The sun cast a lazy eye over the small town of Cocoyashi, spreading its warm beams like the feathers of a celestial bird. They brushed against the horizon of the sky, turning it from the color of ink, to deep blue, until it blushed with vibrant pinks and oranges. The sun continued to let its heat seep into the ground and through the windows of all the little houses below. Many of Cocoyashi's residents had been up before this event and were blessed with the opportunity to watch this transformation.

Some, though, were not so fortunate.

The sun had already risen well beyond the horizon when Bellemere felt its rays tickling her face though the open window. The young woman blinked dazedly, licking her dry lips and rolling over to escape the burning sensation. Her gaze happened to land on her small alarm clock, its shaky LED digits reading "7:45".

Instantly, Bellemere flung herself into an upright position, a horrified squeak leaving her mouth. Blankets were discarded with abandon, feet shoved into ratty slippers, and she scrambled out of her room in a panic.

"Girls?" She poked her head into the only other bedroom in the house. "Girls, wake up, get out of bed, we need to go. Mommy overslept." Without a second glance, she dashed into the kitchen, undone hair flying.

"Eggs, oranges, toast–" Bellemere banged her hip on the counter of the tiny kitchen, and cursed, loudly.

"Mommy?"

She whirled around. "Oh. You're already up, Nojiko. Good. Get your things together. We have to leave for school, like, now."

Her ten-year-old daughter cocked her head, her blue hair bouncing slightly beneath a sparkly plastic headband. "We're all ready to go, mommy, breakfast 'n everything. Nami's just in the bathroom brushing her teeth."

Bellemere paused, mouth open, at the realization that her eldest daughter was perhaps a better parent than she was. With a sigh, she put a hand to her face. "Okay. Let me just get my hair up, and I'll walk you to school."

xxxxx

She accompanied her two children to the curb of Cocoyashi Elementary, well aware that she was still wearing her pajamas and slippers. They always walked to school, for it was only a few minutes away from their house on foot. More importantly, the little family never had enough funds to own a car.

"Remember to smile for me, m'kay?" she told them, kissing the two girls on their heads. "And no snitching stuff from the teacher's desk. I don't want to have to go to another parent-teacher conference."

Name stared up at her with large, innocent green eyes. "But mommy–"

"I said no. Maybe if the oranges sell better this week, I can get you two some special school supplies."

"Sparkly pencils? With colored erasers on the ends? Gel pens?" Nojiko pleaded.

"Notebooks with kittens on them?" Nami added.

Bellemere squinted at them. "What about the personalized notebooks I made you guys? Don't you like those?"

"They were the same ones as last year!" her youngest protested. "You just erased everything inside and re-decorated the covers."

Bellemere pretended she didn't hear. "We'll talk about it later. G'bye, girls!"

xxxxx

She arrived at the orange grove after stopping by the house for decent clothing. The stress of oversleeping that morning had not worn off; most of her customers came in the wee hours of the morning, and now it was only a few hours until lunch. The young woman mumbled to herself angrily as she gathered the brightest oranges to set in baskets at her booth. Only a few people liked to wander around the groves and pick the fruit themselves; most bought them directly from her at the entrance. A wicker basket under each arm, she trotted back to her booth and began arranging the fruits beneath the hand-painted banner, which read:

BELLEMERE'S ORANGES

and, in smaller text,

HAND-GROWN, HAND-PICKED, 100% ORGANIC

She wasn't quite sure about the last part, but it looked good on the sign. Nami and Nojiko had taken it upon themselves to decorate the sign with paintings of them, their mother, and orange blobs that she guessed were supposed to be fruit.

Her stomach gurgled painfully, and Bellemere gave a small groan. She'd forgotten to eat anything; she jerked an orange off the nearest tree and began peeling it with her nails.

"Calm, Bellemere. Breathe. In, out, in, out." she told herself, mouth full of pulpy flesh. From her seat behind the booth, she could see the main road that lead into Cocoyashi; it tailed off into a small dirt and loose gravel parking lot right next to the grove. She started counting the time between cars: one minute, three minutes, two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Sucking her fingers to get the sticky off, Bellemere stacked her orange peelings into a small tower, gazing at it in boredom. Her stomach let loose another plaintive growl; she ducked behind the booth to grab another orange.

"Hello?" The voice was deep, unfamiliar, and definitely masculine. Bellemere jerked upwards, a half-peeled orange in her hand.

"Oh, hi!" Wow, he's hot.

He was also tall. Not tall–gigantic. Bellemere was a short woman, but even she could guess that he was over seven feet; he was slender, yet well-muscled. The midday sun blazed behind his head, igniting his feathery blonde hair like a heavenly aura. The smile he gave her was small, brief, but genuine and completely adorable.

Basically a stereotype angel.

"You're here to buy oranges, huh? Well, I mean, of course you are. That's obvious. Why would you come to an orange grove if you weren't going to buy oranges?" She spluttered shamelessly, praying that she wasn't blushing. He chuckled nervously–even his laugh was cute–and brushed the back of his neck with one hand.

"I heard this was the best place in town for oranges." he explained.

"Not to mention the only one." Bellemere replied, finally able to look him in the face. "So, you can pick your own, or there are the ones I picked this morning."

"Well, I trust your judgement better than my own in this case."

He left with the basket of ripe fruit, and it wasn't until after he'd driven away that Bellemere realized that he hadn't asked for his change.