Yeah. I decided to upload chapter one and two at once this time! That way, the wait won't seem as long. Wait, actually, you'd probably read the chapters in one go... Okay, so this way, I don't feel as lazy!

Want to know what's sad? My longest fanfiction chapter, the one with the most words, is the one where I took a conversation straight off facebook because we used Vocaloid users to chat. I feel... Suckish. And lazy. Sorry.

Claire yawned and jumped out of bed. The bed, along with a television and a nightstand, was already conveniently in the house. Even though the furniture was a leftover from the previous owner who had passed away, it fit quite nicely in the house, and Claire decided using it was a lot easier and cheaper than replacing it. Mostly cheaper.

A glance at the calendar told her that today was Spring 2.

"Huh," Claire mused, "I arrived on New Year's? Didn't even notice." (*cough* WTF, Natsume? *cough*)

Which was true. Excited at the prospect of moving to a farm, what day it was hadn't even matter to her. Of course the farm turned out to be crap, but that was beside the point.

Claire strolled out of her abode, finishing up a piece of bread that was her breakfast and looked out at the disastrous untidiness that was her farm. What a hit in the face that was.

A small cleaned out patch of land stood out from amidst the jumble of weeds and rocks. It was the result of her labours the day before, as well as her sore muscles from tugging at weeds, smashing rocks to bits with her hammer, chopping the sticks with her axe, and ploughing the soil with a hoe. The area that she cleaned out didn't make her feel much better, as it actually ended up making the rest of the field look a whole lot worse.

Sighing, Claire headed out to town to buy some seeds. She needed seeds if she wanted do anything with her useless little plot of land. And there had to be a shop, even if the town was so small.

It was a perfect day for a walk. The temperature was warm and the sun was shining bright. There wasn't a cloud to be seen in the sky (no wait, there's some in the distance!). It was a good day for a stroll to the store. But then again, even if it was raining, Claire would still have to go. She really needed some seeds!

Soon after she exited the farm area, a small building came in to view. A sign in front of the structure told Claire that it was Saibara's Blacksmith, and that it was closed on Thursdays.

There was no need for Claire to visit a blacksmith – they didn't sell seeds – but there weren't any blacksmiths in the city, so she was curious, and she needed to introduce herself to her new neighbours. She pushed open the door and let herself in.

"What?"

Claire jumped. The exclamation came from a young man about her age, wearing a tan work uniform and a blue cap. His back was turned to her and he was yelling at a rather short old man on the other side of a desk.

"Explain to me what's wrong with it! Come on!" he shouted.

"What's wrong with it?" the old man (probably Saibara) responded, "The answer is inside of you! You have much to learn."

Whatever that meant. Judging by their argument and that this building was a blacksmith, something was wrong with whatever the young man had created. Claire approached the two bickering males.

"Um… Excuse me?"

The capped male jumped and turned.

"What are you looking at?" he angrily spat at her, "If you have nothing…"

The white haired man reached over the counter and smacked anger-management guy in the back of the head. Claire tentatively took a step back, her eyes wide in amazement of their heated argument. Hopefully not everyone in this town was in need of professional help.

"Gray!" Saibara fumed, "How dare you talk to a customer like that!"

Huh. So Gray was the name of the hot-tempered guy? What a strange name. Not that I should ever, ever mention it to him… Claire mentally noted. He might go nutso or something.

"So-sorry…" Gray muttered. Claire was unsure whether the apology was aimed at her or his grandfather.

"Welcome," said Saibara to her.

"Hey, are you new here?" Gray suddenly asked changing the subject. "What do you want?"

"Ahm…" Claire was momentarily at a loss for words. This guy wasn't very courteous, even just after being reprimanded! "I was kind of just stopping by… and um… stuff… um… yeah… I'm Claire… and, I'm… ah… new here…"

"Oh. Nice to meet you, Claire. I'm Gray… and… um… well, sorry for earlier…" He shifted his weight and looked kind of uncomfortable, as if he was embarrassed to have been so rude and to have been caught in the quarrel with his grandfather.

"I didn't mean to be rude… My grandfather was giving me a hard time. He never approves of my work."

"Er… It's okay…"

Ah, so he was apologizing? Something told Claire that this guy probably didn't like to apologize to people too much. Except his apology was also a mix of an excuse and a sob story.

He turned his head away and stared at the floor. "I'm ready to quit. I feel stupid, you know?" He almost sounded like he was going to start crying. Almost. Kind of. Not really. Actually, never mind.

Claire shook her head. "What are you talking about? Don't quit. It's called TRAINING. Of course it's got to be tough if you're to do a good job!"

Gray blinked in surprise, probably expecting some comforting words instead. "…You're right. I'm such a wimp. Sorry for complaining so much…"

For a second, Claire thought that Gray mistook her words and was going to get depressed or something.

