"I think I may have a crush on someone."
We were in Lillian's farm one morning; I was teaching her about plant fertilization in exchange for a special water fertilizer that Lillian managed to get ahold of. Despite living in Bluebell, the happy-go-lucky farmer still visited her crops in Konohana since the mayor didn't really rent the space to anyone. Ina liked her too much that she wanted the space to be left open in case Lillian wanted to move back.
"Oh?" I felt my heart froze for a split second before I acted as calm as I could. My selfish mind immediately begged for her to not mention Cam's name. "Do I know this person you're talking about?"
"Maaaybe." She shuffled around like a teenage girl who had a secret to tell. I had to admit that it was adorable to see her that way. "But, like I said, it's just a crush. I mean, I met him a few days ago. Gosh it's probably too soon to tell …. Right?"
A relieved sigh managed to escape my lips upon hearing that fact. She definitely wasn't talking about Cam so then ... who? "Ah... I just had a divination from the Harvest Goddess. I can see ... glasses." I teased her after deducing the obvious. The blushing farm girl put her fingers in front of her lips to make a loud 'shhh' sound before proceeded to explain how she met him during her travels through the mountain. While she was foraging, she almost stepped on the silver haired violinist who was taking a nap under the shade. Instead, she stepped on his bow and it snapped in two.
"What's worse is that apparently the violin was an heirloom! Given by his teacher. I felt so horrible so I took him to see Eileen and asked her to fix the bow. She ended up offering to make a new one since you can't really fix the bow and expect it to be the same way again. I did break it in half." We were walking back to Mako's house so that Lil could present the water fertilizer to Mako for studying purposes. "He was very nice about it too. Very calm and collected and just … soothing. It must be because he was a musician."
"Or maybe because he's walking towards you right now." I nodded my head towards the person who just exited the Town Hall. Lillian turned her head so fast her hair swatted my face.
"M-Mikhail!" she squeaked.
"Good morning ladies. Care to join me for a walk to the mountain today? Reina?" Mikhail greeted in his gentlemanly way as per usual. Lillian looked like she was having a hard time answering it so I decided to help her and took the fertilizer off her hand.
"I still have an errand to do but I believe Lillian here is free, right Lil?"
"I am?" she asked, before she realized the favor I was doing. "I am. Yes, I can join your trip to the mountain. Let's go."
"You two have fun." Without acting suspicious, I left Lillian who immediately went to chat on the animals—asking advice on how to befriend them like what Mikhail had done. Her cheeks were red as she gazed at her crush the way Nori would at Hiro. Seeing Lillian acting like a teen in love made me smile, something that Mako pointed out quite loudly when I reached the orchard.
"Is that a grin on your face? Care to share with me?" he said.
"Huh? N-no…" I quickly hid my smile behind my usual stoic face. There was no way I could spill Lillian's secret to him. My uncle couldn't even hide his feelings towards Doctor Ayame let alone other people's feelings. Of course, my uncle would not let it go with simply a "no". He continued to stare quietly until I was forced to take out something I was keeping. "Well, actually … here. This fertilizer was what made me happy since… I figured it would make you happy."
"I've never seen this kind before." Mako climbed down the ladder to get a closer look at the fertilizer. I explained to him that it was more of an automatic watering bottle than a fertilizer. "I got this from Lillian and she said this allowed plants to be watered for days without her having to do it manually."
A light immediately sparked in Mako's eyes before he rushed inside to study the possibility of a new kind of fertilizer, completely disregarding his own current project. Despite burying himself behind a botany book, his voice was loud enough for me to hear whenever he was cross-referencing theories. We continue to throw theories at each other, some of which I had to rebut. It wasn't long until he finally began muttering to himself in short phrases. Knowing him that meant he was lost in his own research and could not would not be disturbed until he was done.
That left me to fend for myself in this boring house with no one to talk to. 'Funny how that came up coming from me who was no different from my uncle not too long ago.' I began to wonder what caused this sudden empty feeling when I picked up a random botany book. An idea came up to me telling me that I could go visit Cam with an excuse to lend him this book. Our last encounter wasn't very … fruitful and for some reason my reputation had gone from bad to horrible every time we saw each other. This time I was going to be the first one to apologize for my behavior.
-x-x-x-x-
There was life in Bluebell; Ash was busy grooming his sheep, Georgia was riding her horse, patting it gently on its neck before cooing to it lovingly. Different, but it was still a normal farm life and it made me wonder how Mayor Ina could have hated Bluebell in the first place. Ignoring the fact that they were dressed a bit differently, they were still a bunch of nice people just like those in Konohana. I could imagine Lillian rushing from one house to another to greet everybody. She didn't seem to care that they're different. Maybe that was why everybody liked her. Maybe that was why Cam ...
