teamBLAZE: as noted by Saifore, the game hinted that Klaus had somewhat a rough past. Not necessarily a gangster, but yeah...

In any case, everyone, keep on the lookout for Klaus and Raelyn! ^^

Enjoy this chapter!

Much to her surprise, Ibuki was waiting outside her house when she arrived. Raelyn picked up her pace to meet him, "Ibuki! What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," he replied with an even tone.

Raelyn stood still. She could sense that Ibuki was upset. She tried to reach out to his hand, but he refused it. "…Ibuki, is there something wrong?"

He snickered wryly. "Is there something wrong? Honestly, Raelyn… do you get to ask that? Is there something wrong?"

The pinkette held her breath. "I don't understand what's going on."

"You went to Klaus after our date, right? Seeing him is the 'thing' you needed to do in town, right?"

Raelyn took a breath. She saw no point in trying to lie to him and so she nodded. "Did you follow me?"

It was his turn to nod.

"Why, if I may ask?"

"Because I knew that something this would happen!"

"This… what?"

"You and Klaus!" Ibuki retorted. "Honestly Raelyn, do you expect me not to know about your history with Klaus? My first interaction with him was him ready to pounce on me if I had my way with you back then!"

Subconsciously, Raelyn clenched her skirt. "I do not wish to recall those times."

"But I—no, we can't ignore it any further if we are to continue be committed to each other!"

"What do you mean?"

"Raelyn, if you are to choose between me and him, right here right now, who will be your choice?"

That question caught her off guard. She released the grip on her skirt, just staring at Ibuki blankly. "W-what?"

The blond man smiled wryly. "The fact that you can't answer me right away tells me a lot."

"…you're not giving me time—"

"Time? Seriously? What about that whole Spring when you're gone and we've been writing to each other?! When you came back to this village and agreed to go out with me, wasn't it fair for me to take it that you've moved on from him?" He grabbed her hand and put it on her view. "Don't you think I won't notice that you're not wearing the ring?!"

Raelyn felt a surge of anger began rising in her. However, she suppressed it; she could see where he was coming from, although she was still disappointed in his lack of trust to her. She calmly shook her wrist free; Ibuki did not grip her too hard, so it was not difficult to do. "You followed me although I've told you I'd see you later."

"That…! That's because…"

"You don't trust me enough."

"Yes!" he admitted. "And from what I've seen, you didn't prove me wrong!"

Those words stung her. Raelyn closed her eyes, feeling the heat coming from the tears that were ready to burst out at any moment. Instead she took another deep breath and opened her eyes to look straight into Ibuki's blue eyes. "Maybe I don't, maybe I am indeed not worthy of your trust. But none of this betrays the fact that our relationship does not have the trust it should have… and I don't think that's a good thing, don't you agree?"

Raelyn could see shock sprawled across Ibuki's face. It took him some moments before he could mutter: "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying… we should break up."

"You… you're not denying that you are still in love with Klaus?"

Raelyn took a moment to ponder on the question. She recalled the suffocating feeling she had when she faced Klaus lately. It was, of course, different from the nervousness she felt around him throughout the first year in town, or the secure companionship she had around Raeger, or the comfort she began to feel around Ibuki. It might prove that she retained some feelings for him, but what was it and whether it was the same with those she had previously, or—more importantly—whether it was what called as 'love', she had no idea.

"I honestly don't know what I feel for him. But, I will tell you what I know. I feel comfortable around you, most of the time, until you showed me how much you don't trust me. That… that I cannot have if I am to continue going out with you." Raelyn pulled her necklace and showed Ibuki the pendant that was previously hidden: a ring that was very familiar to Ibuki, for he mined the materials for it himself before having it forged into a ring in the next town.

"You… you have the ring?"

"I do," she replied, as she unchained the necklace and took the ring out. She took his hand and pressed the ring into his open palm. "I'm returning this to you."

"Raelyn, I…"

"I have wronged you by agreeing to go out with you even with my unresolved feelings for him. Our relationship had gotten off on the wrong foot. This bound to happen one day… I'm sorry."

Ibuki finally took the ring with him and nodded solemnly. "I appreciate that, Raelyn. Although, I'd like to think I'm not as dumb as you seem to think I am."

"Huh?"

"I told you right? I was aware of your relationship with Klaus, whatever it was. When I found out you left the town, I guessed he had something to do with him. I never asked him, but I decided to take my chance and wrote to you for your birthday. The rest is history. I guess… I'd always known that you still have feelings for him, but I thought I could take you away from him and one day you would choose me instead. I thought I could wait for you… but when I saw you earlier, when we met him and his companion… the look on your eyes… it's just something I never see when you look at me. That's why I did what I did…"

Raelyn hung her head and stared at the space between their feet.

"Do you want to give this another try?"

She lifted her head. "What?"

"Both of us made mistakes, but I… I still want to try and save this. For us."

"I…"

"You don't have to answer it now. It's getting late, too. Keep this for now."

Ibuki returned the ring back to her and walked back to his farm. After some moments gathering her thoughts, Raelyn put the ring into her pocket and walked back to her house.

"…Raelyn!"

Raelyn turned around and found Raeger and Iris climbing up towards her farm. Raelyn ran towards them. "Raeger? Miss Iris? What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I bumped into Iris in town and she told me she wanted to visit you. I guess I could accompany her while doing some restocking."

Raelyn turned to Iris. "Is there something urgent that you need to see me now?"

Iris smiled sweetly. "It's not really urgent, but I feel like I need to say it before I forget. You see, I'm thinking of a new story… and a want to write with a ranch as the background. So, would you mind if I visit you from time to time to see how you work?"

"Ah, I don't mind… but my routine starts quite early."

"My, how industrious! Would you be okay if I stay over another day, then?"

Raelyn shook her head. "Just tell me beforehand so I can prepare you a bed. Do you guys want some hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate sounds good," Iris agreed, followed by a nod from Raeger.

Raelyn and Ibuki's relationship was saved... for now.

What would happen next?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review ^^