Flo: This is pretty much like a birthday present to me XD

IE Cast: Who in their right mind would give themselves their own birthday present? Unless if it's Mr. Bean of course.

Flo: Hello… Do I have a right mind, in your opinion?

IE Cast: … Fair enough.

Flo: Anyways, I got the idea for this one-shot a super long time ago, thanks to a stupid dream :)

DISCLAIMER: Floric1434 does not own Inazuma Eleven. Only Aoi Yuki, Aoi Yuuya and this story.

P/S This is set in the 1800s. Maybe. Maybe not. I dunno, one thing for sure iPads and iPhones have not been created yet at this time. Even the Internet desu. 8I. Wait… Maybe this was set in the medieval ages. GAAH!

WARNING: … If you hate IchiRika so much, I suggest you leave… But then again, PLEASE READ UNTIL THE END LOL! XD…

"OTL I'm still cursing myself for dreaming that ridiculous dream.

/is sure she's going to get a Hell lot of flames.

HEELLPP QAQ

Okay enough of my rant just ignore these super long bolded words I shall use over here as they mean nothing special to you, me, or any other human being and that includes your mom, dad, brother, sister, cousin, uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, friends, teachers, co-workers, neighbours, stalkers, plants, cats, animals, snakes, grasshoppers Pokémon, Digimon, witches, dragons, and etc. This story completely belongs to me. Any similarities between any other subject/story, past, present, future, are just pure coincidence.

I do not know anything about English history. So there, now don't come at me, attacking me if I got anything wrong or weird.

WHY AM I SO STUPID.

Great, now I have to change this thing into a two-shot QAQ SORRY GUYS!

The brunette smiled at the clear blue sky. He inhaled the fresh spring air of Raimon.

Ichinose Kazuya stretched. He was really relieved to finally be in the village of Raimon, a village that was quite deserted but still a happy place to live.

He was about to visit a childhood friend of his, Kino Aki, whose family owned a motel in the village.

The twenty-year old took his bag and walked. He saw it, the motel, just around the block.

Looking around, the flowers growing attracted his attention.

Beautiful… He thought to himself and smiled.

True, the flowers were growing. Tulips, roses, lilacs, and more; spring was indeed a glorious season.

He turned his head back to the road.

BUMP!

"OUCH!" Two voices shouted out in pain as both of them fell to the ground.

Ichinose rubbed his head and slowly opened his eyes. Due to his still blurry vision, all he could see was the colour white.

"Um, a-are you okay?" A small voice said hesitantly. Ichinose guess he had bumped into a female. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up and saw a girl about his age with snow white hair and the same coloured eyes. Her dress was a little muddy, probably from the dirt on the ground, and she was carrying with her a picnic basket.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine…" the brunette slowly stood up.

It was then did he smelt it, the sweet smell of bread. The wonderful fragrance filled his nostrils. Sniffing the air a little, it occurred to him that the wonderful smell came from the girl's picnic basket.

His mouth watered slightly as he swallowed some saliva, his eyes staring at the said basket in the girl's hands.

The snow-white haired girl noticed this and giggled slightly. Ichinose blinked and averted his gaze. "Oh, um, s-sorry about that…" the brunette scratched the back of his head, feeling ridiculous that she caught him staring at her basket.

The girl giggled some more before reaching into her basket and taking out a chocolate muffin. Ichinose gasped a little. Was she doing what he thought she was…?

The girl smiled, her eyes shining as she held out the muffin in front of Ichinose, whose eyes widened slightly.

"Here, you can have it," she said.

The chocolate muffin looked delicious. And if he was wrong, he caught a glimpse of some hazelnuts in the said muffin.

Ichinose, still feeling guilty for bumping into the girl, was about to refuse but his empty stomach rebelled.

The girl sweat dropped at this but then laughed slightly as Ichinose's face slowly turned red from embarrassment.

Still hesitating, the brunette took the muffin and nodded. "T-Thank you…"

"You're welcome," the girl replied with another smile. Ichinose was about to ask the girl her name but the snow-white haired girl brushed past him in a hurry.

Dumbfounded, Ichinose stared at the disappearing silhouette of the girl. It was still easy to spot her in the crowd thanks to her white hair but once the girl wrapped her shawl around her head, the brunette couldn't see her anymore.

The twenty-year old stared at the muffin in his hands. It looked delicious and half of his mind forced him to take a bite while the other half made him stop from doing so. He was still feeling guilty actually. He had crashed into the girl but she still gave him a muffin.

Ignoring his guilt and paying attention to the muffin in his hands, the brunette took in a bite.