I immediately threw that thought away before it sucked me dry of my energy like a parasitic plant. "No! I didn't come here just to dwell on that. Get in, say hi, get out."
"Hey Reina, I'll be with you in a bit." Ash waved at me with a brush on his hand. The sheep baa-ed happily before walking away as the rancher made his way to me. "So, what brings you here today?"
"Get in, say hi, get out." Was what I wanted to reply but it didn't seem right to answer in such a way. "Oh, just visiting ... Lillian told me to come so ... " I was going to leave it at that when, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a little pigtailed devil shooting daggers at me.
"Speaking of Lillian, does she and your sister hang out a lot?" I asked, thinking of all the pranks the little girl had put me through.
"Lillian does live here, y'know, and she visits us every day so they do hang out. I think Lillian spoils her with gifts sometimes. I saw her giving a box to Cheryl. Why you ask?" Ash took off his gloves and tucked it underneath his arm before rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I may have a good idea what's in those boxes..."
"BROTHER! Lunch time! Mom made lunch let's go inside, come on comeoncomeon!" Suddenly Cheryl threw herself into her brother's arm and started speaking louder than usual. She was pulling Ash towards the house and the polite boy was trying his best not to stumble on his sister whilst not leaving me without a proper goodbye.
"Ch-Cheryl, be careful. Don't pull me like that. Let me say goodbye to Reina first."
"No need! No time! It's gonna get cold!"
Ash chuckled, possibly thinking that it was adorable for his sister to be really persistent about this. "Alright. I'll go there. Sorry Reina, we'll continue this another time."
"Don't worry. I'm actually going to go to your store to buy some wool if you have any. But I can wait until after you eat." I purposely said that just to see the reaction of the little girl. As expected, she reacted to it and looked at me in horror. The thought of her brother being waited by a girl was probably something horrific.
"No! You go buy the wool and go back to your house. I'll sell it to you. It'll be faster." She said, guiding me into her store. Inside, I was surprised to see a counter with a cashier instead of the usual entrance of a house. It was odd to see a store like counter in a house setting. "Then again, so does Nori's house. And Yun's. And Kana's. Actually, nevermind."
A bright woman welcomed me as I entered with her booming voice. "Welcome to Jessica's Shop! How may I help you today?"
"Hello. Please forgive me for bothering you during your lunch time, but could I perhaps purchase a wool real quick?"
The lady looked confused at first, wondering why I would be bothering her. "We're not having our lunch break. Besides, I've prepared sandwiches that the children could get whenever they're hungry."
"Is that so…?" I eyed Cheryl knowingly, showing a sly smile. Before she could say anything, I focused myself back to Jessica. "Anyway, I'm here to buy a piece of wool. Do you have any in stock?"
"Absolutely! Our wool is the best quality you'll ever find. We even ship it to the city. Can't get any better than Jessica's wool." She said as she placed two different materials on the counter. "Is there a quality you're particular on? This one here is a Good Wool, much better than this ordinary Wool."
To be honest, buying wool was just an excuse to tease Cheryl and since I was quite satisfied by her reaction, I had no more reason to stay there. I chose the Good Wool so that Nori could make it into a nice outfit before excusing myself to go meet Cam. I could already see his purple cap from afar. The florist was busy creating a bouquet when I approached him.
"Good afternoon." I greeted him cautiously.
He glanced at me and my heart skipped a beat when our eyes met. "Oh hey Reina. Here to buy something?" he asked casually. It bummed me that he was indifferent to me being here. Suddenly my whole fear of him hating me went down the drain and I felt stupid.
"Nah, I'm just visiting. I bought some wool for a new outfit and uh… since Mako is researching on a new fertilizer I thought I'd inform you about it… maybe you'd be interested." I averted my eyes from Cam's to look at his swift hands moving to place the flowers in place.
"Oh right. I should thank him for the advice he gave me about fertilizing my plants. I tried it with a few batch of seeds and it worked quite well. It's quite useful if you live in a place without sunshine but in the end sun is still essential for a flower." He said as he tucked in a rose between another two.
"True…" I mumbled in reply. We went quiet for a while to just enjoy the fall breeze. It was a calming feeling just being with Cam even though we didn't talk. Perhaps this was what Lillian felt when she was around Mikhail. The image of Lillian talking non-stop to Mikhail who was sleeping popped in my head causing me to chuckle a little. I stopped myself so that Cam wouldn't think that I was laughing at him but apparently he was getting ready to deliver his bouquet.
