Author's Notes: This story will treat each year as a standard 12-month year in lieu of the 4-month HM year. Since HM seasons are evenly divided, this story's seasons will span 3 months each. Characters will be kept true to their natures as depicted by the game.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of Natsume or the Harvest Moon series. This story and any images/characters associated with it are not for commercial use.
***Chapter 3***
Spring Harmony Day.
What a way to shake Mivi's emotional balance after she had finally gotten into a groove with her farm work. She had only been able to celebrate this holiday with Rod twice as a married couple, but it was a wonderful, budding tradition that they would go to Chez Clement's at lunchtime for a specialty dessert. Mivi wasn't sure what she was going to do today; she was missing Rod terribly and wasn't sure she could face anyone. She resigned herself to staying on the farm for the day.
Her morning chores were all done by noon despite her attempts to drag them out longer. She sighed wistfully and with frustration before entering her house for a sad, reheated lunch. The morning's newspaper was still sitting on the table from when she'd brought it in earlier, so she scanned the front page for a distraction. She made it about halfway through the third page when she heard a knock on the door.
Ugh, really? Who would bother me on a day like this?
Allen was at the door with a positively flamboyant bouquet of flowers and a small, white parcel tied with a hot pink, satin ribbon. "Well hello, my dear Mivi—oh good god, what is going on with your hair?!"
"Haven't washed it yet," she stated simply. Normally, she would've laughed at how, well—flamboyant—he himself seemed, but she couldn't be less interested if he were a loose paint chip on a beige wall.
"Ehem," he cleared his throat, "well anyway, I knew you might be a bit down in the dumps today, so I figured I'd grace you with my presence to cheer you up! Here you go, dear; these are for you." He handed her the flowers. "And this—marvelous—creation," he elaborated, handing the box forward, "is none other than yours truly's famous strawberry shortcake!"
"Oh…well thank you, Allen; this is so sweet," Mivi responded, accepting the gifts.
"So…?" Allen said impatiently. Mivi just looked at him blankly. "…May I come in? I thought we could share." He smiled, and for some reason, it made Mivi's stomach sick.
"Oh…Allen, I do appreciate this, but…"
"Oh, come now," he insisted, trying not to appear irritated as he pushed his way in. He sighed and placed his hands on Mivi's shoulders. "You need this. Come on, let's just sit and enjoy this delicious dessert together!"
"Alright," she reluctantly agreed. She wasn't sure she had the energy to handle company, but she definitely didn't have enough to fight him. So she sat, absentmindedly taking occasional bites of the shortcake, pretending to be enamored with the flavor—although she really wasn't a fan of how sweet it was—and nodding along with Allen as he endlessly chattered about the success of his salon and his ambitions to create new hairdos that he especially wanted to try on Mivi.
She didn't think it was possible, but she was actually relieved when the door knocked a second time. She practically leapt out of her chair to answer it.
"Sanjay?"
The good-natured, exotic servant smiled warmly at her. "Hello, Ms. Mivi. How have you been today?"
"Well, to be honest, today's been a bit hard on me." She felt but chose to ignore Allen's obvious irritation at that statement.
Sanjay nodded sadly in understanding. "The master and I thought that may be the case, so we wanted to bring you a little something as an offer of condolence." He presented a short, coffee-colored, gold-adorned glass pot to her.
"Wow, what is this?" Mivi asked, gently cradling the pot in her hands.
"It is a homemade chocolate mousse, with a bit of espresso to cut the sweetness. We remembered you didn't like anything too terribly sweet."
Mivi's heart would have melted if Allen hadn't sharply cut in, "Nonsense! She's loved the strawberry shortcake I made for her!"
Sanjay appeared startled upon noticing Allen, but his manners quickly replaced his warm smile. "Oh, hello, Mr. Allen. It is good to see you."
"Sanjay, won't you please come in?" Mivi begged. "I would love to try this mousse, and I think some mint tea would be a perfect accommodation for it." She threw that last bit in to entice him since she knew he loved mint tea.
"Ah, well…" he hesitated, but then caught the desperation in Mivi's eyes, "of course I will. I would be happy to join you both!"
"But Mivi," Allen said suddenly, appearing quite miffed, "weren't you a bit weary of too much company today?"
Mivi couldn't believe his rudeness, but she countered, "At first, perhaps, but after having such a lovely visit with you, I think I've warmed up to the idea! I think some good company is just what I need today." She forced a convincing smile and enjoyed how it tortured Allen internally to decide which was more important: his pettiness or his narcissism.
Sanjay came in, and the three of them talked for about an hour before he politely excused himself to tend to the palace. Allen practically swept him out before turning as if to come back inside. Mivi stopped him abruptly.
"Well look at the time! I have got to take care of some errands before my evening chores. But it's been great talking with you both. Thanks again."
Allen appeared somewhat defeated before shrugging and saying, "And thank you for your hospitality, Mivi. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."
