Chapter 5

In Mineral Town Library, Mitchel decided to have another private chat with his close friend Mary. Few people understood this friendship between the eccentric farmer and the humble Librarian, while fewer people were even aware that these two were friends in the first place. Whatever the case may be, Mitchel and Mary seem to have the right things in common that allow them to get along just fine.

Unfortunately, exaggerated news about the "relationship" between Mitchel and Ann was spreading like wildfire...

Mitchel sighed. "I don't understand what goes around here sometimes. I have a feeling there are some sinister plots being formed behind my back." he groaned. "At least I can always count on you to be the reasonable one of this town! It's always... a relief taking to you, somehow."

"Thank you..." Mary smiled. "At least I know I'm still useful for something."

"Geez, don't say that sort of stuff around me! It makes me nervous!"

"I'm just kidding!" Mary assured her peculiar friend. "It's just, barely anyone comes here..."

"It's alright. At least you can be sure this place is quiet. And I'm pretty sure you've shared a few moments with somebody special, right?" Mitchel commented with a wink.

Mary blushed. "Does... does he know about me and Gray?" she thought nervously.

Mitchel stared blankly. "Oh, so she does have a thing for Gray. I thought they were just casual acquaintances, but... ah, whatever. At least I know I'm not her only friend... and I'm not the only one who finds something attractive about her, but that's not my problem... I think..."

"Anyway," he said aloud. "I think... there's a girl in Mineral Town I'm really starting to like... a lot..." he admitted shyly.

"Really? Is that so?" Mary said curiously.

Mitchel nodded. "Yeah... I was considering going to the Doctor about this, but he seems preoccupied with Elli a lot, and Karen... well, even though she's my childhood friend, I have a bad feeling about sharing something like this with her. You see, I didn't really think it would be her... she started off as my comrade, someone who shared a few interests with me. But then, we end up together in a number of situations, and I get a glimpse of this unexpected side of her. Things are just starting to get really awkward with her now..."

"I see..." Mary answered with a cheerful smile. "It's Popuri, isn't it?"

"Yes, it--- wait, how did you know?" Mitchel asked.

Mary giggled. "I'm sorry, it became pretty obvious to me when you started getting into it. I mean, she's one of the few people in this village you call a "comrade", and I must admit, the two of you really look cute together!"

"Really?" Mitchel exclaimed.

"Yes, I do." Mary nodded. "I've actually seen her a few times, and I notice you're having a positive impact on her. Instead of complaining about not being recognized as an adult, she's actually trying to mature. And she's even come over to my house to pick up some recipes from Mom. I think she's going all out, this time!"

The redness on the farmer's face intensified upon hearing this.

"Heh... wow... I guess she's just as curious about knowing this woman as much as I am..." Mitchel said with a bashful chuckle.

"I guess so..." Mary replied.

Mitchel rubbed his head. "I just have the strongest feeling it's going to get really awkward between her and I. To me, I'm basically developing feelings for someone who's maturing before my very eyes, but I'm not sure if she even thinks that fondly of me. It kinda stings when she talks about "handsome men" like I'm not one of them, but there must be some reason I'm curious about this..."

Mary gave a light chuckle. "Ah... don't mind that! She can be strange like that at times, but I'm sure she doesn't mean any harm! Besides, you did tell me she made you breakfast some time ago, right?"

Mitchel nodded. "Yeah. She was even acting disoriented and babbly, but maybe it wasn't because I made her nervous or anything. There could've been a bunch of different reasons the breakfast made her nervous... like she literally made it in her sleep or something." he explained.

Mary lowered her head with a slight blush and a meek smile.

"You two will make such a cute couple... I'm jealous..."

The poor farmer came close to fainting on the spot, but he managed to regain his compusre just in time.

"Wh-What? That's... jumping the gun a little, isn't it?" he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry... it's just... I've been waiting to get together with someone I've really liked for the longest time, and I'm a little envious of how fast you two are reaching that point---"

"You're talking about Gray, aren't you?" Mitchel interrupted abruptly.

At that time, it was May's turn to nearly faint, but the quick-thinking Mitchel caught the Librarian before she could loose consciousness.

"Yeah... sorry about that. I guess we just know each other too well, don't we?" the farmer said with a nervous look.

