A/N: Whoa, wasn't expecting people to actually like this story. XD

Well I hope this next chapter doesn't disappoint you all! Of course Owen and Akari aren't going to get together very quickly, I hate stories that have characters falling in love in under 0.2 seconds, but I promise that I will get to the fluffy parts soon. :3

'Text here' = Someone's mental thoughts.

"Text here" = When someone is talking.

-+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+-

As Akari entered the large interior space of the building she felt her senses register the various sights and smells of the tiny shop that she soon might become a part of. For one, as one would suspect the place had a rather harsh metallic smell permeating the air, typical of what one would expect from a shop that dealt with the refinement and shaping of various ores and stones. Yet underneath that there was also a rather earthy smell, one that at first seemed odd next to the first more overpowering smell, but seemed to belong there all the same.. The smell of soil, dirt, clay, minerals, and countless other things strung together into one unique scent.. These two in turn merged together with dozens of other tiny smells, ones that were too faint for Akari to even accurately identify at first, into a rather homely scent that made the shop seem altogether more inviting than it originally appeared.

The layout of the shop also had a rather inviting feel to it, from the beautiful metal works adorning the walls to the way the hearth and forge were set neatly against one of the far corners. Of course, the place seemed a little too clean for it to be a blacksmiths shop but even that helped to add to it's charm… Though Akari certainly had to wonder how they managed to keep the place so tidy.. Oh sure, the forge area was covered in a light dusting of soot, burnt out charcoal pieces, and various other degrees of grime, but everywhere else it looked like someone had taken an industrial floor buffer, turned it onto the max setting, and let the thing run wild across the various surfaces of the building until they were suitably free of any blotches of dirt or filth.. All in all, it made for a rather odd picture..

"Miss, is there something you need..?" A raspy voice called out in mild annoyance, drawing Akari out of her previous musing like a proverbial slap in the face..

Sheepishly Akari turned her attention to the owner of the voice, choosing to ignore Owen's rather amused grin as she did so.. In front of her was a rather grisly looking old man, garbed in a sleeveless working smock, that seemed to be stained with soot and various other unmentionables, and various other working attire. His hair also seemed to defy the laws of gravity itself, for it was sticking out at various angles and points seemingly without that aide of any styling gel.. However the most defining feature that he held was his eyes that seemed to twinkle in amusement despite being set in what was otherwise a rather harsh looking face..

"Ah yes.. Um.." Akari chuckled nervously, suddenly unsure of what it was she was going to say next. After all this was the first time she had ever applied for an actual job that helped her pay the bills…

'What should I say?' she mentally berated herself, unable to come up with anything mildly useful to say in the situation.

Thankfully Owen seemed to sense her nervous disposition and came to her aide, "Akari, this is my grand-uncle Ramsey." He smiled down at her reassuringly, before then turning to the other man in the room, "Ramsey, this is Akari. She's the new rancher that's taken up residence on the isle. Remember how Chloe was going on and on about her after she saw that TV special on the news?"

"Ah, so you're the one that's taken over that small plot of land near the river! Well it certainly is nice to make your acquaintance, are you going around the island and introducing yourself to everyone?" Ramsey asked amiably, no longer staring Akari down like he previously had been.

Akari breathed a sigh of relief before sending Owen a grateful look for so skillfully lightening the tension in the room, which he then returned with a small smile. Now at more ease with herself and the situation before her, Akari stepped forward with a small amount of new found confidence before addressing Ramsey. "Yes sir, it's a pleasure to meet you as well." She then did a small respectful bow before continuing, trying to keep her hesitance in check. "Actually I was hoping to apply for the part-time job that you are offering…"

"Hmm.." Was her only reply, as Ramsey took to inspecting her physical appearance upon hearing her request. In turn causing Akari's face to light up slightly in embarrassment.. To say she felt uncomfortable under his gaze would have been a gross overstatement.. It was just incredibly odd to be sized up in such a fashion by her would be employer, and she couldn't help but feel slightly self conscious as he did so..

