Spring 3
Dear Diary,
Well, this morning was a bitch to wake up to. Not used to the early mornings I set for myself but I will get used to it as time goes on. After cleaning up and eating breakfast I stepped outside. There were a few letters in my mail box, one from Alice reminding me of what she had for sale, a letter from Ritsu about his store and what he has, and a letter from Town Hall about my shipment, and how enclosed was the money I made from it. I looked and made a fair amount of money. Then my day got more interesting…
.*.*.
Val moved and using her new hoe and watering can to plant her turnips and strawberries. She was sweating by the time she was done, not used to working so hard. She wiped her brow and moved to her barn, saying her good morning to Mist, brushing him down and feeding him, "Grow up big and strong, Mist…" she cooed as she pet his side. Stepping out, she stored her tools in the tool box and looked at her map.
"Cherry Blossom Square… or Azalea Mountain Area…" She murmured to herself as she headed off towards the road that would split at one point to take her to either area. "Well… I want to say thank you to the Mayor… and there seems to be more to explore down there…" she climbed over the bridge that crossed over a river that split the farm side of the island from the town. She nodded, pocketing her map and began to jog down the hill to town, stopping only long enough to pick up random items to sell.
She stopped, seeing a building that she noticed the day before but hadn't really paid attention to. She went up, reading the sign "Dahlia Bar and Inn…" She read, noticing it was open and opened the door. Inside two girls sat, chatting. One was a soft brunette with a big pinky red ribbon in her hair, the other was very darkly tanned with very very blonde hair. The girls looked up and smiled "Hello, Welcome"
The brunette stood first, walking over "I'm Renge, and my father owns this inn. My friend here is Mei, and her… father… runs the bar here at night."
Mei walked over, looking over the new girl "And you are?" Val looked between the girls and smiled "I'm Val, I'm the new Rancher" Renge and Mei sighed, looking almost sad by this news "We were hoping the new rancher was going to be some hot guy…" Mei almost whined.
Val blinked "Umm… well… I'm sorry?" she was confused by this. She had thought that everyone had been told a girl was coming to run the ranch, but here she was, being informed that two people were unaware of her gender.
.*.*.
…Found out later that they had been told, but were hoping it was a lie and were expecting a male to come off the boat and sweep them off their feet… Oh well, too late to be a guy now…
.*.*.
After leaving the girls to their woes over the lack of a new strong male rancher, with promises to stop by sometimes at night to have a drink at the bar, Val continued on her way to town. She passed a building with a sign saying Hitachiin Fashions, but they were still closed. She looked at the time they would open and decided she would stop by on her way home. She kept walking, finding the Town Hall on the top of a hill. She climbed up, opening the door.
Tamaki looked up and smiled "Val! Welcome. How are you setting in?" Val walked up to the counter, smiling "I am enjoying it so far. I met Alice and Ritsu yesterday and Renge and Mei today so far" She smiled, leaning on the counter a bit.
He nodded "Alice and Ritsu are good people to get to know, they can answer questions about their respected areas of knowledge"
"Tamaki, who is it?" A voice came from the other room. Tamaki turned and called out "Its Val, the new rancher!" Val blinked as a older man came out, looking from Tamaki to Val. He walked up, shaking her hand "Welcome to Rose Petal Island, Val. I am Yuzuru, the Mayor of this town."
Val blinked, shaking his hand and bowing "Thank you so much for allowing me to come to this island and for the tools yesterday"
"It is no problem, we are very thankful to have a new face in town" He smiled, placing an arm around her shoulders, then he snapped his fingers "Tamaki, get this young lady a copy of the island calendar. The ones with the festivals listed" Tamaki walked over, handing one over.
Val smiled "Thank you. I should continue exploring. I also want to look into some cooking equipment"
"Then you want to stop by Fujioka's General Store. Just down the hill, and to the left" Tamaki moved, pointing with a even bigger smile on his face. "Haruhi, the daughter of the owner, should be in now"
Val nodded, bowing once more before heading out.
.*.*.
…From the look on his face, I could tell Tamaki had a flame for this Haruhi. I couldn't wait to meet her but as I was heading down I…
.*.*.
Val looked, trying to locate the General Store when she saw someone entering a building to her left. She jogged up. Wondering who it was and if they were going to where she was, she saw a sign saying it was the Ootori Clinic. "Huh…" she knocked and opened the door, stepping in.
"Hello? Welcome to the Ootori Clinic. How can I help you?" A man came up to her, dark hair and glasses sitting on his nose. She blinked, looking at him with a blush crossing her cheeks "Are you feeling well?" he asked, walking up to her.
"Oh, I'm fine…" she patted her cheeks softly "I am just… going around and meeting people. I'm Val, the new rancher."
"Ahh, so you are the rancher that Tamaki told me about" He walked up, offering her his hand to shake, "I am Doctor Kyouya Ootori. I run the clinic. If you ever need anything, just stop by." He gave a small smile as Val shook his hand, nodding. "I will… Thank you" she smiled.
.*.*.
…He was, without a doubt in my mind, the cutest guy I had ever met and I would be trying to get to know him better. I plan to ask Tamaki for ideas on how to get to know him better…
.*.*.
Standing outside, Val took a deep breath, trying to calm her blush and heart. After a few seconds, she went and found the General Store a few feet away. She went inside, looking around as she heard a voice from the counter call out "Welcome. Your Val right?"
