Alright! Another round of thanks to supernae for her constant reviews! Keep it up! A few new guys wouldn't hurt either! Anyway, let the fun begin!

Chapter 11: Ring Around the Rosie

Today happened to be the apprentice blacksmith's day off, so the chipper farmer decided to pay him a visit in his room at the Inn.

"I know I've said it a dozen times already, but I gotta say it again: you have a really nice room, here! Seriously, this place feels way more accommodating than my farm house, and it's supposed to be more spacious!" Claire complimented.

"Thanks… again." Gray replied flatly. "Well, since you're here, and you've been with me for awhile, there are a few questions that I haven't gotten around to ask, and I'd like to ask them now."

"Ah, neat! So now you finally wanted to know a little more about me?" Claire asked.

"Sort of… this is more like me playing detective in case I have to deal with any dirt in the future."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let's begin…" Gray stated solemnly.

The gruff apprentice gave a loud and clear cough before he initiated his questionnaire.

"Did you have anybody in your past that either broke your heart, either an ex-boyfriend or some longtime crush?"

"Nope. I've been single practically my entire life and don't mind at all."

"Okay, since you're single, how about any case of rape, incest, or anything pertaining to vulgar sexual harassment?"

"No! I'm a virgin and only child here! If you want proof, have Doctor Trent test me or something! Yeesh!"

"Not necessary, I have reason enough to trust you. So, any abusive or intolerable parents?"

"I loved them, and they took care of me just fine, thank you very much!"

"Any lost loved ones?"

"My Dad… but I've been over that for awhile. Actually, he kinda prepared me for it. Is that cheating?"

"No, not really. Moving on: any lasting childhood trauma triggered by any sort of natural phenomenon; be it rain, earthquake, lightening or whatever?"

"No. And I actually think lightening is pretty cool! And really loud and bright!"

"Thank you for stating the obvious… but I got one more: any other sort of past issue not addressed by the previous questions?"

"Oh! Like my Grandpa that disowned Mom?"

"AHA! So you weren't kidding about that!"

"Ah-I-er-uh….."

Claire kept on babbling incoherently while Gray gave the poor girl the evil eye.

"I admit, that random statement you made when we first met bothered me a little, and I wasn't sure what that was all about. But since that came to the forefront: Talk. Now." He demanded.

"Hey! I don't want to give you any more reason to badmouth your Grandpa just because of mine! I'm under the full belief that all Grandpas aren't evil! Maybe strict and senile… but not evil!" Claire argued.

"So are you saying yours ways?" Gray asked while raising an eyebrow.

"NO! I don't know all the details, but I honestly don't think he did it just to be a tool!" Claire defended.

"Alright, then. Explain his case… go ahead." Gray huffed.

"Okay, okay… fine, Mr. Bad Cop. But only since I'm worried about what you might do otherwise." Claire huffed.

The female farmer chose to clear her throat before going into explanation.

"You see, my Grandpa on my Mom's side is this high society traditionalist who lost Grandma to illness. The guy was practically by his lonesome while looking out for his company as well as Mom, who was his only child. Eventually, Mom met and fell in love with Dad, but it became an issue because Mom's this company heiress and Dad's this nobody who came out of nowhere without a way to provide. Things got really intense when Grandpa found out Mom was pregnant with me, and since my Grandpa's all about "honor and tradition", she disowned her and my family ended up having to work really hard to make ends meet." Claire blurted out.

Gray stared in amazement as Claire tried to recover her breath.

"Okay, so you can be more talkative than Manna when given the proper incentive. But your Grandpa still sounds like a tool to me." Gray replied.

"I'm not finished yet!" Claire shouted.

"Fine, what else do you have to say about it?" Gray asked forcibly.

Claire took a few more breaths before she resumed her story.

"Mom told me that the company's board had another proposition before Grandpa made his choice, and it was for her to have an abortion and to separate Mom and Dad forever by marrying her off to some other rich guy." She concluded.

Gray stood in place with a very contemplative look on face.

"Wow…" he simply uttered.

"Yeah, that's right." Claire said with a confident air her voice. "I don't know for sure why exactly Grandpa had disowned Mom, but for whatever reason, he did. And that decision not only kept Mom and Dad together, it also saved my life!"

"So, if your Grandfather intended to keep your Mom as part of the family, you've could've been…?"

"Yes! And I don't care that my family started out with much less than everyone else! My family was awesome because we loved each other!" Claire stated proudly.

Gray was then utterly dumbstruck at the sudden logic his blonde friend presented.

"Listen, I already told Mary about the whole thing awhile ago! I just wasn't sure if you'd handle it properly, and I was afraid you'd start a violent campaign against all the Grandpas in the entire world thanks to me! Frankly, I don't care if Grandpa was trying to be a meanie back then! He ended up doing something really nice for Mom in the end, anyway! And besides, it's all in the past now! It would be really silly do moan over something I couldn't do anything about."