'Why is he looking at me like that anyways..?' She wondered nervously, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

With a tired sigh Ramsey finished his inspection, apparently unimpressed with what he was seeing. "And do you have any references per chance?" He asked, crossing his arms slightly deciding to withhold what he thought about Akari's lack of physique for now..

"Well I don't have any recommendation papers with me at the moment, but if you want I can give you the numbers of the animal shelter and various wildlife sanctuaries I volunteered for.. I'm sure they'd be willing to recommend me for the job." Akari mentally kicked herself, not amused by the fact that she had completely forgotten to compile a list of references and letters of recommendation before coming here… 'Stupid over excitement, you've done me in again..'

The answer seemed to satisfy the older man somewhat, for the unimpressed look seemed to evaporate slightly from his face. Though for the most part he still didn't seem too willing to give her the job.. "I see, and how much can you lift? Surely while doing volunteer work you were put through your paces..?"

"Yes.. I did have to do a lot of grunt work while working at those places.. Why do you ask..?" By now Akari was becoming slightly annoyed with where the conversation seemed to be going, though she valiantly managed to keep it from seeping into her demeanor or voice.

"I'm simply trying to decide whether or not I should hire you Ms. Akari. You don't appear to be overly fit at the moment, and the help that I need requires one to be at least mildly strong in order to complete their tasks properly.. And you.." He looked her over once more. "Don't seem to fit the description at all.." The words range harshly in his ears, and for a moment he almost regretted lambasting the young woman so quickly.. Still when it came to the well being of his shop he was more than willing to be as harsh as possible if it helped to ensure it's continued success.

Akari felt her cheeks turn red with anger, not at all amused by what the man was insinuating. She was already well aware of how unimpressive she appeared to be in the physical strength department, having been well used to people underestimating what she could accomplish.. Yet that didn't stop the words of doubt from stinging each and every time they were uttered.. Why couldn't people seem to see past her twig like appearance? Just because she didn't have muscles bulging out of every surface of her body didn't mean that she wasn't just as capable of lifting heavy items as the next person was!

"Well excuse me sir, but since when does physical appearance alone determine my individual strength and ability to carry out tasks involving manual labor?" She asked, her tone clipped and her hands shaking slightly at her sides, looking at Ramsey evenly in the eyes as she spoke.. "I'm more than capable of handling types of work that involve physical strength in order to be completed, and can deal with whatever it is you throw my way." Her voice was struggling to stay at normal pitch with each and every word, though she refused to stop now. Chances were that this little protest would cost her the job, but at least she would leave with her integrity intact..

"So please, sir, do not make unfair assumptions of my abilities without at least giving me a chance to prove myself first!" Finally losing the battle to keep the pitch of her voice as normal as possible, Akari ended up nearly shouting the last part at the old man. She then continued to stare at him dead in the eyes, daring the other to argue with her.. All the while trying to subtly gulp in as much air as possible to refill her deprived lungs.. Who knew ranting could leave you so out of breath?

What happened next threw her off guard, for instead of retaliating verbally Ramsey just chuckled lightly at her display.. Chuckled! Shouldn't he at least have started yelling back at her, demanding she get off his property, or something…? Anything but what he was doing right now..

"W.. Wha… What's so funny?!" She demanded, confusion painted clearly on her face.

Ramsey just continued to chuckle, and without even so much as sparing her a glance turned to his grand-nephew who also seemed to have been overcome with amusement. "Well.." Ramsey began, "What do you think Owen?"

Akari looked between Owen and Ramsey several times, still clearly not understanding what was transpiring between the two men.. Had they gone insane or something…? Why does it matter what Owen thought..?

"I think you just lost this particular battle of wills Ramsey." Owen replied with a hearty laugh, turning to gesture towards the shocked and confused woman near him. "Akari refuted most of your claims rather nicely don't you think?" His eyes seemed to glint with a small amount of respect at her display.

