Chapter 3

Cliff was ready to start another day of regret as he woke up with a yawn. He fixed his bed, opened the door, and headed downstairs in order to have some breakfast. Despite his crushed hopes, he still looked forward to seeing Ann greeting him as he finally reached the 1st floor, but instead, he saw a new farmer boy having breakfast while speaking to Doug.

"You know what, man? This food is great! I think I'll come here for dinner, too! It's just too much work fishing for now, and I have to accumulate as much funds from my produce as possible!" Mitchell exclaimed.

Doug laughed heartily. Well, my boy, it's always a pleasure to receive a complement for my cooking, but I can't say I did this all by myself! My lovely daughter Ann baked the potato and a few personal touches to it!"

Mitchell swallowed his food hard and glared at Doug in disbelief. "That loud-mouthed psycho can actually cook?" he shouted.

Again, Doug gave a hearty laugh. "You really shouldn't be surprised! Ann may have a lot of boyish hobbies, but she still has plenty of domestic skills to help out around this place!" he grinned. "If you think about it, she'd actually be quite the catch, don't you think?" he said with a wife.

Mitchel gave Doug a deadly glare, but he didn't seem to notice. "Oh great, he's reacting the same way that Manna did when I said something disparaging about Ann, and he's even trying to sell her good points to me. What's wrong with him, anyway? Doesn't he realize I just insulted his daughter?"

As Doug continued to laugh, Cliff watched by anxiously. "Oh great, he's even made friends with Ann's Dad! Even Doug will support this relationship now!" he thought.

Mitchel then turned his face and saw Cliff watching over him. He greeted the vagabond with a smile.

"Oh, sweet! I've always seen you wandering around this town, but we never had a chance to properly meet until now! My name is Mitchel Blaze, what's yours?" he asked.

Cliff slowly walked down the stairs. "My name... is Cliff..." he answered hesitantly.

"Cliff? That's a cool name! Sounds really tough!" Mitchel grinned.

The poor young man sighed. "I think I understand why they like each other so much... this Mitchel seems like a really nice guy, so of course they'd get along. I bet they have a lot in common, too..." he thought dejectedly.

"You know, with that sleeveless robe and ninja-like pants, you look like some kickass martial artist! Really cool!" Mitchel answered with a thumbs up. "So, do you happen to know any martial arts, or is this just a traveling outfit?"

Cliff shook his shameful head. "I just travel a lot..." he muttered quietly.

Mitchell snapped his fingers. "Aww, that's too bad! I really wanted to learn some real martial arts, but I guess that'll just remain a dream for me, huh? Well, for the time being I'll just have to raise baby Yogi into a decent watchdog! I thought it would be awesome if I could have Ruby be my personal attack chicken, but then I realized it wouldn't be able to lay quality eggs. Of course, Ann had to overhear my idea and insult me again..."

Regretfully, Cliff moped away from his attempt to befriend the depressed vagabond.

"Uh, Cliff? Wait, where are you going? Don't you want your breakfast?" Mitchell cried.

He then got out of his chair and tried to confront Cliff again. He tried to get his attention by tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey Cliff! Cliff?"

Unfortunately for Mitchell, Ann just happened to waltz into the room with broom and hand. All that she saw was a somber Cliff and a pesky Mitchel.

"Hey! What are you doing to our new tenant? Leave him alone, you creep!" Ann cried.

Upon hearing her voice, Mitchel turned an evil eye towards Ann.

"What in the world are you talking about? I'm just trying to talk to him and maybe even become his friend! You don't have to barge in and make stupid assumptions!" Mitchell shouted.

"Oh, shut up! You're probably bothering him with more of your creepy talk, aren't you? Well, I'm not going to stand for it!" Ann shouted. She then marched towards Mitchel with her broom.

"Stop being an idiot and listen to me! I'm not trying to harass Cliff!"

"Yeah, right!"

"I actually think he's kinda cool, like some badass martial artist!"

"Well, maybe he doesn't like being called a "badass martial artist"! So leave him alone, you insensitive creep!"

"Creep? You're the loony stalker committing random acts of sexual harassment!"

Cliff glared at their bickering in disbelief. "I don't believe it... people are actually saying that these two "like" each other? It looks like they're about to tear each other in two..." he muttered to himself.

"Oh, quite the contrary!" a manly voiced announced proudly as Ann and Mitchel continued to yell at each other.

Cliff scratched his naive little head. "Really? What do you mean? All I see are two people who despise one another..."

"Well, it may look like those two hate each other on the outside, but in reality, what we're witnessing is two stubborn characters who's hearts and eyes burn with hidden passion!" Doug grinned. "It's just how it works!" he assured Cliff, unaware that he's upsetting him even more.

Cliff sighed. "Passion, huh? They're just denying their feelings?"

"You got! You see-"

While Doug and Cliff were too busy talking about the birds and the bees, Ann charged straight at Mitchel with a broom.

"You inconsiderate jerk!" Ann cried as she held her broom high above her head.