"…You could've died in your Mom's womb before anyone found out anything." Gray grimly suggested.

"Well Gray, I think it would be really hard for a fetus to be a suicidal emo, don't you?" Claire fought back.

Gray tried hard to stifle his chuckling while Claire did a much worse job at suppressing her own laughter.

"But honestly, I think you could give your own crazy Grandpa some credit where it's due. Sure, obsession over kung fu bugs you and the promise of ultimate power he gave me was really REALLY disturbing, but I can tell he really means well, and I'm sure you can, too."

"That still doesn't give the old man a reason to pile on the crap, just because he thinks it's tough love." Gray scoffed, "I told you I'd keep going at it, but Grandpa still refuses to tell me anything I'm doing right. He doesn't even give me hints or any kind of help. All he does it criticize and expect me to figure it out like a psychic."

"At least he's allowing you to stay at your own inn so you don't have to deal with him 24/7!" Claire said.

"Yeah, but he's still a jerk…"

"But you know how he is and what he's like! I can't really say for sure what kind of person Grandpa is! Say, if you really think that mine is a complete tool, than just consider yourself lucky about yours! He actually spends time with you and uses it to tutor you at work! I mean, do you WANT to be a Blacksmith?"

"Yes. That's why Grandpa's teaching me." Gray answered.

"Then count yourself lucky."

"But frankly, he's a horrible teacher, and I've known better ones out there than him."

"Um… but he's teaching you for free?"

"Sure, but I could always do a free internship somewhere else. The reason I'm mostly sticking around here is because of Ma...mayonnaise."

"Mayonnaise? What kind of reason to stay in a town is that?"

"Don't speak badly of Ma…mayonnaise! The local market happens to supply a really great brand, and I was hoping you'd finally buy a chicken so I could taste fresh-made stuff for once!" Gray argued.

"Wow… you must really love Mineral Town Mayonnaise…" Claire uttered in amazement.

"Damn straight, I do!" Gray shakily declared with a nod.

Claire momentarily delivered unto Gray a long, awkward stare, which made the usually composed apprentice start to sweat.

"Gray, seriously. I'm sure you have a few reasons to like your Grandpa… or at least tolerate him on some level. All that criticism he's giving you must mean that he's shaping you up to be the blest Blacksmith you can be. If he can't learn to look at the bright side, that shouldn't mean you should learn to do the same." Claire suggested.

"Hmph. Honesty Claire, I tend to question your odd logic most of the time." Gray scoffed, "I'd be more liable to believe you if you had any backing to support your claims, but unfortunately all of it sounds like a bunch of convenient excuses. However, I will admit that there are a few solids gems in your optimistic madness."

"Really?" Claire cried hopefully.

Gray nodded.

"At least there are moments where you sound like you know what you're talking about…"

"That's because most of it was based on life lessons taught to me by my own parents!" Claire proclaimed. "And if it wasn't, I was just making it up and hoping I sounded convincing enough!"

"Fair enough. This doesn't mean that I'm going to start being giddy and bright now, you know. I'm not about to leave my life up to all the goodness in the world and think like a hippy. In fact, your chipper nature scares me a little. But I could try this whole "looking at things from another angle" deal. That's the most sensible thing you've told me since you first got here." Gray rationalized.

A soft smile suddenly formed on Claire's face for the brief stint of praise she received.

"Wow… so my incessant ranting did accomplish something after all!"

"Sure." Gray shrugged.

Just before Claire could go into party mode, she recalled a wondering thought.

"Say, why did you ask me all of those questions and practically run a background check on me in the first place?" she asked.

"Good point." Gray started, "Mineral Town happens to get quite a few city slickers in the seasons with their issues to deal with, and it tends to cause some unneeded trouble around here. Actually, one of the last city folk here tried to run the old farm before you."

"Seriously?" Claire asked in anticipation.

"Yep. The last one we had was called Blaire. We used to fight a lot, and she'd accuse Mary of being a schizophrenic snob. That girl would always walk around acting like she was hot shit, but then she'd get drunk every few nights and rant her problems to me like she was crying home to dear old daddy. She finally decided to give up after a few weeks when she realized she wasn't getting anything done and that she couldn't seduce any of the guys around town. Good riddance to her."

"Yikes! She certainly sounds… difficult." Claire said nervously.

"She was, and if for some reason you start becoming like her, I swear that I'll run you out of town without warning." Gray warned.

"Ah… understood!" Claire gulped.

"In any case… I guess I could thank you… for making friends with Mary, I mean."

"Huh?"