As he chewed, he savoured the taste. The muffin was delicious. The chocolate was bitter sweet and when he chewed on the nuts, it was an indescribable taste.

Almost like this feeling he had right now. Was it really guilt? If it was… then why did he still felt it for days to come?

"Ichinose-kun!" Kino Aki yelled in excitement as she ran over to Ichinose and hugged him. Ichinose laughed and hugged back. "You made it!" Aki continued. She let go of Ichinose's neck.

Aki was wearing a forest green dress that matched her hair and eyes. She was twenty-years old, like Ichinose. The both of them had known each other ever since they were small.

Aki and her family before this lived in the large kingdom of Unicorn, the birthplace of Ichinose, before her father decided to move back to his own hometown, Raimon. The two of them were fourteen at that time. They both sent letters to each other once in a while to know about each other's condition in both places.

When they were around sixteen years of age, Ichinose had started a new hobby. His interest in knowing other things around him had led him to travel from place to place. By eighteen he had visited three kingdoms and five villages, all of them were spread out far and wide.

Aki knew all about his adventures, of course. He had told all about it in his letters. And now she was really happy to see him here in Raimon.

"Mom is at the back preparing turkey for dinner," she informed him, "are you hungry?"

Ichinose smirked. "I'm starving!" his mind imagined Aki's mom and her special turkey. Boy, did he miss eating that.

Aki laughed at that. She looked at Ichinose's hand and noticed his bag. She arched an eyebrow. "For one bag, it sure is big,"

"Unicorn and Raimon aren't close you know," Ichinose said with a sly smile. "Days of travelling on horses, through mountains, lakes and rivers."

"I don't recall any mountains when our dad brought us here…"

"That's because I took a shortcut, dummy."

"Hey!"

They both laughed.

Little did Ichinose know, that his stay in Raimon was going to change his life; forever.

The sound of creaking floors woke the brunette up from his deep slumber. The said male blinked and stared at the ceiling high above him. He turned on his bed and faced the door.

There, on the table in the middle of his room, was the map of the country, his compass, and some measuring tools. A book he was half done with was on the bedside table.

It was already his third day in Raimon.

And it was starting to get boring to tell the truth.

Out of the silence of the room, his mind suddenly went to the girl with white hair he met on his way here. That feeling came back when he remembered her face and her eyes. The delicious smell of bread and tarts somehow made him hungry again.

And that was when it struck him like a lightning bolt.

He never knew her name.

And here he was, thinking about her like a stalker.

Scratching his head, he closed his eyes as he turned in his bed once again. "This is getting crazy…" He muttered to himself and sighed.

"Alright!" The brunette sat up on his bed. "I better get myself a job!" He said to himself with enthusiasm.

The brunette got dressed and headed out. As he climbed down the stairs, he noticed Aki walking towards him.

"Hey, I'm going out for a while," he informed her.

Aki looked at him and arched an eyebrow. "Why? Where are you going?"

"I thought I might as well get a job then just sit around doing nothing…"

Aki giggled at this. "Good luck~!" She sang.

Ichinose smiled and nodded, before walking out through the front door and closing it behind him.

People were everywhere and Ichinose had to remind himself it was a busy part of town.

And he didn't even know how he had ended up in a small café!

Ichinose sighed and he sat at an empty table near the glass window.

"May I take your order sir?" a girl with sky blue hair approached him. She had sparkling grey eyes and dark coloured skin.

Ichinose's heart skipped a beat.

It was as if she was an angel from the Heavens above. Time felt like it had stopped just for the two of them as he stared at her eyes and the girl did the same.

Realizing what she was doing, the girl's face turned red, she coughed and repeated her question from earlier.

Ichinose slightly gasped and turned his head away from embarrassment though he still replied to the waitress's question and ordered some coffee. The waitress nodded and left.

A few minutes later, the same waitress came back again and served him his coffee. He muttered a slow 'Thanks' before the girl rushed off somewhere else.

"Rika! Come here for a second!"

"Yes mother?" the light blue haired girl went to her mother, who was making some drinks for her customers in their family café.

Rika's mother smirked sneakily and stopped the drinks making process for a while. Her daughter sweat dropped at this. "W-What's wrong?"

"I saw that earlier,"

"W-What?"

"I saw the both of you staring at each other. So? What do you think of him? Cute? Handsome?"

Rika's face went bright red. "Mother! He's just a customer!"

"Aw~ But he was staring right back at you! Oh and look, that Endou's sitting with him! Maybe you can ask Endou for his name later. You know how talkative that Endou can be!"

"Mother!" Now Rika's face was redder than the Sun. She pouted but turned around to see if what her mother had said was true.