"Ah… No… It's okay…"

"Thanks, Claire." He smiled and Claire's mouth almost dropped open in shock. He looked better smiling than glaring, that was a definite. "I don't understand what my grandfather is saying now, but I think the time will come. I'll just keep trying."

Claire grinned. "That's the spirit."

An awkward smile was her response. "Well, I gotta go back to work…"

Claire nodded. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Gray, and you too, Mr… um… Saibara."

"Yes, nice to meet you too. Come back whenever you would like."

ESCAPE! Claire dashed out the door without looking back.

This time, Claire decided NOT to stop by any places on the way to the supermarket. She didn't want to get caught in any arguments. To Claire's surprise, the Supermarket was a small building. Well, small compared to the ones in the city. She pushed open the door and entered.

"Welcome!" A beautiful girl greeted her. Her hair was brown with blond highlights, and she was wearing a purple vest.

Claire was a bit surprised. Being a city girl, she had grown up with city stereotypes. She had thought everyone here would be dressed like a country bumpkins or something. Well, the blacksmiths weren't wearing straw hats and overalls, but they were blacksmiths, after all.

"Oh, hey there…" Claire said.

"Oh, hi there! You must be Claire!"

The shop girl's professional smile was pretty good, Claire noted. She looked genuinely pleased to see her. And she knew her name somehow. News must spread quick, Claire thought.

"Did you come to shop?"

Claire nodded shyly. Better than saying, "Of course I came to the Supermarket to shop! What did you think I'd come here for? Pachinko?"

The girl smiled again. "I'm Karen. Take your time, now."

Suddenly Karen looked thoughtful. "Oh hey, Claire," she said. "If you just started, you must need lots of things, right?"

Claire paused for a second. Which would be more polite? Turning down the offer or accepting help? Hm… But the farm was kinda screwed…

"Sure, I could use some help," Claire tried to return Karen's helpful smile. She was absolutely sure that it looked awkward. She probably looked like a deranged freak or something.

If Karen did think Claire's face looked messed, she didn't show any sign of it. Her smile stayed on her face.

"Just wait one second," she said, turning away.

Claire watched as Karen walked to the back of the store, where a woman wearing a blue dress and a man wearing a white shirt and black bowtie stood.

"Dad," Karen addressed the man, "Can we give her a bag of seeds?"

Claire grinned to herself. Great! She'd be getting free seeds.

"Oh, come on…" Karen's father whined.

How old was he? Three? What kind of father whines to his daughter like that? But he was the dad… Claire hoped she'd still be getting those seeds.

"Whatever happened to kindness to strangers?"

The woman in the blue dressed turned to the man.

"Why don't you show her some hospitality?" she asked him. "Please?"

"…Okay…" He sighed.

Karen grinned. "Thanks, Dad."

The other woman grinned as well. "See? There is a reason why you are my husband!"

Claire could see where Karen's looks came from. She also could not see how this beautiful older woman was married that wimpy little store owner. Whatever. Opposites attract.

Karen strode back over to Claire, still wearing her pretty smile. She handed her a green sack filled with seeds.

"Here you are," she said. "This is on the house. Don't mention it."

Claire happily slid the small bag into her rucksack. Free seeds. Sweet.

"Thanks."

"No problem. It takes a lot of work to start up a farm. I'm rooting for you."

Claire contentedly used some of the little money she had on her to buy some turnip seeds and potato seeds. She didn't get more free seeds, and she didn't get a discount. Dang. There's always a limit to good fortune.

Claire didn't plan on going to any other buildings today. She wanted to start working on her farm. But when she exited the Supermarket, she noticed a small church to her left (her left, our right when we play the game).

There weren't too many churches in the city, and if there were, they were more after your money than your faith. Claire was curious to what this small town's church would be like. Despite her gut instincts to get safely back to her farm (Then again, her gut instincts wanted her to hurry and get home, back to the city, so why listen to those stupid guts?), Claire headed to the church and pushed open the big wooden doors.

What she saw was… well… a church. There was a red carpet with yellow edges lain down the aisle, with three pews on either side of it, facing the alter. An organ sat on the far side of the room, and two doors were set on the wall. Stained glass windows were located on the walls. There wasn't anything special at all.

Behind the altar, the priest smiled at her. He had short light-brown hair, and his eyes were closed. It seemed that that's how they were supposed to be. Closed. Was he blind, or was his sight just some phenomenon that will never be explained? The latter is funnier.

Claire walked up to him and returned his kind smile that, like Karen's, seemed really genuine. Once again, awkward. Her mom and co-workers always told her she was bad at smiling. They said she looked embarrassed or nervous.

"Hi, how are you?" the priest asked. "Are you new here?"

Claire nodded in response. "Yes. I'm Claire. I live in that old farm to the south of the town now."

"You took over that farm? Well, my name is Carter. Nice to meet you."

"It's, uh, nice to meet you too."