"I'm heading to Town Hall for a bit. Feel free to browse or buy something at Howard's diner. The food might be different from what you're used to but it's still good."
"Can't I come with you?" I asked him a little bit too fast that it surprised Cam. He raised his eyebrow suspiciously before agreeing to let me tag along.
"….Sure… just behave yourself." He said with a warning.
"…because?"
"Because we're going to the mayor's place and you know how our mayors feel about the other villagers."
"Mayor Rutger ordered the bouquet? For who?" I asked, trying my best to walk next to him without feeling embarrassed.
"His wife, Rose. She's the one that takes cares of the flower bushes around town and it's her birthday tomorrow so Rutger wanted to surprise her." He said with a slight smile. It seemed that he also cared for this Rose person. Perhaps it was because her name was Rose? I snorted at my own attempt of a joke.
"That's very sweet of him. I can't believe a sweet man like him would hate on our village so much." Then I remembered what Lillian told me about the tunnel. "Wait, aren't their relationship a bit better? The tunnel is being fixed right?"
"They are? That's good if that's the case. Making traveling between villages so much easier."
Our conversation stopped when we reached the Town Hall. Mayor Rutger was still the same mustached old man that I saw during the annual cooking festival. He was busy doing some paperwork when we went inside. I was immediately distracted by the architecture, it was different from Konohana's but the idea of the place was still the same; the library, two rooms for guests and another room I assumed was a hall of some sorts. The place was kept neat and I could feel the love that the mayor had in taking care of the Town Hall. Putting all the difference aside, the two mayor were the same that it boggled my mind how they managed to fight for so many years.
"Ah, Cam and…"
"Reina," Cam offered the answer before me, making me blush hearing my name. "Here's the bouquet you ordered. Specially made for you."
"Oh thank you Cam! I can always count on you. I know that red roses are especially hard to grow during fall so I thought you wouldn't be able to fulfill my request yet here you are, with your magic green thumb, making this old man happy." Rutger beamed happily when receiving his flower. Cam nodded politely as he was showered with the grand compliment. He didn't stay too long to chat with the mayor after he'd gotten his payment. I followed suit, not wanting to be left there to converse with the mayor.
"Speaking of birthdays, when's yours?" I asked him once we were back at his stall.
"1st of Fall."
"What?! That's long past! And I didn't get to give you a present." I exclaimed, realizing how oblivious I was about Cam's life. A soft nagging voice at the back of my head said, "Lillian must've known. She must've given him a present, too."
"Don't worry about it. I don't really celebrate birthdays anyway." Cam shrugged his shoulder, focusing back to his flower.
I was about to make a speech on the importance of birthdays but then I, too, wasn't one to celebrate mine. So I closed my mouth and instead let out a sarcastic 'hmph'. "Nothing wrong with that. The only birthday I celebrate is my uncle but that's just to piss him off. He hates me keeping a tab on his age. Much rather stay young, he'd say."
"Heh. I can imagine your uncle with a flower crown on his head looking annoyed. Just make sure you don't … push his buttons too much that he'd bury you under the orchard or something."
I had to laugh to that. Cam just made a joke about my uncle! It was normal for people to think the worst about him but coming from Cam who seemed unfazed by anything was a delightful surprise. "Can't believe you still think my uncle is a violent man. Don't tell me the reason you never come back for his lessons was because you were afraid of him?"
Hearing this, Cam pulled down his hat to hide his face. Maybe I really did hit the right spot. 'Maybe Cam didn't hate me after all. Maybe I've been overthinking these things and … may have wasted my energy just stressing myself about it. Damn it Mako!'.
"Well… can you blame me? He really needs to work on his … appearance. Shave or something." He finally managed to try to defend his fears.
"Oh nooo… nobody tells Mako to shave his beard. Not even the doctor who he secretly likes could make him shave them. You just gotta deal with it. He really is a nice person once you get to know them."
We continued to chat about Mako and discussed about what factor defines a true man; beard or integrity. As a man, Cam was quite fashionable but to Mako probably saw him to be too feminine and even if Cam were to defend his style, the topic would go down the drain straight away. If they were to settle it with an arm wrestling match, it was obvious who would won the fight. If they were to fight with their brains, they both were quite knowledgeable in subject of botany. That, plus my uncle's history as being a botany professor back in the day, would probably cost another round for Cam. As he was running out of ways to defeat my uncle, the blond girl from the diner came out to greet us.
