title: Forget-Me-Not Soup

summary: A small bag of cookies, a large pot, and some undercooked stew of a questionable origin lead Yui (our male PC) into a world of culinary tutelage under the less than motivated son of the innkeeper. Suspense, drama, romance, and state-of-the-art action! We ask you humbly to join us for the ride, but I suggest keeping some space between yourself and the food. Safety first, you know.

warnings: slash (Rock/PC) possible lime in later chapters (if they ever get here), and of course our friend/enemy/rival random OOCness (well, we hope not, but he might've squeezed himself in..)

author's notes: This is the first of 3 eventual chapters (hopefully;; ) D-A-I-tarento is a collab. account, so this is Ichigo (genkicherry)'s chapter (hence I'm writing the summary, and notes too! XD) The second will be Dralora's if she ever gets writing it, and the third will be Abbess's if she still remembers this fic by the time Dralora's done. ; I hope you all don't actually like it enough to want a quick continuation, but if you do, help me bug 'lora XP. Oh, and blame the girly name on 'Bess XD Well... uh.. happy reading?

edit note: (06/20/06) "'Bess" here, just a bit of editing to fix the uh.. Yui-knowing-Rock's-mother problem. Yeah. XD; Thanks for pointing that out, Authorsama277!

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He had only been in Forget-me-not Valley a few days, and Yui was already wishing he could forget it. The sun was setting again - another hard day's work finished. But this kind of work really wasn't ever finished. The very recollection of this frustrated him no end, and he was glad for the distraction when out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed someone coming back from the Goddess's Glade up hill.

His newly inherited farm was scenically situated with a perfect view of the river the path to the glade followed, and when he had some of that precious extra time near dusk, he had taken to watching as people who had more free-time-inclined professions came back from their evening walks in the glade.

The boy Yui had noticed was taking his time meandering back down the hill. And for the life of him, Yui couldn't remember the boy's name. They'd just been introduced 3 days ago, and Yui couldn't forget the boy's endearing, honest smile. Ooohh.. what was his name? ... Romi? No, that was more of a girl's name. Then again, Yui's name was even more girly than Romi. It'd given him quite a bit of trouble in grade-school. It wasn't his fault his parents had wanted a girl!

'I hope that's not why they've sent me out here,' he thought grudgingly. Ugh, why'd there have to be so many weeds and rocks in this soil! ... Wait a minute... wasn't that the boy's name? Rock, that was it. Actually... a rather hard, dull-coloured hunk of sediment was an even stranger thing to be named after, than after a dead aunt like Yui had been. He laughed. Rock might be a good friend if Yui put out the effort.

"What'cha laughin' about?"

Yui's thought train promptly derailed, as he looked up to see Sepiria's bandana-clad head bobbing back and forth right in his face.

"IIYAHH!" he faltered, nearly falling backwards.

"Gomen! I didn't mean to startle you so much!" she quickly apologized as she managed somehow to continue smiling and show utmost concern simultaneously.

"It's okay, I just surprise easy," Yui admitted "So what was it you wanted?"

"Oh, I just brought you an uh... farm-warming gift! Here!" She continued smiling as she shoved a cutely patterned little bag tied with a ribbon into his arms. Then her smile got impossibly brighter, and she bowed and turned and left. Yui simply stood there a few minutes holding the present before he remembered to yell out a hasty "Arigatou!"

'Well that was weird,' he thought, looking down at the bag. It felt suspiciously crumbly. 'Please don't let it be more cookies,' he thought in vain. Muumuu had already come by the day before with her "farm-warming gift": another adorably decorated bag of homemade cookies. He'd been honestly gracious, as food was hard to come by when you'd accidentally spent all your funds on some overpriced chicken-feed, and he was so sick of mugwart. His excitement died, however, after he took the first bite. An indescribable sick feeling had welled up from the pit of his stomach, and he was sure he'd turned some shade of green. What the hell did she put in that dough? He could only hope Sepiria was a better cook.

He looked up again, but Rock was nowhere in sight, and the lights had come on. He sighed and trudged inside, where he set down the cookies. Staring at them hesitantly, he reached out his hand, and slowly picked one up. He looked it up and down, searching for some sign it might not be entirely safe to eat, and when satisfied, popped it in his mouth. It was surprisingly good. He would've eaten another, had he not caught sight of the clock and thought it better to save them for breakfast, and go to sleep now.