And she had been. Endou and the other brunette were shaking hands and talking to each other.

She smiled to herself. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe there was something between them.

He is cute…

"Ah~ Now you're smiling~"

Rika gasped before slightly shouting, "Mother!"

Not long after he had received his order of coffee, another guy with the same brown hair as his sat in front of him.

"Hey, the name's Endou Mamoru. I've never seen you in town before. New here?" Endou asked as he extended his hand. Ichinose took it and their hands shook.

"Yeah, kind of. I'm Ichinose Kazuya, by the way."

"So if you're not from here, then where are you from?"

"Unicorn," Ichinose replied simply as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Wow, that's really far away. Why would you ever come to a small village like Raimon?"

Ichinose smirked at the other male's inquisitive attitude.

It was somehow… entertaining.

"I'm here visiting a close friend of mine," he explained.

Endou's eyebrows arched. "Let me guess, it's Kino Aki, right?"

Hearing Endou guessing correctly, Ichinose choked on his coffee and almost spitted it out. "H-HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

The other brunette grinned. "I've been seeing you staying at her motel, plus, I'm a close friend of Aki too, you know."

Ichinose sweat dropped. "So I see…"

"Hey, are you hungry?"

"Sort of… I'm actually looking for a job to tell the truth,"

"So I see… Well, anyways… Hey Rika!" Endou called out.

Rika turned her head around to face Endou. "What?"

"Get us some blueberry muffins!" The brunette grinned.

"Is that all?" Rika raised her eyebrows and shook her head before going back to the counter with a smile.

Endou turned his head back to face Ichinose again. "I'm addicted to it," he grinned.

"Addicted to what?" Ichinose asked, curious.

Endou's grin got wider. "The muffins here! They're delicious!" His eyes shined but then narrowed as he saw a familiar figure walking down the pavement with two picnic baskets outside the café. His face fell as he tried to remember why the figure looked familiar.

Ichinose noticed this and turned his head around to look at the figure as well. He, like Endou, felt a sense of déjà vu as well.

And when the figure un-wrapped her shawl from her head, both of them recognized her immediately.

"Ah! It's Yuki!" Endou said with a smile. Ichinose's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought to himself.

So… her name's Yuki… I wonder if she remembers me…? Oh great, now I just created a rhyme…

The brunette lifted his cup of coffee up and started to sip from it again, as his one eye followed the snow white haired girl's trace.

Yuki entered the café and smiled as Rika greeted her.

"I finished the croissants you ordered," Yuki said as she gave Rika the two baskets. The other girl accepted the baskets happily and placed them on the counter.

"You can pay for them later," Yuki added next.

Rika's mother looked at Yuki with arched eyebrows. "What? Are you sure about that?"

"Well, it's one of the orphan's birthday at Sun Garden today and Hiroto-san asked me for help with the party so I'm in a bit of a rush here…" The nineteen-year old girl explained.

Rika's mother smiled. "Sure, I'll get Rika to stop by your house later this evening. Oh and tell that kid happy birthday for me."

"I'll sure will! Have a good day Mrs. Urabe!" The snow white haired girl bowed as she re-wrapped her shawl around her head again and walked out.

Soon after, Rika came with a plate of muffins for both Endou and Ichinose. "Here, Yuki had gave us some muffins in one of the basket, there's also a note in it telling us to give it all to you, Endou," the girl grinned.

Endou's eyes shined from happiness. "I'M IN HEAVEN!"

Ichinose sweat dropped at Endou's reaction.

Rika giggled and placed the muffin-filled plate on their table. She gave a wink to Ichinose before walking back to her mother. Ichinose's face went slightly red as he gulped down his shock and nervousness.

Endou started eating without delay. Boy, was it his lucky day or something?

And again, Ichinose sweat dropped at the sight.

Endou noticed this and held his hand out, a muffin on top of it. "Try it!" He grinned.

Ichinose hesitated but he still took the said muffin. Staring at it, that sudden feeling of déjà vu hit him again.

The smell… it was enough just to make his tummy rumble.

And it was just like three days ago, when he first met – scratch that, make that crashed – into the said girl. She had offered him a muffin, just like how Endou did. Only, instead of being a chocolate muffin, it looked like a vanilla-flavoured with lots of blueberries in it.

Biting, he rejoiced. It was just like how he had expected it to taste.

Delicious…

He unconsciously smiled as he ate more. Endou noticed this and smiled as well. "It's good, right?"

"I don't think 'good' is the right word for it,"

"Yeah, you're right," Endou tilted his head back and laughed.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Ichinose decided it was best if he asked the other brunette about the snow white haired girl.

And he did.

