Chapter 1: Setting The Scene

Summary: When the farmer arrives in town, things seem to lose control in little Mineral Town. What was peace turns to chaos, as things are revealed that should've never been told. Friendships broken, and relationships pulled apart, they always said it's quiet till the storm hits.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness," Shrilled Popuri, looking very much like a teenager on drugs, as she began to flail around with hugely exaggerated arm flapping and jaw-breaking grins. She certainly gained the attention of all three of the occupied tables, who turned around specifically to stare at her. "You wouldn't believe what I've just found out!"

The waitress, Ann, blatantly ignored her, as she continued to wipe the dirt off the empty tables, doing her best to forget the fact that staring eyes were focusing at the back of her head. Flipping the tablecloth over her shoulder, she collected a pile of plates, and began her walk back to the kitchen.

"Ann! Ann!" Popuri exclaimed, literally shaking from excitement. She waved a hand in front of the waitress' face in an attempt to grab her attention, though nothing seemed to be able to stop her from getting out her information eventually. And that time was sounding soon…

Her eyes set straight ahead, it was obviously deliberate that Ann couldn't, or wouldn't, listen to her best friend dish out even more gossip on the town's villagers.

Said friend was now beginning to put the pieces together in her mind, Ann almost sure she could hear the girl's mind ticking as it worked. Popuri crinkled her brow. "Hey… Ann?" She said, lowering her voice considerably, making Ann think, 'why couldn't she have done that sooner?' "Are… you ignoring me?" Popuri questioned, now thinking she had figured out her friend's problem, looking quite proud of herself. And then the realisation sunk in. "Don't you want to hear what I've got to tell you?" She asked with a pout, looking exactly like a child.

Ann leant heavily on the counter, tilting her head to the side a little, but not looking at her. "What do you think, Popuri? Do I look like I want to hear some of your petty gossip while I'm working and tired?" She snapped, her eyes tightly shut. "Do you think I want to listen about what you've got to say about another most-likely-innocent villager? Do you think I honestly care?"

Popuri's jaw was by now wide open, her mouth opening and shutting like a fish. "W-what?" She whispered, looking truly heart broken for being smacked right down when she was in a good mood. She paused to glare at her best friend, her arms crossed against her chest, and her mouth in a firm line. "Fine, be like that. You obviously don't want to hear about the new villager I found out about." She snapped, tilting her head up, and refusing to look at her. "Hmph." She huffed, storming toward the door that led back to the main hall.

It was Ann's turn to look gobsmacked. "Y-you're saying you actually have good gossip for once?" She spluttered out, clearly looking amazed at the newfound fact.

"My gossip is always good!" Popuri exclaimed, once again looking offended, though she seemed to have returned to her old self, with her childish pout, suddenly looking a lot less mature.

Ann decided to ignore that comment, for obvious reasons. "So, what's this about a new villager?" She prompted, a wide grin on her face for finally being on the brink of knowing something interesting for once.

Popuri watched her through narrowed eyes. "Apologise first." She demanded, looking like keeping the gossip for another second would kill her.

A sigh escaped the waitress' lips. "Fine, fine. I'm sorry, all right? Nothing I said was true. I do care." She said grudgingly, a small pout on her lips, which made the link between her and Popuri.

"Good." Popuri smiled brightly, clapping her hands together while looking truly proud of herself for getting Ann, the girl famous for not apologising, to apologise. "Down to business then…" She trailed off, hesitating, and then crinkled her brow. "Erm… what was it you wanted to know again?"

Ann bit her lip, refusing the urge to strangle the girl. "The new villager, Popuri. Please try and remember." She reminded the poor girl, whose face lit up.

"Oh right!" Popuri exclaimed, giggling like a little girl afterwards, "How could I forget?"

The waitress' couldn't refuse the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, Popuri, how could youforget?" She muttered to herself, her frustration somehow building up higher than her newly gained interest.

"What did you say?" Popuri asked Ann questioningly, cocking her head to the side.

Ann's eyes shot up. "Nothing." She replied sharply.

"Oh, okay." Popuri said, looking slightly confused. "Anyway, all I really know about the villager is that she's a girl…" She admitted, twirling a strand of hair with her finger. "I heard Thomas asking Zack to collect her next Monday… Maybe it was fate that we find out about her arrival!"

There was a big silence, so much so that Popuri turned her head to look at Ann, her brow crinkled once again, wondering about the weird quiet. Her ruby eyes fell on the said girl taking deep breathes, looking like she was about to hyperventilate. "What is it, Ann?" She asked questioningly.

"You… made me apologise for no reason?" She hissed, her glare truly terrifying as she focused on the poor, hopeless friend of hers. "You didn't have any more information… yet you led me to believe… you did?" She started off as a whisper, turning once again into a furious hiss.

Popuri bit her lip. "B-but what you said w-was mean… And I-I didn't like it…" She whispered, death literally flashing before her eyes as she watched Ann's face turn gradually redder and redder. "I-I told you she was a girl, isn't that s-something?"

Once again, Ann found herself taking pity on the defenceless girl, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent herself from doing any damage. "Fine. Okay." She snapped, pinching the brink of her nose. "It's fine. Just… don't mention it. I mean it, to anybody."

"Uh, o-okay… t-thank you, Ann."

They stood there in silence. "You do realise that was a dismissal, right?" Ann asked, after she'd peeked through a cracked-open eye and noticed the pink-haired chicken farmer stood there in a nervous state.