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After eating two of the cookies for breakfast, Yui decided to save the remaining seven for an outdoors lunch after wandering about the town a while. He'd just harvested the crops, and could have most of the day off, so he was in a very good mood. After milking the cow and collecting eggs, he set off toward the inn. He wanted to discuss some possible recipes with the innkeeper's wife. He'd been told she was the best cook in town, and he wanted to start having regular meals as soon as possible. The door was unlocked, as is usual for a business, but no one was inside. Of course it wouldn't be necessary to have 24-hour service in a small town like this, still, Yui couldn't help but feel disappointed. Until he heard whistling from the kitchen. Before the consequences of breaking and entering could cross his mind, he was standing in the kitchen, facing a cheerful blond boy who had the amazing capability of smiling impossibly wide and whistling at the same time.

However, as soon as the boy, who Yui was finally able to recognize as Rock, noticed his presence, his demeanor totally changed, and he stared right through Yui, coldly stating "I'm eating right now. Could you please leave?" Whether out of spite, or because of something completely unknown to himself, Yui was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to stay and eat with this Rock person.

"Can't I stay and have lunch with you? I'm waiting for the innkeeper's wife... And... I have cookies? Would you like some?" At this, Rock's mood did another 180.

"Did you say cookies!" He practically yelled. Before Yui even managed to recover from shock, Rock snatched the cookie bag from his hands, hastily tore it open, and started eating.

"Oi! What did you--"

"These are REALLY good! Did you make them?" He'd already sat, and was making quick work of the cookies.

"Umm... no, actually, Sepiria did." with this, Yui decided to follow Rock's example and sit at the huge table.

"Sepiria?" Rock managed between bites. How'chu ged 'em?"

Although rather put off by the sight of half-chewed cookie in Rock's mouth, Yui decided not to mention it, as Rock seemed rather unstable where food was concerned. "Well.. actually, she came to my house and gave them to me yesterday." Thinking of it, the girls in this town were unusually giving.

"You should watch out for her, she's always on the lookout for a new potential husband."

'Ah, that explains it,' Yui realized. 'They must be very desperate for someone who actually works for a living.' He glanced at the boy across from him, suddenly realizing he had no idea what the heck the blond actually did.

Rock was nearing the last cookie, and as he did so, he slowed his ravenous appetite, and in a wave of politeness, offered it to Yui.

"No, it's okay, you can have it, you do seem really hungry and all..." What was he thinking! He had no other lunch prepared, and he was already getting hungry. Shrugging, Rock had just gotten the cookie up to his mouth, when a painstakingly long "GUUU!" escaped Yui's stomach.

"Umm... perhaps you should eat this after all." Rock laughed as he reached across the table and handed Yui the cookie. However, he could only nibble at it as he diverted all his energy in a futile attempt to stop blushing. Rock only laughed harder, causing Yui to blush an even deeper red. Seemingly noticing for the first time that he'd managed to devour the boy's entire lunch in only a few minutes, Rock got up and began to fix Yui a proper meal.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Yui asked as he finished the cookie.

"I'm fixing you lunch," Rock stated matter-of-factly.

Confused, Yui did the first thing that came to mind, protest. "You don't have to do that! I-"

"GUUUU!"

"Don't try and discourage me, you already watched my love of cookies decimate your entire lunch, didn't you?"

"Well..."

"You don't have to be so polite with me, I'm a free spirit."

He turned back around with a fairly large bowl of soup, and set it in front of Yui. It was rather murky, and Yui could feel his uncertainty rise with every green, leafy vegetable that bubbled up from the dark brown water.

"Don't worry, it's good! I learned from my mother. Go on, try it." Not wanting to be any more impolite, despite Rock's nice comment, Yui hesitantly lifted the spoon Rock had set next to the bowl of soup-y substance, and after dipping it in the intimidating concoction, raised it to his mouth and shoved it in.

Rock was now behind him, looking over his shoulder. "How is it?" he asked anxiously, smiling brightly all the while. It'd been quite some time since he'd cooked for anyone but himself.

"It's... actually quite nice." Yui was truly surprised. Rock didn't seem the type to be a very good cook. "You say you learned from your mother?"

"Yep! She's the best cook in town!" Rock pridefully declared.

"You mean the innkeeper's wife is your mother!"

"Of course! Well... we don't look much alike, but she is my mother, and she's taught me all I know about cooking." Rock smiled happily. His smile never faltered once. It was the most honest and beautiful smile Yui had ever seen. It spoke of nothing but the goodness in the world, as if nothing bad had ever happened to the boy. Yui couldn't help but wonder how such a person could exist, even in such a peaceful town as this.

Yui ate some more soup, before joining Rock in smiling, and deciding this was going to be a good day after all. "Then you can help me!" he cheerfully declared.

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chapter one owari