Laney, the girl who I thought was Cam's sister at first, came to inform us that the day was getting late and if I'd like to come in for dinner. Truly, time really did fly when you were having fun. With a newfound courage, I allowed myself to socialize with the people at the diner so I would prolong my time with Cam. Or at least, be at the place where he'd be around.
"I have to admit, I am not at all familiar with the food that you just mentioned. A vichiswa?" The man behind the counter, Laney's dad, had just listed the menu that he'd prepared for the night. None of them I really understood. "So much for wanting to be sociable."
"A Vichyssoise! It's a chilled soup made with leeks, potatoes and cream. Very delicious and refreshing. And if you do not stand the cooold, you can warm yourself up with a cheese fondue. Our dip consists of fresh carrot, green pepper and bread."
Again, the words that Howard mentioned just went from one ear to another that Laney had to swoop in to save me.
"I suggest you try the cheese fondue. The air's a bit chilly outside since it's nearing winter. With a fried croquette on the side." Without really understanding what Laney said, I nodded in agreement and waited patiently for my food. Cam fluently ordered some goods for himself before joining me at the table.
Once he was there, I whispered to him so that nobody but him could hear what I was going to ask. "The… croquette thing isn't … some kind of sport is it? I remember reading about a game a croquette. Are they the same thing? Was the name derived from the game somehow…?"
Cam's eyes widened in disbelief and he soon burst laughing. I wasn't sure which part of my question could have rendered that.
"Yes. Why not continue laughing. It does wonders to my self-confidence." I sarcastically commented.
The amused florist had to wipe the tears off his eyes before managing to catch a breath to answer my question. "The… croquette she mentioned … it's … seriously, it's not … hah … that was the first … it's food. Perhaps the only similarity about it and the game is the ball shape. Then again, I don't think they were named after each other."
My cheek began to burn up, sensing the amused look that Cam still wore on his face. "Alright already. No need to go hysterical like that."
"Sorry. Sorry… It's just that… I never thought about it like that before and … the image of people playing croquet with a ball of croquette instead … it's just hilarious. The winner of the game gets to eat the croquette ball! Here, here!" He said, staring at nowhere in particular as he struggled to keep from laughing again. "Then again, you're from Konohana. Sorry, I should've given you some slack."
"Ugh. I feel so dumb. I hate feeling dumb and uninformed." I said, placing my chin on my hand.
"I know the feeling. Why do you think I always head back to the city every Monday?" He said, copying my position.
"Oh? I thought you restock your supplies."
The dinner meal we ordered arrived together as Laney placed the bowl and plates on the table but at that moment I was more interested in knowing what Cam did every Monday. Hearing him chat about himself like that was quite rare. My heart was pounding anxiously, similar to the feeling whenever I waited for flowers to grow and plants to recover.
"That too," Cam said, pulling his plate closer to him. He toyed around with the food a little bit possibly to let the heat escape. "But I go there to the library at a botany school to learn about flowers. Sometimes they have classes about planting. The last workshop I went to was about The Good, The Bad and The Never-Use Soil. Part I: How to Identify them."
As anyone could have guessed, our conversation topic steered back to botany and, this time, soil. It wasn't really a conversation you'd want to have during a meal especially when Cam started talking about animal manure. It gave me an idea to ask some manure from Ash or Lillian at some point. Cam was quite interested to see how different season's flower would grow with the of manure. So finally, at the end of our dinner, before we parted ways, we promised to do casual experiments the next time Cam was on his break.
After excusing myself from the diner and thanking the owner for the lovely dinner, I made my way back to Konohana. I had to refuse Laney's kindness when she insisted that Cam should take me home. I told her that even Lillian managed to always go home by herself at any given time. Laney then smiled teasingly at Cam as she disagreed, stating that even Lillian would always have a certain man take her home.
It didn't require more questioning to know whom the man was when Cam immediately muttered an excuse to head back to his room. It left a bitter taste in my heart knowing that but seeing that I did manage to talk to him today, I went home happy.
-x-x-x-x-
The next day I met up with Nori to request for a new outfit. She was always been good with her fingers. Almost all of Lillian's outfit were made by Nori simply by giving her Good Wool. "I was thinking you could make it into some type of coat or a vest. Whichever's easier." I told her when I noticed the lack of enthusiasm she had when given a chance to make a new outfit. Living in a slow-paced village like this, creating outfits was Nori's favorite past time so I thought my request would have cheered her up but instead…
"Something wrong?"
Nori was silent for a while before she finally asked me the most unexpected question: "Do you think I'm pretty?"