"Either that, or we're a couple of mind readers..." Mary added in meek sarcasm.

"Nah, we're just frikin' kiddy books to each other!" Mitchel added jokingly.

After the black-haired pair shared a few more moments of laughter, Mitchel snapped his finger and took out something from his notebook.

"Right! Your novel! I'm actually done with it now!" he said cheerfully.

"Really? What do you think? Gray really seemed to love it, and he's a pretty tough critic on fictional writings. I was also hoping to get word from a casual reader such as yourself, so... I just have to know."

Mitchel smiled in satisfaction. "Actually, it was really good! I was a little worried you came to the wrong guy when you told me it was a romance novel, but then it got interesting when I found out the fantasy and comedy aspects of it. Lady Rosemary was such a wonderfully opinionated character for one of nobility, I just couldn't help but enjoy those scenes! But my favorite character in the story was the mischievous Mage, Mendell. His particular take on the pessimism of romance is a sadly uncommon view on the world; however, I just loved the way he manipulated everyone in the story, especially when he gave those snooty chicks just what they deserved! I didn't know you had this sort of imagination in you!"

"Ah... thank you..." Mary replied softly as she accepted the novel. "I really wasn't expecting that sort of praise... it just sort of came to me, and I'm just an amateur after all."

"Don't worry about things like that! I'm pretty sure there's plenty of talent in the world that are just amateur writers or are struggling to get published. I mean, nobody can expect to start out on the top, right?" Mitchel rationalized.

"Good point..." Mary replied.

Mitchel took a quick glance at his watch, and realized how late it's getting.

"Anyway, I guess it's time for me to leave. I've been in here for quite a while now, and it's almost time for the library to close up. Also, I have this bamboo shoot with the Doctor's name on it, and it would be rude to keep a busy guy waiting.."

"Wait!" Mary cried.

"Whatisit?" Mitchel muttered.

"I suppose I've been meaning to ask you about it for awhile, but... have you been able to cope well with all the strange rumors about you and Ann? I've managed to hear something about it from Mother, and a few people are convinced you're love with her due to all of your fighting!"

Mitchel sighed. "I suspect this town is full of romance-obsessed crazies..." he stated. "While they spend too much time preoccupying themselves with passion and conflict, they don't realize what other problems they're causing with this crap. Why can't some people in this world take emotions at face value, anyway? Are we all really this stupid and assuming in the end?"

"That's how gossip works, no matter how ridiculous the logic is." Mary explained.

"Okay, then... if I want to make it clear to everybody, maybe I should start treating Popuri like Comrade Rick does, and blatantly point out all her childish habits. And if people are to finally realize we're friends, perhaps we should start bickering around town! Then all this "Ann and Me" nonsense will be old news!" he exclaimed in convincing enthusiasm.

"Of course, Gray might want to kick my ass for thinking I'm being mean to you... or people will start to think we're the hottest new couple..." he voiced in concern.

When the humor started kicking in for the both of them, Mitchel and Mary were sent in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"Let's... just... keep hanging out like we are now. Our little-known friendship is fine the way it is." Mary insisted.

Mitch nodded. "Yeah. "We're better off as just being freinds", right? It really wouldn't be fair to break Popuri's heart because we started going out on a whim." he joked.

"Well then, goodbye, Mitchel! It's been fun, but like you said earlier, I really have to close up!" Mary said.

"Glad to be of help!" Mitchel grinned. "While I figure out a way to "break up with Ann", I'll wish you the best of luck with Gray!"

"Thank you. And Good luck with Popuri!" Mary answered.

Mitchel then left the Library as Mary prepared her keys to lock up. For a minute, she paused to gaze up at the ceiling hopefully.

"Oh, Harvest Goddess... please let Mitchel and Popuri get together without too much difficulty. He's been such a good friend to me for a while, and I honestly believe Popuri's starting to change for the better. Gray and I have already been blessed with an uncomplicated relationship, so please... do me this one favor and help those two."

Shen then got out of her seat and finally leave the Library behind locked doors before another thought came to her.

"Whose fault was this whole "Ann and Mitchel" rumor, anyway?" she pondered.

Back at Aja Winery, Manna started pondering to herself.