"Actually, I have a favour to ask you, Claire."

How nice. To ask a favour of someone when they first meet? Maybe that was the way these small-town people functioned. Well, there had to be a reason why these people were closer than city people. She decided to accept the favour.

"Sure. I'll help you."

"There is a young man named Cliff right there. Do you see him?" Carter gestured to one of the pews.

Claire turned and suddenly she noticed a man sitting on the pew, totally oblivious to their conversation. He was completely clad in brown. He had brown hair, a brown vest, brown pants, and brown boots. Claire bet that his eyes were probably brown too. He also lacked presence, and to Claire, he practically appeared out of thin air.

"Er… Yeah, I see him now."

Carter gave Claire another smile. "I was wondering if you could talk to him and make friends with him."

Claire cringed. She didn't want to turn down his request, but she wasn't much of a people person, either. Making friends with him? That would be harder than it sounded.

"Um… Why?"

"He came to this town by himself, just like you," Carter answered. "However… He doesn't try to make friends with the people here."

Neither have I, thought Claire.

"He's shy, and it's difficult for him to open up to people."

"R-right… I'll, uh, help."

"Really? Thank you very much. I'm counting on you."

Claire clenched her teeth. "Yeah… I'll do my best."

Cliff was minding his own business in the quiet church. He like to sit in the peacefulness and think. Actually he tried not to think. If he thought, he thought of things like his lack of a job and family, and how he was running out of money…

Suddenly, he noticed that someone was standing in front of him. He froze. Pretend not to notice them… Pretend not to notice them… The person didn't move. In fact, they cleared their throat in an attempt to get his attention. If he ignored this person, he'd seem really rude. Cliff reluctantly looked up at his visitor.

A girl with blonde long hair and straight cut bangs looked at him. She had large blue eyes and was wearing dirty blue overalls. She seemed uncomfortable. Her cheeks were pink, and her pretty face wore an awkward smile. Despite the self-conscious grin, she was still cute.

"Uh, hey there…" She gave a gauche wave.

Cliff returned her nervous smile for an equally shy smile. "Ah… Hello…"

"… Uh…" She stared at him. She seemed to be looking for something to say.

"Ah…" Cliff shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I-is there something on my face…?"

"Oh, uh, n-no…"

"Ah… I…"

Oh great. Awkward. Both of them seemed at loss of what to say next. Cliff glanced at Carter and noticed he seemed to be watching their failure of a conversation.

Cliff bit his lip. "Ah… I'm nervous…" He muttered. "I can't really talk…"

The blonde haired girl looked at him in surprise for a second, and then beamed a genuine and not awkward smile. It made her look ten times prettier and five times less formidable.

"It's okay," she giggled. "Just relax. It's not like I'm going to bite or rip out your intestines and make a soup using your skull as a container. Anyway, so I'm Claire, the new farmer."

The second part was totally unnecessary. Did this girl have problems? Cliff started to feel worse. Claire noticed his discomfort and nervously brushed the hair out of her face.

"I was kidding," she mumbled. "I was trying to make a joke… I wouldn't do that…"

Cliff saw that she was actually sorry. He figured that she must be as awkward with conversation as he was, and had failed at making the atmosphere a relaxed one. Her face had turned red again, and her eyes were squeezed shut in embarrassment.

Cliff relaxed his muscles and immediately felt better.

"Okay… Phew… I feel much better now." He mostly said it to make her cheer up, as she obviously seemed to be wishing she could disappear. He didn't want her to stand there feeling awful. It worked. She looked at him in surprise instead.

He gave her another shy smile. "Thank you, Claire."

"N-no problem…"

"You came to this town by yourself to run the farm right? Wow…" He remembered vaguely about Thomas, the red-clad mayor, telling him about that. He hadn't expected the new farmer to be such a pretty young girl… He had expected this big rugged muscle guy. Like Zack's older brother or something.

He smiled at her. Smiling seemed to be coming more naturally now, for some reason. Maybe it had to do with her. "Good luck with everything." And he meant it. He knew that working at a farm must be a hell of a lot of work.

"Thank you." She smiled back. Not the awkward one. The happy, genuine one.

"I look forward to talking to you again."

"You too. See ya!"

And Claire happily left the church and head home, glad to make a new potential friend. A newbie who was just like her! Perfect.

I swear that I am not implying romance. I'm still deciding who I'm going to pair Claire with. Maybe we'll have a vote. Yeah right. Like, two people would vote and I'd sit there crying because the votes would tie and I'd have to wait another year and a half for a third review or something. Not that that has happened to me.

Reviews are like money. I like to have lots of them. And like money, I don't get a lot, and I don't have a lot. Except Dynasty Warriors Chatroom, but that thing has been going on for like two years or something now. Now that I think about it, I gotta update that. I need to make it more crack because people have been telling me it's getting boring.