Mitchel quickly retaliated by whipping out his sickle and slashing off the broom's head.

"Hypocrite." he muttered coolly. "You know, I would prefer we settle this on equal terms, without using any weapons. But if you intend to involve weapons into the fray, I'll just have to choice but to top you."

Ann quivered in fear as she saw the iron scythe wielded skillfully in his hands.

"Don't worry, I don't believe in bloodshed." Mitchell concluded.

Apparently, their confrontation came to an end when Cliff ran out of the Inn crying. Both looked towards the exit simultaneously and tried to catch up to him.

"Cliff, Wait!" Both cried simultaneously, but the arguing pair are met with a door slam to the face.

"AAGH! THIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU CREEP!" Ann yelled at Mitchel.

"For crying out--- DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAN TO HARASS ME AND BLAME ME FOR YOUR MESSES?" Mitchel shouted.

Ann then chucked the broom handle right at Mitchel's face, which caught it with precise timing.

"I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU ANYWHERE NEAR CLIFF AGAIN, GOT IT?" Ann yelled.

Mitchel responded with a violent glare before reaching into his rucksack for some gold pieces. He then placed a few in Doug's hand.

"I apologize for what happened to your broom. I hope that's enough to compensate" he calmly explained when he pointed to the sliced broom head, which Doug noted immediately.

"I'm ditching this place and going to the library to talk to Mary. At least I can calm down when I'm with her..." Mitchel grumbled to himself before leaving.

"AND LEAVE POPURI ALONE TOO! SHE'S ALREADY OBSESSED ENOUGH WITH CHICKENS AS IT IS!" Ann cried.

Doug simply witnessed the chaos with awe in his heart, and a dumb grin on his face. "Ah, young love..." he sighed.

Ann gave her Dad an awkward glare upon hearing this. "Uh... Dad? Did you dip into the wine stash again?"

Omake: Wallflower Hottie

At the Mineral Town Library, Mitchel and Mary were having a conversation on attraction.

"Say, er... Mary, I'll probably sound perverted for saying this, but your Mom's really good looking!" he confessed with a slight blush.

"Really?" Mary said. "Oh, please don't feel to awkward about it. A lot of men actually say that about her. Even Kai..." she said with a hint of envy.

"You really don't have a lot of self-confidence when it comes to that sort of thing, do you?" Mitchel asked.

"n...No... not really." Mary bashfully answered. "The other girls around here are just so much more beautiful, or cuter, and they're all a lot more confident than me."

Mitchel shook his head in disapproval. "You've gotta be kidding me! When I said your Mother was good looking, I thought that opinion would automaticallycarry on to my opinion of you!" he cried.

Mary looked bewildered. "Huh?"

"No, really!" Mitchel exclaimed. "You've definitely inherited her looks, but you've got this cuteness factor that's all your own! It's amazing!"

Mary gazed at his goofy grin. "Are you sure about that?"

Mitchel's head seemed to rattle as he shook his head up and down.

"Yeah, your conservative style has a unique appeal on its own, but I bet people would really notice your beauty if you loosened your hair and tried on a nice dress!" Mitchel cried.

"Is that so? But... I'm not sure about that... I... probably won't look in such clothing compared to everyone else." she sighed.

"Well then... let me picture it for a minute! I got a really good imagination, you know!" he replied with confidence.

Mitchel then closed his eyes and concentrated hard.

In his mind, he saw Mary without her glasses so she could show off her beautiful grey eyes. Her hair was unbraided and wavy, and she wore a dress outfit similar to Anna, but she it was devoid of an apron and was colored in a navy blue color instead. Her charming smile completed the image.

Mitchel then opened his eyes. "Yeah, it's a pretty cute look!" he grinned.

Mary squinted her eyes for a moment and managed to get a peek of Mitchel's mental image. She blushed slightly upon seeing this re-envisioned self. "Y-yeah... I guess it is... but trying out such a look might prove to be a bit of a distraction for the occasional readers coming in. Plus, it's really hard to get contacts around here" she uttered softly.

"Okay, then how about a more professional look?" Mitchel chirped. "I'm thinking a blue blazer and white collar dress shirt with a skirt! You can still fit into the imagery!"

"Ahh... Maybe that could work..." Mary answered.

"How about you join me in imagining this look?" Mitchel suggested.

"Okay..." Mary reluctantly agreed.

So then, both inhabitants of the Library closed their eyes and concentrated on the description.

Mary's hair remained unbraided and wavy, but this time she was sporting the blue blazer outfit, with the white shirt emphasizing her small, yet still noticeable chest area. Apparently, neither could imagine Mary as her usual sweet self in such an outfit. Instead, they imagined her with her mother's trademark "coy" look behind those square frames.

"Holy Crap!" Mitchel and Mary thought in unison.

Both of them turned red immediately upon completing this imagery. Mithcel's nose bled as Mary came close to fainting.

"She has the potential to surpass Karen!" Mitchel thought.

"It's... too much... way too much..." Mary thought in panic.