"Hmm... maybe I should help those two lovebirds finally get together and bring some peace to this town! I bet they'll look adorable when Ann and Mitchel finally acknowledge their true feelings!" she thought in excitement, before something else hit her.

"Then again, the tension between is just too exciting! I should probably just let nature take its course..."

Omake: Girls Say the Darnest Things

One sunny afternoon, Mitchel went to Barley's Farm to visit, out of all people, May. No one knows for sure how exactly a young man like Mitch and a little girl like May can get along without people asuming the worst, but they must be pretty lucky to retain their friendship.

"Hey, May!" the raven-haired chicken boy greeted in good cheer.

"Hi, Mitchel!" May answered.

"How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm okay. I'm still bothered that Grandpa can't play with me so much, but at least I have Stu, Ellen, and Carter to hang out with."

"The priest guy?"

"Yeah! He's pretty cool..."

Mitchel thought about this for a while and considered a decent run of bad luck he's come across with other people of his "proffession", but he had the pleasure of learning that Carter's the most amusing priest he's ever met. For one thing, the guy actually told a story about a man being magically stuck to the ground without using some sort of religious reference.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're doing fine." Mitchel grinned.

"Actually, Stu's starting to confuse me a little..." May said bashfully.

Mitchel nodded. "Oh, okay... is he starting to tell you peculiar riddles or something?"

"N-no... nothing like that. I don't mean that he's TRYING to confuse me, it's just I'm starting mixed feelings towards him." May replied.

"Mix feelings? That's interesting..." Mitchel said thoughtfully.

"Yeah. It's just, a lot of the time, I really like him, but then some of the time I don't. That's what confuses me." May explained.

The strange chicken boy scratched his head. "That's really odd. I don't know what think about it. Maybe it's one of those little boy and girl touchy-feely issues, but I rarely had any experience with that during my childhood. Heck, I've met way too many girls in my early childhood that hated my guts because they thought I was the spawn of evil. It was a strange impression, too, since everybody knew me as a "goodie-goodie" incapable of doing bad things. Anyway, if May and Stu actually care about each other, they're getting off lucky..." he thought to himself.

Mitchel then clutched his head and laughed bashfully. "Ah... I'm really sorry, but I don't understand why you're asking me. I mean, I'm a man, afterall, and I feel like this is something one female should share with another..."

"Oh no! I think you might have a better idea why this is happening! I mean, Stu's a boy, kinda like you are, so maybe you could tell me if Stu might be having some similar confusion as well..." May asked hopefully.

Mitchel shrugged. "I'm sorry say, but I can't say for sure. First of all, most of us guys are idiots at this stuff. That's why I think this is more apporpriate for girl talk. Another thing is, I also don't have a clue why feelings would fluctuate like that. Does Stu act friendly towards you sometimes, and just plain picks on you or someonebody else you like on other days?"

"Well, I suppose so, but that's not what's causing these change of feelings..." May said in frustration. "But you know what, Mitchel? I'm pretty jealous of you!"

Mitchel looked perplexed.

"Huh?"

"You actually have it easier than me! I mean, you know for sure that you hate Ann for one thing, but then you clearly like being with Mary! You don't get to be confused as I am about how you feel towards other!" she complained.

Mitchel chuckled nervously. "Ah... okay... I'm glad you're not listening to the crazy adults--"

"Oh, don't worry about that! Some adults around here are just plain weird!"

"Anyway, I'm glad your not listening to those gossip-obsessed crazies, but where did you get off knowing I'm fine with Mary?" Mitchel cried.

May giggled. "I always see you two talking in the Library. The two of you look happy together."

Mitchel nodded his head slowly. "... I guess this is better than this same little girl assuming that I like Ann, too..." he uttered aloud.

"So... are you two planning on going out soon?" May asked curiously.

Mitchel shook his head. "No, no. I'm sorry. I'm not really into her THAT way, and I already think she's romantically involved with Gray, so I should probably stay of the way for the sake of my glasses-wearing friend. But that DOESN'T mean I don't think she's attractive in any way. In fact, her humble cuteness is a truly pleasant quality." he stated.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to here that. You two seem really nice together." May said in dissapointment.

"Is that a fact? Well, I'm sorry to let you down like that." Mitchel lamented.

"So then... are you trying to go out with Popuri, instead?" May asked enthusiastically.

"...I give up..."