more nervous just as she walked up to the door. She let her hand float above the doorknob for a few moments, wondering just how she should go about this. It was really selfish… but Raeger already knew she was a bit selfish, so it would all be fine.

If he got mad, she'd do that "cute little pouty face" he seemed to love so much.

She exhaled, mainly so that the heat would leave her face. This was not the time for her to get flustered – she had to be flustering him! It wasn't fair that she was the only one embarrassed and nervous all the time.

And that was why she was doing this in the first place, she reminded herself hastily, turning over the metal frames in her hands.

Minori took in a deep breath and finally turned the knob, revealing the restaurant's décor and Raeger. She smiled, instantly feeling some of her worry wither away.

Though, when he noticed her and returned her smile, some of it came back.

"Ah, Minori!" he greeted in his cheerful demeanor. "You're always here right as I'm about to close." He set down the washcloth he was holding and started to come around the corner of his kitchen.

"Wait, stay there!"

Raeger stopped in his tracks and glanced over to her confusedly. "What?"

She bit her lip. It was now or never, no time to be nervous! "I've… got something to show you!" She brought the accessory out from behind her back and up to her face, securing it on her nose and behind her ears. The glasses fit her nicely; she made them herself, after all.

"What do you think?" she asked inquisitively, trying to look as studiously sultry as she thought she needed to be. Obviously that didn't work.

Raeger just stared in a confused daze. "…Um, is your eyesight getting poor? I keep telling you not to sit so close to the TV."

Minori sighed, defeated, and walked to the barstool in front of him, taking a seat. He followed her so that they were across from each other behind the counter.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," she mumbled. "This was supposed to be fun…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying I'm boring?"

"No! I'm saying you're supposed to have a thing for glasses!" Well, there she went, getting all nervous and flustered and embarrassed while he was perfectly fine.

Her words only further confused him. "A thing? Like a fetish? I don't know what planet you were born on… Let me see those, they can't be good for your eyes."

Before she could even react he'd reached across the space dividing them and slid the glasses off her nose. He turned them over and over in his hands, looking at them skeptically. "Did you make these?"

She nodded shyly. "Yeah."

Raeger chuckled. "Well, don't be so modest. They're very well-made."

A familiar red tint adorned her cheeks and she turned her head away, feeling as if she'd already failed to get his attention tonight. "Thanks. Now can you give 'em back?"

"Hang on," he said, pushing her hand away when she tried to grab them from him. "I wanna try them on first. I haven't worn a pair of glasses since I tried on my grandfather's."

Something instantly clicked inside Minori's head, and suddenly she wasn't even listening to him anymore.

"A-ah, no, don't… do that…" This was bad, really really bad.

"How do I look?"

She tried to look away, she really did, but for some cruel reason her eyes stayed glued to him. They almost suited him perfectly – though she admitted, with glasses, probably any pair would look great on him. The cobalt blue frames curved around his eyes tauntingly, as if deepening his stare, and even though his eyes were brown, they complemented them very well.

"Ah… uh…" Minori whimpered. This wasn't supposed to backfire!

Raeger gave her that stare of his a while longer, continuing to be amplified by the lenses, but soon enough her blush gave her away.

"Don't tell me you're the glasses fetishist?"

When she responded by hiding her red face, he sighed.

"You actually like this cliché stuff… I have such a weird girlfriend."

"Don't rub it in," she muttered, embarrassed. "I didn't choose to be this way."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied casually, taking the glasses off. "I bet you acquired the taste from one of those ridiculous shows you love to watch."

Minori uncovered her face just in time to see him rubbing the lenses with his shirt; one of the things that she'd never admit to him was that she loved how he took off his usual vest when he was getting ready to close up the restaurant. But wait…

"H-hey, wait!" she cried, biting her lip. "Can you… put them back on?" She was pressing her luck and she knew it.

Raeger's face twisted into an amused expression. "Man, you have it rough with this disease, don't you?"

"It's not a disease!" she countered, though her annoyance dissipated once he looked at her through the glasses.

She felt her cheeks heat up even more. "Y'know… you look really good with those." She spoke as she faced the other way, making the words sound distant.

"How do you know that if you keep looking away?"

Her head snapped to him and she gaped. He was teasing her! Raeger never did that! He'd scold and lecture her, mainly regarding the TV and her habit of standing beside him in the kitchen during business hours, but… this was a whole new level.

She bit her cheek, pouting, unsure of whether or not she approved. In any case, it definitely wasn't fair.

"You're cute when you blush, Minori," he told her gently, though the difference in his tone made her stare at him.

He looked different somehow, and it wasn't just the glasses. The way his eyes shined, how his smile was shaped… for the moment he almost looked like an entirely new person.

Then his face lit up to match hers and he quickly covered it with both hands.

"I'm sorry," he told her after a while, bringing his hands away. "I guess, just… we don't ever really compliment each other, so hearing you say something like that while looking like that…" He raised a hand to his head, probably trying to calm down his thoughts.

Minori laughed nervously. "Can we do this more often? Compliment each other, I mean, not the fetish thing."

Raeger smiled. "I'd like that."

A few quiet moments passed and Minori twiddled her thumbs. "So, um… you can take off those glasses now. It's getting late, anyway, so I should head home soon – "

"Hold on!" he protested, halting her progress of getting off the stool.

"Don't you want me to keep these on?"

She blushed, staring dumbfounded at him. "Wh-what?"

He coughed into his hand embarrassedly, glancing to the side. "I'll leave them on if you let your hair down."

Minori sighed. "There's no point in teasing me anym – wait, what? Let my hair down?"

"It's… not like I mind all your up-dos, especially since they probably let you work more easily, but I really love your long hair."

His face just might have been redder than hers at that moment, if that was even possible.

"O-oh, okay." She brought her hands up to her hair, untying the bun atop her head. Once the hair fell out of its place she shook it out a bit, knowing how silly it looked after being up all day.

Raeger watched her intensely, making her a little shy under his gaze.

Though… she had to admit, maybe tonight wasn't a total backfire after all.

~CGA