"Yuki?" Endou stopped eating for a while as he tapped his chin. "Well, I don't really know her well, but I know her well enough to be her best friend!"

Ichinose fell anime style in his seat.

Endou laughed slightly and apologized. "Well, her full name is Aoi Yuki. She loves baking and lives at the edge of town. Also, she's an orphan."

Ichinose became even more interested. "An orphan?"

"Yup! Her parents died when she and her brother were still young,"

Ichinose eyes stayed fixedly at Endou's face.

"…Now I bet you're wondering about the brother now,"

Endou hit the spot.

Ichinose gasped slightly and turned away. 'Damned mind reader…' He muttered to himself with an annoyed face.

Endou started to laugh and didn't stop. "Well, if you insist on knowing, I don't mind telling everything about her that I know,"

The other brunette stayed quiet.

"Her brother is a year older than her, making him twenty and her nineteen. His name is Yuuya, a married man who lives in the town of Teikoku."

So she's younger than me… And her brother's the same age as me… Wait, I wonder how old is this Endou here…?

"Teikoku? Isn't that a bit too far?" Ichinose asked.

"I don't think so; it's close to your place, Unicorn."

Ichinose mentally slapped himself. How in name of Lord did he forget that? The town of Teikoku and the kingdom of Unicorn were neighbours. Gee, he really needed to do some more memorizing of his own town map instead of the country's map.

"Is that all? Wait, if her parents are gone and her brother's not here does this mean she lives alone?" Ichinose asked as realization hit him. The thought of thieves, thugs and rogues everywhere suddenly frightened him.

And he just couldn't help but to wonder why he thought of that…

"Ah, well you can say that. But don't worry; the area she lives in is quite crowded. Plus, a few of my friends are neighbours with her. Kazemaru Ichirouta and Gouenji Shuuya. And she has a cousin that visits her every once in a while," Endou said and winked, assuring his new friend.

Ichinose breathed in and out. Man, was he relieved. He hadn't realized that he had stopped breathing once the thought of the girl being in danger reached him.

"So, that's pretty much a small summary of her life. Oh, I forgot to add, before this she lived with a family called the Fubuki family. But they had to move when she was seventeen. Being the stubborn girl she was, she refused to go and had been living alone ever since." Endou explained, tilting his chair back so it only stood on two feet.

"Though most of the time, she's just an average girl who's shy around strangers." The brunette added next.

Shy around strangers…

That sentence caught Ichinose's attention.

The first time they met, he was a stranger to her. But why didn't she act like how Endou had proclaimed her to be?

"And that's it! I don't think there's anything else I need to add. Besides, I think you can guess what she does for a living," Endou smiled as he took another muffin.

Ichinose smiled as well. "Baking and selling them," he said simply before finishing his muffin off.

Endou chuckled. "Exactly,"

The sun had long set and Ichinose was still in the café. Endou was long gone before the Sun had been.

He didn't know why he was staying at the said café so long. He felt calm… relaxed here…

And he liked it.

Looking up at the sky though the café's window, he saw the stars and started counting them one by one.

Images of his house appeared in his mind as he stared at the clear sky. His childhood days with Aki suddenly appeared too. And the days where he spent waiting and waiting for her letters to arrive, jumping in joy when it did.

"Hey," a sweet voice greeted, disturbing Ichinose's train of thoughts.

The brunette blinked and turned to his side. He saw Rika, smiling sweetly at him.

"Hey," he replied simply.

"Now why are you here late?" Rika asked as she sat down in the chair Endou had sat on hours earlier. Her smile was still there.

Ichinose returned the smile. "Nothing really, I just like the atmosphere here. It's so…"

"Calm?" Rika cut him off. "Yeah, I think the same way. Not many people to this place, and even if they do, all of them come at different times a day."

"And I thought I was the only one to think like that," Ichinose smirked.

"A lot of people think alike you know~" Rika replied with the same smirk on her face.

The two of them laughed.

They spent the rest of the night talking and laughing and getting to know each other until closing time.

Ichinose didn't deny it.

It had been a great day.

A really great day.

The seasons changed from spring to summer. A lot of events happened in Ichinose's life. He became Rika's lover and worked part time at her family's café. Life was great, as he could put it. Nothing horrible happened, and he was glad.

Ichinose even moved out of the Kino's motel as he got himself a place to rent. It was much closer to the café.

From the looks of it, he loved Raimon too much to move back to Unicorn. Life was better here; he had more friends, a job and a lover.

He already told his parents about his stay there using a letter. They didn't mind at all, besides, he was already a grown-up man.

Nothing could get any better.

But anything could just turn worse when you least expect it.