Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! Teamblaze, yes, it's similar to the in-game welcome, with some tweaks. To Nyannygiri, thanks for the compliment and to nightwriter212 the delay is because I find it hard to find time to write recently, but I'm trying my best here! Thanks for your support.

This chapter is pretty short because it's just a small interval. It should be together with the last chapter, but I liked how things ended that way in chapter 2... so this is the tiny chapter. Hope you enjoy ^^

Today was Friday—his day off. However, that didn't mean that he could just enjoy the day, slacking off. In fact, Friday was the day he set aside to take care all the other things he couldn't because of his shop. Groceries, mostly, especially after Hana was too sick to open her store.

Carrying his one-week worth of supply, he walked back through the forest. As if recognizing his steps, the animals began to gather around him: bunnies, squirrels, even foxes. He groaned, "Don't do this to me, guys…"

They stared at him with their round eyes relentlessly. He sighed in defeat and took out some nuts, and a fish for the carnivore. "Share it with the others," he said. The animals, happy for the food, dispersed just as quickly.

"Wow, who do we have here? The eternal winner of Animal Idol."

A chill ran down his spine when he heard that voice. He looked up and saw the redhead smirking at him. Perhaps, the animals didn't go away because they had gotten their food, after all.

"Mind your own business."

Allen made an exaggerated sigh. "Should I tell you after all?"

Neil raised his eyebrow. "What now?"

"There are two new girls in town."

Neil simply shrugged him off and kept walking to the town. New resident was unusual, but hardly worth worrying over.

"What if I tell you…" Allen trailed off intentionally as their shoulders brushed against each other. "…if these two girls are most likely human?"

Neil immediately turned around to find Allen was already looking at him, gauging his response. The redhead seemed to be satisfied that he managed to pique the blond man's interest. "One of them definitely is," he continued. "As for the other… I sense that she has something else—which strangely reminds me of you."

"Bullshit," Neil retorted. "Humans can't go past through the Mist!"

"Interesting, isn't it? And they live between us—literally," he added. "Rio built a nice cottage for these two girls right between our houses."

Allen's smug smile afterwards made his stomach churned as if he had drunk one-gallon worth of bad yak milk.

Dunhill and Rio brought the sisters around the town, introducing the rest of the residents to the newcomers. Of course, they stopped by Hana's place; somehow, she took a shine for both of the sisters and she was thrilled to hear the takeover plan.

Gwen was chatting with Rio while Reine preferred to look ahead. When the group passed the intersection in front of the forest path, a man appeared from the opposite side, carrying two paper bags full of groceries.

From what she could see, the young man had golden blond messy hair, like a bird nest, if she could use that imagery; she wouldn't be too surprised if a chick popped out from his head because of its color and messiness. His body was lean, cloaked in a long magenta coat, but he didn't come across as weak at all. Then, there were his eyes: purplish red and sharp—a great contrast to his hair.

"Oh, Neil, you come at the right timing!" Dunhill greeted excitedly. "Here, let me introduce you to our new re—"

"Don't bother," the Neil guy interrupted harshly.

Rio playfully nudged his arm. "They're going to live right next to you. At least let them know your name and learn theirs."

"Dunhill mentioned it already," he pointed out. "They should be intelligent enough to catch that."

Reine snorted. "Even if I did, I won't bother to remember such a dickhead's name."

"A gangster like you have no right to call me dickhead," Neil snapped back. "At least pick another color to dye your hair; pink is so disgusting."

That did it. Reine stormed off with expletives running wild from her mouth. "Reine!" Gwen called out, but Reine was too deep with her rage to respond.

Annoyed, Gwen turned at Neil. "I know her hair is not exactly common, but her hair is real. As real as your eyes—if you aren't wearing contacts," she retorted. "You should watch your mouth. There's no use for good looks if your tongue is as foul as garbage."

Gwen turned around and chased Reine, trying to calm her sister down. Reine shrugged her sister off and stomped into her house and Gwen followed soon after.

"What a…n explosive start, I must say," Dunhill commented awkwardly. "They are going to be your neighbors, Neil."

"I'll spend most of my time out, anyway," Neil shrugged.

"As a matter of fact," Rio joined in. "The pinkette is opening a stall—general store stall—next to yours."

"What the hell?!"

Neil marched off with a train of foreign phrases running out from his mouth; from his tone, they deduced that they were most probably expletives.

Dunhill and Rio, the two left in the now empty road, were now unsure what to do. They weren't even sure how to react to what had just happened in the past two, three minutes—everything went by too fast even for them to digest.

"If this is a romance… they would have one hell of a ride," Rio finally muttered. "Like… match made in heaven?"

"The modern kind of romance goes by that modus operandi, yes," Dunhill agreed.

"Do you think I should just install a counter in the sisters' house?"

"Now, now," Dunhill chuckled. "Who are we to interfere with what the stars had planned?"

"You mean…"

"I want to see where things are going with them," Dunhill said with a playful smirk. "Their sentiments are reciprocal… perhaps the change could be that way, too?"

"You sly old man," Rio smirked.

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Thanks for reading! ^^