"Agreed." Ramsey chuckled some more. "I guess I have no choice but to give her the job and see just what she can do then?" Cracking a rather wide toothy smile shortly before continuing, "Welcome aboard Ms. Akari. You wanted a chance to prove yourself, and here's it is."

Ok.. What..? Akari blinked slowly, trying to process the entire conversation that had just occurred.. So wait, that means that.. But why..? Mustering up the nerve to speak, Akari looked between the two men still confused beyond belief.. "Hold on… You were originally skeptical about giving me the job before because you perceived me to be too weak to handle the stresses it entailed, but now after I verbally lashed out you're more than willing to give me the job..?" She looked at Ramsey incredulously, surely there was no way that the old man could have changed his opinion of her so quickly..

"Don't get me wrong Ms., I'm still rather unsure of your abilities as a whole. However, I agree with you that it was unfair of me to treat you in such a way without first providing you with a chance to prove yourself." Ramsey replied, nodding slightly to himself as he uncrossed his arms. "Besides, I have to admire the spunk you showed in standing up for yourself."

At that Akari flushed slightly, suddenly feeling a little self conscious as she let his words sink in. Guess her argumentative attitude in the face of being doubted upon was finally good for something.. Normally when she argued her case with other people she ended up getting punished with a whole weeks worth of cage cleaning or something equally unsavory.. Like managing the visitor play center at one of the sanctuaries she volunteers at where parents could drop off their younger children as they went around to see the animals.. She still hoped to never see another dispenser of silly string again for the rest of her life… Still, it was quite a shock to see someone concede to her even in the slightest way, though she did wish to know what would need to be done in order to actually clinch the job..

Coughing slightly to rouse herself out of her rather disturbing musings, Akari decided to get to the heart of the matter before her mind strayed any further.. "Thank you for giving me a chance.. So.. What do you have in mind as far as proving myself goes..?"

Ramsey just gave her a rather self-satisfied grin, and suddenly she began to wonder what kind of hellish experience she was getting herself into..

-+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+-

To be fair, Ramsey hadn't been particularly creative in his request. There were no attempts to make her start doing skilled metal work on the spot, no attempt to test her strength by making her run around the length of the island with lead weights attached to her hands, and certainly no attempts to make her do something completely ridiculous that would humiliate her for ages to come.. No, Ramsey asked her to do none of these things. Instead his request had been simple. Organize his work area in the basement, which was chock full of raw materials and various other knick-knacks of little importance to everyone but the blacksmith, before the day was done and the job would be hers. Sounds easy right..? Yeah, that's what Akari had initially thought as well.. However as soon as Owen had finished leading her towards the basement and had opened the door for her, she began to realize just how sadistic the old codger had been when he choose the task..

'You have got to be kidding me…' She mentally groaned as she surveyed the layout of the basement, a look of shock and horror playing across her face..

The basement was rather small width wise, yet it's sheer length was simply amazing. Even more impressive, and currently one of the causes of Akari's unease, was the fact that there was a mountain of junk in the area that had apparently been designated for her to clean. Add onto that the fact that everything in the place had about an inch worth of dust and cobwebs attached to every surface, and you had one hell of a cleaning job ahead of yourself… Hmm.. Maybe she could ask Ruth if there was possibly someone else offering a job in the town..? Surely nobody else would be as cruel as to make her tackle such a task…?

"Don't tell me you're thinking of giving up already?" Owen quipped from beside her, quite enjoying being able to get a rise out of the rather zany young woman. Thankfully Akari didn't disappoint him in those regards, for as soon as the words left his mouth she seemed to snap out of her previous disposition and turned to regard him in annoyance.

"Of course not!" She declared, turning her head up slightly in a mock haughty posture seemingly full of confidence.