Mivi retreated inside her house for a brief while to clean up the dishes and shower, giving plenty of time for Allen to have left her property. Whining to herself the whole time, she changed into fresh clothes and convinced herself to at least make one appearance somewhere, so that she wouldn't get caught in her lie.
She could hardly bear the thought of more sweets, but ultimately she found herself at Chez Clement's, the only place that felt anywhere near comfortable. Shuffling over to the bakery counter, she glanced over the confectionaries, looking for one that would be most like a Saltine cracker.
"Mivi!" Felicity screeched. "It's so good to see you out and about today—not that that's weird—oh no, not weird at all!"
"Hey, Felicity!" Mivi half-heartedly beamed. She did truly love Felicity as a friend, but her exhaustion from earlier warned against her exuberance.
Unfortunately, Felicity caught on to the lack of energy. "Oh no, honey, are you sick?"
"Tsch, sick of someone…"
"Uh oh…come on, spill!"
"Mivi!" a suddenly appearing Clement bellowed. "Oh my dear, I am so glad you stopped by today! Not that that's strange or anything…"
Mivi laughed. "Could you two be any more obvious?" Their frightened faces amused her. "I know, I didn't really think I was going to make it here today, either, but certain circumstances changed my mind."
"Regardless, I am still glad you're here. I actually made you a little something that I was going to drop off later, but I can go ahead and give it to you now. Just give me a moment." Clement disappeared to the back.
Felicity ravenously whispered to Mivi, "So who's bothering you?"
"Ugh, it's Allen. He stopped by to give me Spring Harmony gifts, but I think he intended to spend the whole day with me. I never thought I was going to be able to make him leave!"
"Oh boy, he sure can be persistent, can't he?"
"Indeed," Mivi agreed. "I wish he'd get a girlfriend or something to keep him busy."
Felicity chuckled, then gave an evil grin, "Or maybe a boyfriend?"
Mivi giggled. "Right? Oh you should've seen how he looked holding those neon flowers and that little gift box with the pink bow…"
"Haha, that would've been a sight to see!"
Just then, Clement reappeared with a plain to-go box. "Here you are, Mivi. This is a little special something I just came up with: a peach tart with a vanilla-almond glaze. It has the perfect balance of sweet and sour with just a touch of savoriness in the crust."
"Chef, you are too kind," Mivi said. "I hope you don't mind if I wait to eat it later? I am quite stuffed at the moment…"
"Not a problem," Clement waved his hands in front of him. "Tarts keep very well, so that little beauty will be ready whenever you are." He smiled, then became serious. "And I understand this day is probably quite tough for you, but please know that at the very least, Felicity and I are here for you."
"Absolutely!" Felicity chimed in. "Consider this place your own safe-haven for whenever you don't want to be alone."
"Thank you both," Mivi replied sincerely. "That does mean a lot. And honestly, I am feeling better lately, for the most part. It's just days like today…" They both nodded in understanding. "Anyway, I'd better be getting to my evening chores, but thanks again!"
They waved goodbye as she left, and she began her evening work, whistling for the dogs—except for Rod's, who was too fat to be useful herding animals. She got lost in thought, reflecting on the kindness she'd received thus far.
As she finished up with the first barn, she noticed Dunhill coming down the road.
"Hello there!" he shouted with a friendly smile.
"Hi, Dunhill! How are you?"
"Good," he said as he caught up to her. "Has your day been all right?"
"Yeah, as good as it could've gone, I suppose."
Dunhill grunted in agreement. "Well anyway, I didn't want to bother you too long, but I brought you a little something in honor of Spring Harmony Day."
"Well thank you, sir."
"You are quite welcome! I just wanted to make sure you knew everyone in this town is here for you."
"Of course! Actually, a few others gave me gifts today as well. We really do have some good souls around here."
"What?" Dunhill looked surprised. "Someone else got here before I did?"
"Oh yeah, there was Allen, Sanjay, Clement…"
"Well dag-nabbit! Back in my prime, I used to be the first one at every lovely lady's door!" he boasted proudly.
Mivi chuckled, "And I'm sure they were just as delighted to see you as I am now!"
"Aw, you're too sweet, Mivi. Well listen, if ya ever need anythin', don't hesitate to ask! For now, though, I best be gettin' off to bed."
"Okay then. Have a good evening, sir!"
"You, too!"
Although he was an oddball, she was certainly grateful for Dunhill keeping his visit short. She eyed the Ziploc bag he gave her with four pink, heart-shaped sugar cookies that were clearly store-bought. She knew he must've saved the rest for himself, but considering how many sweets she'd already had, she was grateful for that, too.
***End of Chapter 3***
Author's Notes: This chapter ended up being a little longer than the first two, but I wanted to keep Spring Harmony Day in one section. This holiday gave me a good chance to introduce Allen's aggressiveness, which will continue to be a problem. Realistically, I didn't see a reason to bring Neil in for this since his character doesn't really seem like the type to give a gift to someone he's not especially close to.
