Mayor Hamilton, having requested to see Akari as soon as she was on her feet, was nothing short of excited. This was entirely unrelated to the fact that he was nothing but short.

Akari stared down at the roundish man, who exuded childish joy with his squeaky voice and doorknob of a nose. Just once, she wanted to reach down and honk it, but she knew that'd be VERY rude.

"You'd have to look long and hard to find a nicer island!" the mayor told Akari, wringing his hands delightedly; "The cozy and peaceful atmosphere is quite nice, isn't it?"

Before she could answer him, he was already bounding onto the next thing that filled his busy agenda.

"Now, Akari!" he said. "Would you like a tour of Waffle Town?"

When she answered him with an eager 'yes', he obliged her by merely pointing out places from where they stood; not once did they move from the inn's doorstep.

"–why don't you go greet your new neighbors?" he finally insisted with a push, sending Akari stumbling off down the brown cobbled street.

To her surprise, she wasn't as paralyzed as she thought she would be. She figured she'd of had to refill her head hole by now, but it didn't seem to be empty AT all. Had someone refilled it for her? But that idea was just impossible.

After all, Akari thought; I haven't told anyone that I'm a kappa yet– and I don't plan to!

Back in the town where Akari had moved away from, everyone speculated about her. They speculated so much, that they made spectacles of themselves, her, and especially her mother. But she wouldn't have to worry about that anymore. No one in this place had any reason to speculate about anything. It was spectacular!

At that, she climbed up the nearest massive flight of stairs. Actually, it was the only massive flight of stairs around, but it was climbed, regardless. When she reached the top, she held her breath and was surprised by Waffle Square before her and its fleet of flower beds filled with red happy lamps and yellow moondrop flowers.

It was so peaceful.

Akari rubbed her eyes, wondering whether the dreamy sight was real or not, and breathing once again, she faced a brick and plaster clock tower in the square's eastern corner. She waited for the clock hands to move and fall, and though they did not, leaves fell and swiveled down from the nearby trees, crackling like the sound of someone approaching. That's why when a leaf fell behind her, she didn't notice she was not alone.

Gill, the mayor's son, approached carefully, skeptically eyeing her. Short brown hair, he thought, a lanky build, green shirt– is it a boy or a girl? From where he stood, it was hard to tell. But whatever IT was, identifying its questionable gender was his priority, rudely enough. However, he couldn't build up enough nerve to go over and investigate, so he just stood where he was and gawked.

He clearly didn't have much else to do that day.

At last, Akari turned around– and after seeing the young blond man– rushed over to speak with him. This was the beginning of her new life– a life in which she could peacefully befriend everyone and start over as a normal girl. A beautiful life in which she could–

"–Knickerbockers?" she blurted, easily distracted by the young man's short, dandy pants. Being of a very dark plaid, they contrasted significantly with his pale lower legs. But they aren't puffed at the cuff, Akari thought; So could they be high-waters?

She wasn't sure what to call his bottoms. But they were certainly some fancy pants.

Gill crossed his arms defensively. "Excuse me?" he sputtered, disturbed by the fact that Akari was staring down at his legs– and so interestedly. By this point, he was certain that Akari was a girl– as she had a somewhat soft voice and possibly a chest. But no one could ever be certain in this world. There were too many sensibilities involved.

"I–I mean... Good afternoon," Akari stammered, straightening her back yet still staring down at him.

"Hm, I've never seen you before. Who are you?" Gill demanded, uncrossing his arms and glaring disapprovingly at her.

Finally, the girl gazed upwards, but slowly, and in such a shameless way that it made Gill very uncomfortable. Glancing away, he brushed his hair back and nearly choked when he realized how nervous she had made him. Flustered, he glared at her. Did she just crawl out from under a rock? he wondered. This girl's hungry eyeballing was completely out-of-line!

"Uhh... Oh! Sorry. My name's Akari," the girl said, wildly flailing her arms as she struggled to explain herself, since she could sense his questioning nature; "I came from a place called Mineral Town. You see... Recently, my mom got very, very sick. There was not much time left for her, so she left me to join my dad in–" She clamped her mouth shut with her hand. She couldn't tell him how her mom went to live in a lake with a Kappa! If she did that, he'd tell someone, and then eventually the whole town would know. Once again, people would say nasty things about her– like that she smells like kappa, that her skin is slimy, or that her head's full of nothing but water.

Worst of all, Akari would have to move again. And maybe... I'll never find a place to call home. This thought, awful and powerful, made tears stream down her stupefied face. Combined with the knowledge that these tears were draining her life-sustaining head hole reservoir, she was made VERY upset.

Did she... lose a mother, too? Gill pondered, numbed speechless. Realizing that she was far more upset than he was at the moment, he forgave her for all her prior insolence. "Akari, eh...?" he trailed, rubbing his head apologetically. "Oh, my father told me about you. I'm Gill, I'm the Mayor's one and only son."

Ceasing her tears, Akari jumped back as if she had been burned. For REAL? she wondered, holding her face in awe. Gill is the son of the mayor? That... stout man? But they look NOTHING alike!

Akari then wondered if Gill would one day come to look like his father. It was not uncommon for children to turn into their parents when they age, after all. It'd certainly be quite an evolution. She realized in that moment that she HAD to hang around to see that. If Gill developed a doorknob nose, it would be incredible!

Gill cleared his throat, displeased by her reaction and knowing that she wasn't thinking anything good. "Did you come here after seeing the brochure my father designed?" he asked.

"Yes! Nice to meet you!" Akari bowed shortly, spilling water from her head and all over the beautiful stone pavers. Gill blinked, baffled beyond measure.

Akari wanted to cry again, but that would've only made matters worse.