"Well good." Was his reply, a smile seemingly permanently stamped upon his face. "You might want to get started then, it's almost ten and you'll need as much time as possible if you wish to get it all done before the shop closes at five later in the afternoon." With that he began walking away, intent on getting back to the work he had been doing before this whole incident had occurred, but not before turning back to Akari to impart one last thing. "Oh and before I forget, there is an industrial sized vacuum down there under the staircase, that should help you get rid of most of the dust and cobwebs. Good luck." He then started to once again walk away..

Akari couldn't help but allow a small thankful smile to spread across her face and quickly shouted her appreciation towards him before he managed to get out of ear shot. "Thank you for everything Owen! I really appreciate it!" Unfortunately though since he was no longer within viewing distance she completely missed the sight of his grin growing even wider than before after her outburst.. Or his cheerful, 'You're welcome', that echoed behind him as he left the shop.

Taking a deep breath, Akari descended the stairs down into what she was sure would come to be her own personal hell for the next few hours.. Intent on at least showing herself that she was capable of tackling such a large task, and even more so showing everyone else at the shop that she was more than qualified to get the job…

-+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+-

Four hours later, and Akari was seemingly half way through her appointed task. This should have been a monumental occasion worthy of celebration, or at least a quick dance of happiness, but all she could think about were the cob webs that were tangled in her hair, the dirt and dust that had smudged nearly every surface of her body, and of course the remaining items that needed to be sorted into place..

Tiredly she wiped the beads of sweat that were dripping down her brow with her arm, mentally going over each of the tasks she still needed to do. 'Let's see… I still have to organize that cabinet full of materials, move that dresser to one of the opposite walls, stack those bags full of charcoal under the staircase, dust the remaining surfaces…' The list just went on and on.. Though it should be said that she was eternally grateful towards Owen for telling her about the industrial vacuum before he had left. That alone had shaved several hours of needless sweeping off of her agenda, and was probably the only thing that had allow her to get this far into her cleaning schedule.

Resolving to thank Owen once again the next time she saw him, Akari dutifully went back to work trying to figure out which task she should tackle next.. Hmm.. That dresser looked to be a rather easy thing to move.. Maybe she should do that next? "Ah, why not.. It's not like I won't have to move it later anyways." She mumbled before grabbing both sides of the dresser and picked it up…

Only to find that a family of rats had made the bottom of the dresser their home and were not too please to be uncovered.. She only had a nano-second to register their presence before the tiny creatures began scurrying in all directions, including across her feet, causing her to nearly trip backwards with the dresser still in her hands. A few seconds of stillness then passed before she realized that most of the rats had emerged from under her heavy cargo before Akari let out a sigh of relief.. At least she could move now without tripping over something furry.. She then went back to her original task, and even managed to get half-way across the room, cargo in tow, before a shrill cry broke the silence..

"Squeak!"

Startled Akari dropped the dresser in fright, nearly causing it to slam into her toes in the process.. Wincing slightly at the near miss, she turned her attention towards the area the sound had come from. It didn't take her long to find the source, for there right on the ground behind her was a small orange/fawn colored rat with half it's body trapped under a rather heavy looking cardboard box.. Which was chock full of iron and various other ores, and that she must have knocked over when she nearly fell after picking the dresser up.. The poor thing was absolutely terrified as it flailed frantically under the crushing weight, sending out a shrill stream of pleading cries with each twist of it's body..

Without another word, Akari strode as quickly as she could without thinking towards the frightened animal before grasping the exposed part of it's body, ignoring the stinging bites that were made to the skin of her glove, and hefted the box off of it's tiny body with her other hand. Once it was free she quickly snatched it away, allowing the box to free fall back to the ground before cupping the small creature lightly in front of her face to inspect it's injuries..

For the most part the tiny creature seemed to be relatively uninjured despite nearly being crushed by the overwhelming weight that was pressed upon it just seconds before. It had since stopped attempting to bite her hand in a bid to free itself, and was now content to simply look straight into her eyes as she continued her inspection.. Now that she could get a better look at it she could see that it had a small solid round ring of white rimming each of it's eyes, the ring on the right side being larger than the left.. It also had a faint dorsal stripe running down it's tiny back that was almost invisible in what little light she had to work with… All in all, despite a few bruises to it's back end the creature was perfectly healthy, if not a little weird looking..