Val turned, looking to the voice, seeing a young girl leaning on the counter, "Oh, yes. I'm Val…" she walked up to the counter "You are… Haruhi, right? Tamaki told me you would be working"
Haruhi nodded "I'm Haruhi. Welcome to the Fujioka General Store. Are you looking for anything specific?" Val nodded "Just looking into some cooking equipment… which one do you recommend first?"
"Well, the cutting board is functional for beginners… catch fish and use it properly and you can make sushi and sashimi… the pot is also good… boil eggs, make tea, soups…" She continued on as Val looked at the items in question on the shelves. She picked up a pot, looking at the price and nodded, moving to buy it.
"Okay, so the best thing for beginners is tea. You can make green tea starting in summer when Ritsu sells tea leaves… or you can make an herbal tea pretty much all year round. If you have any herbs…" she opened a cook book, showing the herb. Val nodded, pulling a few from her bag, "Okay, when you get home, wash them in your sink, give them a couple of cuts in the herb, and put it in the pot when the water is boiling. You can sell them and make money or give them as gifts to people around town."
Val nodded, writing the directions down in her notebook, "Thank you" she smiled, putting her notebook back in the bag, paying for her pot, and picking it up "Who likes tea in town, anyways?"
"Most of the adults… My dad, Mayor Suoh… Umehito and Reiko… Mr. Ootori… Misuzu… Reynard… Oh, and Kyouya, the doctor next door." Haruhi counted on her fingers, not noticing the blush pinking on the other girl's cheeks.
"Thank you. I should head home so I can put this up. I'll be by again." Val smiled, and began out, thinking of how many herbs she held in her bag and how she could use them as an excuse to talk to Kyouya every day to share some tea with him. She giggled and headed back to her house.
.*.*.
…I know, I know. It's a sneaky plan. Using tea made with herbs I found on the ground around my house to have an excuse to go talk to a man everyday… but it seems like a better option than making myself feel sick everyday to visit him…
.*.*.
Back at the house, Val set up her pot and looked through her notebook on the directions, nodding as she made tea. Twenty herbs later, Val smiled at the bottles of tea she had before her. "Okay, nice… Maybe… should I go back and offer him some now… or would that be too soon…" she mused, then remembered she had that Hitachiin Fashions to visit, and it made up her mind.
Putting a bottle in her bag, she took off back to town, twirling a bit, humming as she did. She stopped outside of town, laughing. After making sure she was calm, she heading into town, stopping once more by the Ootori Clinic, knocking as she entered "Hello?"
"Hmm?" She saw Kyouya walk from the side room, "Oh. Miss Val. Did you need something?" He walked up and blinked as Val pulled a bottle of tea from her bag. "Tea?"
"Y… Yes… I was wondering if you wanted to share some tea today." She smiled shyly as he smiled, moving to take two cups from a cupboard and setting them down, taking the bottle and pouring the tea into the cups as he handed her one.
"Come sit over here with me…" he led her to a couple of chairs, sitting with her as they sipped their tea.
.*.*.
… it was so nice to sit with him, drinking tea… he asked me a few questions about myself and where I was from, and he told me about his brothers who were traveling and his sister who was married and living on the main land, and his father, who was the retired town doctor and lived near the beach…
.*.*.
After we finished tea, he smiled, "Thank you for the tea." he stood and helped her to stand, taking the cups to the sink. "Stop by again sometime and we can talk more." Val smiled and nodded, turning to leave as she waved to him.
She began heading home, smiling to herself. Yes, it was a crush. Yes, she would be stopping by more often with tea to share with him. She moved, pausing when she passed the Fashion store, opening the door and going in.
"Welcome!" She heard two voices chime out from the back of the store and twin boys came up, one dressed in blue, the other pale orange, both having orangey brown hair. The one in blue stepped up "I am Hikaru Hitachiin, and this is my brother Kaoru. Welcome to our little shop. I make and sell clothes that you can buy"
Kaoru walked up "And I make accessories, like hats, bandanas, jewelry." He smiled, moving to the other side of her, "And you are…" "The new Rancher, right?" Hikaru chimed in, as they both circled her like sharks circling their prey.
Val nodded "Yes… I am… My name is Val" She turned, looking at the two. They nodded and took her to the back, Hikaru pulling out a new outfit for her, a pair of overalls and a plaid short sleeved shirt, Kaoru pulling out a bigger bag and a bandana that matched the color of the shirt as they pushed her into the back to change.
She peeked out after a bit and stepped out to applause from the twins "Perfect. It looks good on you" They walked up, tightening the overall straps a bit, fixing her collar on her shirt and nodding "Perfect. We will sell you this outfit for half off today, as a welcome to town." After paying, they sent her on her way.
The sun was setting by that time. Val sighed happily as she walked home, checking once more on Mist before storing her random items to sell in the shipping box. She went inside, set her calendar on her night stand, stored her other outfit in her dresser, and then got ready for bed.
.*.*.
… More redheads, meeting the mayor, a few other people to get to know better and a bespectacled man who I really want to get to know better. All in all a pretty good day.
Until tomorrow, my dearest Diary.
Val 3
.*.*.
Authors Notes
Yes, I am a Kyouya fan. I also love Jin in Animal Parade and Tree of Tranquility and think he looks like a long haired Kyouya somewhat so it works for me.
And I am using Mei from the manga. And we have one more main area, and Nekozawa's Island to visit and a few more people to meet. Until next time~