"Mary… that poor librarian doesn't get out very often when it's not with her parents, and barely anyone besides the two of us visits her library on a regular basis, so she doesn't make very many friends. It makes me so mad that the other girls around here can't take much of their time to befriend her, so I'm really glad you chose to do it so willingly. I don't think I've seen her so happy and relieved before. She's become a little more assertive around me lately, but I think I actually kind of like it…"

At that point, the solemn lad's face started to flush. At the same time, Claire appeared somewhat uneasy.

"It's not a problem! No problem at all, no siree!" Claire rambled in a shaky voice. "Mary and I just happen to get along really easy like that! We're like two peas in a pod, because she's just so great!"

"I can tell. She says great things about you... she even compliments the things I don't quite get about you." Gray noted.

"That's really nice. I just… I just can't believe that someone like her… could be left alone…so easily...like that." Claire replied in a gradually serious tone.

Suddenly, Claire brought a hand close to her chest and reluctantly averted her eyes. Gray instinctively sensed something unnerving in the air, but seemingly disregarded it for the moment.

"Hey, I'm glad you don't have any past issues to work out and all, but I know that won't keep any incoming crap from giving you troubles. If that ends up happening, you can know that I've got your back, even though I still think you're a little crazy. Mary, too. And just maybe the Doctor since you hang out with him so much, but I wouldn't know personally. Honestly, I don't see any reason for us to outright hate you. At least you're not my Grandpa." Gray assured her.

Claire looked up with a warm smile and softer eyes.

"Thanks for that… and for trying to be all cool and skeptical all the time. At least I know you're trying to keep me out of trouble."

"Right…" Gray sighed.

"Well, I think maybe I should head down to Mary's right now and continue bringing her loneliness to an all-time low." Claire replied, with her natural cheer returning.

"You go do that." Gray encouraged.

"Later, Claire."

"Bye Gray."

The happy blonde immediately exited the room at due speed, leaving a curious Gray to ponder by himself.

"Figures. That girl's still hiding something…" he muttered to himself.

Moments later, the cheerful farmer arrived right at the front door of the library.

"Hey, Mary!"

"Good Morning, Claire."

The uncanny duo exchanged sunny smiles before going about their daily routine.

"Say, I had a really interesting talk with Gray earlier!" shared the outspoken blonde.

"Oh, really? What did he say?" asked Mary.

"It was really weird, yet sort of neat. The guy went all "Good Cop, Bad Cop" and "20 Questions" on me. I know the guy said he really wanted to be a blacksmith, but I think he'd make a much better detective after the thorough interrogation he performed on me!" Claire explained.

"True. Maybe he's finally learning from all those detective novels he's been reading!" Mary replied with a giggle.

"Wow, I never thought of that!" exclaimed Claire, "By the way. It seems like the guy has a really weird mayonnaise fetish!"

"Mayonnaise?" Mary repeated in confusion, "That sounds… rather out-of-character of him."

"Yeah, no kidding! Actually, when I was talking about it, he--"

Claire froze mid-sentence as her mind remembered a certain image of Gray during their earlier conversation. It was of the expression he had on his face when he spoke to her about Mary.

Outside, a single tear ran down her cheek.

"You see… he was… he was really--"

The stagnated farmer struggled to get out the rest of her sentence.

"Claire?" Mary asked in concern.

Claire suddenly let out a small chuckle in response.

"It was actually really funny, you see! He was…. He was…"

But she could never finish her sentence.

Instead, her tears burst out as she was inflicted with a sudden, intense chest pain. Mary could only stare back helplessly, with no clue how to assist her friend.

"Claire! Is something wrong?!" Mary asked desperately.

The troubled farmer could only let out a whimper in her current state.

"Claire!" Mary shouted again.

This time, Claire's body gradually lost its balanced, and started to fall forward. In an act of desperation, Mary got out of her desk, and caught the girl in a secure embrace.

"What's wrong?" the librarian asked in a softer tone.

"I don't know…" Claire replied, still trying to suppress her conflicted sorrow.

Mary attempted to look deep into her friend's eyes to discern a hint of her friend's issue, but could only see more confusion. But in the back of her mind, a mere hunch troubled her greatly.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Claire cried.

The raven-haired librarian then stroke her head gently while looking at her with saddened eyes of her own. There was little doubt in her mind at that point, yet she couldn't bring herself to act on her conclusion.

"Claire…" she whispered to her ever so softly, almost in an apologetic tone.

--

The following morning, the blonde farmer arrived at the clinic. She appeared rather haggard and devoid of sleepless. Both the doctor and nurse took quick notice of this.

"Claire?" both cried out in unison.

"Doctor, Elli… I think… I might be ill."

Wutwut?! What's going on now? Uh-oh... Claire not feeling well, that might mean a few things. Coming up, Gray and Mary want to check in, but Doctor Trent keeps them out for some reason. The final few chapters are coming up, so make sure to come back next Chapter!