Satisfied with her inspection Akari took one of her hands out from under the rat, with it shifting onto the other for support, and lightly stroked it behind the ears affectionately before whispering lightly to it.. "Well it looks like you're alright little guy, I'm sorry for knocking that box on top of you.. I hope you can forgive me."

A little squeak was her only reply, and with that she smiled lightly before placing her hand down onto the floor to allow the small creature to go about it's way. The moment her hand touched down, the rat bolted a safe distance away before turning back to regard her curiously as she went back to work.

And that's how it remained for the next thirty minutes as Akari finished moving the rest of the furniture, including the ratty, pun not intended, dresser, to the other side of the garage, before turning to the other chores she needed to accomplish. All the while the steady feeling of being watched continued to gnaw at the back of her mind, causing her to continuously look back to the rat to see if it had finally decided to move off.. It hadn't the last time she checked... Though maybe it would be gone by now..? With a sigh Akari looked over her shoulder…

And it was still there…

Akari groaned in annoyance, and in response the rat just tilted it's head to the side never breaking it's stare.

Her eye twitched tiredly as she regarded the creature, and it decided it was high time to start working on that persistent itch behind one of it's ears.

This went on for awhile, with Akari looking over her shoulder and the rat returning the gaze each and every time.

Finally when she was seriously about to verbally scare the little thing off before it distracted her further, the doors on top of the stairwell flew open and what appeared to be a human bundle of energy came bounding down.. The loud noise that was being made as a result having effectively sent the rat packing into the nearest hiding place.

"Hello! My name is Chloe!" The bundle of energy proclaimed as it stopped in front of her, hopping up and down excitedly. "You must Akari huh!? I heard about you on the news, and then from grandpa just now! And…" The bundle, which she now could see was a small girl with flame like hair and rather colorful clothing, rambled on excitedly barely able to keep herself still as she did so.

Akari felt the urge to grab the girl by the shoulders and force her to stop moving so much bubble up inside of her, but decided against it.. It probably wouldn't work anyways.. So instead she decided upon giving the girl a disarmingly warm smile, time in that child care facility had taught her that smiling always helped around children, before interrupting her never ending chatter. "It's nice to meet you too Chloe. If you don't mind my asking why did you come down here? Surely I'm not interesting enough to warrant your coming down into this dank place?" She finished with what appeared to be an entertained smile, much of which was by now real as she continued to observe the girl.

"Oh! Sorry, I almost forgot." The small girl exclaimed loudly before she began to frantically dig into her pockets. Then after a few moments ended up producing a neatly wrapped sandwich from the depths of one of the pockets, which she promptly offered to Akari. "Here! My cousin Owen said both he and my grandpa wanted me to give you something to eat when he came into the mines today! It's a little smashed, but it should still be alright." A toothy grin firmly planted upon her face as she said each word, glad to help her cousin out in some fashion.

"Owen did..?" Akari blinked slightly, not expecting someone she barely even knew to show such concern on her well being. Though she was clearly starting to see a pattern when it came to him..

"Yeah! He seemed kind of worried that you wouldn't be able to get out and eat anything after being stuck down here in the basement of no return." The last part she said with a harsh grimace, obviously not liking the thought of being down here for long spaces of time, before continuing.. "He's always like that actually, worrying about others and all." She said with a laugh, still eagerly holding the sandwich up for Akari to take.

"Ah I see.." Akari chuckled slight before accepting the sandwich gratefully from Chloe's waiting hands. "Chloe thank you for bringing this to me. I was sure I'd starve down here before too long." She said with a laugh, inciting a giggle from the younger girl.