Given the fact that I wasn't one to give out compliments nor was I often asked for one, hearing Nori—the compliment giver—ask me that made my mind go blank.
"Y-yeaah…" I tried answering, although it sounded more like a question than a fact. "I'm sorry. Am I missing something? You are pretty. I mean I like your face…?" Honestly, I was sweating just trying to answer her question.
"Oh, sorry Reina, I shouldn't have troubled you with that kind of question. Please forgive me." Nori smiled weakly after seeing the expression on my face. I loved my friend and I would have showered her with thousands of compliment but being attacked like that? I did not handle sudden human emotion attack well.
"No, I'm sorry for not ... yeah, seriously though, what's bothering you that you felt the need to … ask that?"
"You know how Lillian's now hanging out a lot with Mikhail? And you notice how … hmm, how should I put this nicely … up front Lillian is when she deals with Mikhail. I mean, she gives him gifts everyday, talks to him everyday, walk with him to the mountain, visits him at the Town Hall…" Nori lifts her finger as she recounted the events. "It's not surprising if Mikihail notice her feelings. And… now I wonder if …" A pink tint started to show up on her cheeks as she struggled to make out the words. "…I too should approach Hiro like that?"
The thought of my friend embracing her feelings and showing it to the world was a joy to my ear. I never knew how long she has kept her feelings from Hiro but I was sure that she had been struggling deep down not being able to let it out. I immediately grabbed Nori's hand and pulled her up to join my little bouncing.
"Yes! Yes! YES! Please do. It would be a treat for me—and Hiro, I'm sure—and most importantly, it'll be good for you." I pushed her out of her house excitedly. "Now, go and tell Hiro how much you like him!"
My push was stopped by Nori's unmoving state. I was about to give another motivational speech when I noticed who was standing outside all red in his face.
"H-Hiro! Why are you here?" Nori squeaked.
"Ahh.. I was .. on my way to perform my usual check up, uh, for your grandfather."
"Oh... um, well, my grandfather isn't ... here right now. It's our day off so he's at Ina's place."
This conversation wasn't going anywhere so I nudged Nori to give her a little boost that she needed. She seemed to regain control of herself and swallowed.
"H-Hiro, there's something I need to tell you." she said—Hiro nodded in reply. "I've ... liked you for a long time. I know it's sudden and I don't expect you to return my feelings. I just ... want you to know how I feel. I'm sorry for doing something selfish like this. I really hope that you won't hate me for this."
I felt both proud of my friend and awkward for being in the middle of this love confession. Still, this was better than any of the love drama that Mako sometimes played in his radio. This was real life. This was my best friend's life.
Hiro shuffled uncomfortably, unable to really keep an eye contact with Nori before finally gaining back his voice. "I don't exactly understand what part of me that you like. I'm not as ... good looking as Kana and people often think of me as a boy because of how I look so ..."
"It doesn't matter. I love you for who you are." Nori interjected, shaking her head profusely.
"I—I'm glad then... because ... really, checking up on your grandfather was supposed to be Ayame's job. I ... asked to do it because I always looked forward seeing you. You always brighten my day and made me love doing my work. You always appreciate every little things that I do despite not being capable of much."
"But you've done so much for us, for Ayame and for the whole village."
"I'm relieved you think so." Hiro smiled, looking more comfortable now. "I never wanted to tell you this because I didn't want you to question my professionalism when checking up on your grandfather but now that this is out in the open, I feel much better now."
"I thought... you like Lillian. You had been talking with her a lot during your day off. I really thought..." Nori's voice was wobbly. She was probably on the verge of crying with relief.
"Absolutely preposterous! I accommodate her because I couldn't simply tell her that I'd rather spend time with you without alerting her suspicion. I noticed that she was close to you as well and if she were to find out... I wasn't sure what would happen."
Nori was beyond words to say. She let her tears state how happy she was with this outcome. I motioned Hiro to come over and hug her as I excused myself from this scene. The last time I looked back into Nori's yard, I saw them hugging each other lovingly. It was a beautiful sight and the feminine side of me wondered if I, too, would be able to find someone I could be mutually in love with. Of course, Cam's face appeared out of nowhere so I decided to drop by his shop to say hi. Heck, if Nori could be brave in expressing her feelings then I should too.
AN:
Phew. Finally I got this chapter out. I was having a hard time on how Cam and Reina should act towards each other. I ended up replaying the game to make myself fall in love with them falling in love again, if that makes sense.
Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter. Thanks for reading and following this story! :)