[A/N]: I really don't know what went down for the last couple of months, so I apologize, to the max. I'm really sorry to say, but Chase's POVs' will be in third person—since writing in first seems to lead to pathetic chapters (really, I've tried 5 times, yet everything seems to turn out horribly). So, yeah.

[Disclaimer:] I do not own Harvest Moon, Natsume and Marvelous Entertainment does. This story is based on: Harvest Moon: Animal Parade/Waku Waku Animal March.

Chapter 8

…Where the hell was this woman?

Seriously, he'd been waiting all day for her and yet… she hadn't showed up. This was really odd, considering whenever Akari was running late or at least wouldn't be able to show up, she'd at least call—but no response whatsoever…? Highly unlikely; something was going on, and he didn't like it.

"Chase… Chase…?" he turned to see Kathy waving a hand in his face, apparently he was spacing out… while cooking.

Startled, he moved the pan that he was using to make vegetable stir-fry, which was pretty much destroyed, in the sink.

"Uh… s-sorry 'bout that," he said sheepishly, feeling utterly stupid for having ruined a customer's order, "can you tell the customer that the order will take a little longer?"

She raised an eyebrow but, nonetheless, went to the customer to tell him about his… food's demise.

"God… where's Akari… why is she taking so long?" Chase couldn't help but feel upset, the one girl he really liked, ditched him.

Tired of feeling so needy and depressed, he started to prepare the stir-fry he had ruined previously. He… wasn't used to this—this whole… relationship thing.

Being alone most of his life, Chase really never knew the feeling of love. Yeah, he knew it existed, but it was like he actually experienced it. Nothing like that was ever offered at the orphanage he grew up in.

Everything there was… dull and lifeless—rather depressing, really. So, imagine how he felt when he was finally old enough to leave, to go anywhere he wanted! Of course, he didn't have any money, so he spent the next two years working at a local café, staying in cheap hotels until he had enough money to go… somewhere.

Then, one day he saw a flyer. He had just come from the grocery store, when, unexpectedly, the bellhop had given him a flyer.

First, he was confused. "Did I do something wrong?" he thought, but how? He was barely here, only to sleep. He usually worked long hours at work, and it's not like he ever got any mail, who would send it? He had no family.

Cautiously, he flipped over the flyer. He sighed, grateful that it wasn't an eviction notice or anything else bad. It was just an advertisement. Looking it over more carefully, he realized it was an advertisement for a… island…?

"Huh, weird, wonder what this is about…"

Chase, being the jerk he is, had to stop himself from laughing-rather obnoxiously—at the flyer. Seriously, it was so cheesy and way too colorful to be considered a tasteful advertisement; whoever had thought of this idea was probably a complete moron.

"Really…? Castanet Island, huh?" Without another thought, he opened the door to his room, crumbled the flyer into a ball, and chucked it into the trash. "Welllll, judging by this flyer, it seems waaay to cheery to me."

For about a week Chase didn't give the flyer a second glance.

[A/N]: I am so sorry for my absence with this story. I can't even laugh… this chapter has proven that I need to step this shit up pronto. So, anyways, my computers' internal fan is broken so every time it gets hot it dies. I need to get that fixed; second my brother fucked with my PS3 (leaving me to cry at home like a baby) so I'm going over my father's house to go beat him up and to fix it. Not only that, but my birthdays coming up. FML! Well, I hope I'll be able to update this soon… Terribly sorry for the short chapter…