"No problem Akari!" There was a sudden shuffling upstarts followed by various mumbled words and what sounded suspiciously like the beginnings of a rant.. "Ack..! I have to go now.. Grandpa doesn't like it when I'm down here for very long.. See ya later!" And with that she began bounding up the stairs at break neck speed, shouting placating words up to whom Akari assumed was Ramsey as she went. In the blink of an eye she had already crested the final step on the staircase before grabbing the door and shutting it once more, leaving Akari in near darkness once more.

Quietly Akari began to unwrap the sandwich from it's plastic shielding, taking time to note the ingredients as she went.. Eventually she determined the sandwich to be a BLT in origin, and wordlessly found a spot on the ground to begin nibbling on it.

She hadn't taken more than three bites however before she eventually felt something crawl into her lap. Which upon looking down happened to be the same rat from before. How it wasn't showing any fear of her was beyond Akari's comprehension.. Maybe it was too young to develop a fear of humans..? Regardless, the little thing was now sniffing curiously at food in her hand, obviously wanting to know if it was edible or not.

"Geez, you're a persistent little guy aren't you..?" She muttered as she looked down at the creature, who now having clearly decided that the food must indeed be edible was giving her it's best rendition of a puppy-dog stare..

"Nu-uh, no way.." She began, trying to shield her sandwich away from it's prying eyes.. However Akari had to admit that she underestimated the effectiveness of it's stare, for it wasn't long before she felt her opposition melt into a pool of goop at the sight of the small creature and it's expressive eyes.. Curse these creatures and their beady little eyes!

"Fine.. Here…" She grumbled, breaking off a piece of the sandwich and placing it into the little creature's waiting paws. The little thing must have been rather hungry, for the moment the food was in it's possession it began to devour it at a tremendous pace, nearly putting Chloe's own show of speed to shame.. Wow.. Now that was surprising...

And that's how Akari and it stayed for the better part of the next ten minutes, her eating the sandwich she had given as quietly as possible, every so often breaking a piece off for her small would-be companion to partake. Soon the sandwich had been eaten out of existence and Akari having found that she had nothing else to hold her back from her original task slowly began to rise from the ground, the rat scurrying up to rest on her shoulder as she did so, intent on getting everything done before day's end.

The rest of her work went quickly, possibly from the companionship that the small rat provided, and before she could even register the change in time she found herself standing in front of Ramsey awaiting his verdict on the state of the basement.. The rat having since disappeared once more, much to her surprising disappointment.

It seemed that he was mildly impressed with her work, though he couldn't help but point out the various thing she could have done better. Which of course earned him a light glare from the tired Akari. Still despite the nitpicking, Ramsey had stated quite clearly that she had done a rather passable job, and kindly bade her to return home and wash up before returning to work the next day. To which she did a small mental dance, far too sore to bother with such trivial things in the real world, and slowly made the trek back to her small hovel of a house.. Not noticing that the weight in her satchel had grown slightly, nor the slight sounds of claws meeting leather that could be heard each time she shifted her weight from one extreme to the other..

-+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+-

A/N: Alright, I originally cut this chapter in half but decided it looked too short when I posted it initially.. (2200+ words isn't short, but since I pack them so densely together it looked incredibly scrunched up.) So I strung it back together and continued working on it. The last part is rushed as you can see, I've spent the past seven hours on this and got tired towards the very end, but all in all the chapter is as I had planned.

The rat does play a part in the story, although it's rather small, and frankly I thought Akari needed an animal friend to keep her company given how long it takes in the game to get animals of your own.

Also sorry if some of the characters seem OOC, Ramsey especially.. I just picture him as being rather strict about who works at his shop seeing as his income depends upon his own skill AND the skill of the people working for him. However I tried to redeem him slightly in a few places to make it a bit more obvious that he's not being an uncharacteristic bastard.

P.S. The next chapter WILL have a ton of Owen x Akari interaction and potentially some fluff. I just had to get all this plot building stuff out of the way first before I started on the more romance driven parts. xD;;