"O-oh right! See you t-tomorrow!" Popuri called over her shoulder, already sprinting out of the door. "Bye!"

"Ann!" A woman's voice yelled out from the main doors, causing everybody to either stare at the voice's owner, or at the waitress' who stood behind the counter wiping the glasses from last night's drinking competition between Duke and Karen, thinking 'why is it always me?' "Hey! Where are you? I can't see you!"

Ann rolled her eyes, waving her hand meekly in the air. "Right here." She called out in reply, not even bothering to look up, instead continuing to wipe the wine-stained glass in her hand. She could hear the heavy footsteps that got closer and closer to her, and yet she still refused to look up. Finally, she heard the sound of someone plopping down on the barstool infront of her.

"Had too much to drink last night, Karen?" Ann asked, knowing without taking a look up.

A groan escaped the supermarket server. "Ugh, tell me about it. My head's pounding a thousand times a minute, and I have to resist this urge to puke all the time." She hesitated, biting her lip and grabbing her throat. "Uhm, where is the bathroom again?" She gulped, snapping her eyes closed.

Ann lifted a brow. "I'd rather you kept resisting," She replied sharply, finally putting the glass down, freshly cleaned.

Karen cracked open one eye, a sarcastic smirk on her face. "Yeah, of course you would, but things don't work that way." She retorted, removing the hand from her throat to seem like she was challenging her.

The waitress' shrugged her shoulders casually, "There's a perfectly good-looking bush just outside. I'm sure it doesn't mind having your guts spilled out all over it, as well as all the alcohol you consumed last night, of course."

Karen lifted her mouth into a sneer, before she grudgingly got to her feet and trailed out of the Inn, looking in the exactly same state she looked when she came in.

Ann sighed. Thinking she'd finally received the peace and quiet she deserved after a moment's silence, she began to smile to herself, until she heard loud, and clearly moody footsteps down the stairs.

Lo and behold, the grumpster himself, Gray the infamous Blacksmith appeared from the staircase with the foulest grimace in history smeared across his face. One look at Ann, and she instantly knew that this wasn't a good day for him, and he was in a very bad mood, a mood where anyone he talked to he would snap at.

… And he was walking towards her. Crap.

"I want my breakfast." He demanded, sitting down onto the barstool that Karen had been sitting on, but with a lot more force, which was definitely unnecessary.

"Alright, but please mind the stools. They have feelings." Ann tried foolishly to joke, a weak grin on her face when she noticed that her company was definitely not laughing.

Gray glared at her with harsh eyes. "Just get it Ann. I'm not in the mood for stupid chit-chat."

"Are you ever in the mood?" Ann muttered underneath her breath, with a childish pout on her lips as she disappeared into the backroom, where her father was busy cooking the said breakfast. "Mr. Bossyboots."

Doug lifted his head at the sound of his daughter's voice, asking: "What did you say?" Dismissing his question with a simple flick of the hand, she grabbed one of the already-made breakfast platters and headed back out to the main hall to her doom.

"Hear ya go. Freshly-made and all." Ann announced her arrival, it having to be announced because Gray was staring blankly at the wooden counter until she slipped the plate on top of it.

Without a little 'thanks' or nod of gratefulness, Ann stormed off with a huff, suddenly feeling a lot more like an underpaid waitress, seeing as what she had to go through every morning and night. And daytime at that.

"Oi you, what are you sitting in my seat for?" Ann heard from behind her, turning her head to see what the commotion was. Apparently Karen had decided to return, despite Ann's obvious distaste for it, and was glaring at Gray with furious eyes, who honestly looked like he couldn't be bothered to deal with her.

"It's not your seat anymore."

Karen's glare grew more intense. "It will be my seat for as long as I want it to be!" She snapped, her arms pressed firmly on her hips. This answer seemed to make Gray tilt his head to at least look at her, though he didn't seem to be keeping his temper together very well.

"Well, I can borrow it whenever I want!" He yelled right back, his eyes looking equally furious.

Karen puffed out her chest in fury. "Are you starting a fight, mister? 'Cause you'll know I win!" She demanded, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him up. "Nobody takes my seat and gets away with it!"

Popping out from nowhere, Ann's father was suddenly inbetween the two of them, keeping them apart with a hand on both of their shoulders. "All fights are to be taken outside. That includes residents, Gray." He said, looking pointedly at the said blacksmith. "I'm very disappointed in you; bringing fights here to the Inn. It doesn't set a very good example for my little girl, especially when she likes you as much as she does."

A silence had been looming over the Inn for the whole time Doug had been lecturing, so all eyes were now fixed upon the waitress' in question, whose mouth was flapping open and closed. When had he ever got that impression?

"W-what are you on about, Dad?" She exclaimed, looking truly traumatized as she let her eyes wander around the room. "What are you looking at?" Ann snapped at Stu, who seemed like he couldn't hold in his giggles as his eyes looked at her, and then Gray, and then Ann again.

Doug's eyes followed Ann's gaze, noticing how everyone was looking at Ann with crinkled brows. "Nobody knew? I thought it was obvious!" He asked questioningly, "Haven't you noticed the way she looks at him?"

Ann's jaw dropped to the ground. "Dad! Please shut your mouth before you do anymore damage!" She pleaded, shoving him towards the kitchen so she could try and figure a way out of this mess. "Look, guys, stop staring at me like that," She demanded, when her attention went back to the obvious audience.

"Uhm… that's not actually true, is it Ann?" Said Gray's voice from behind her, his voice actually sounding quite worried at the possibility that Ann could like him.

Ann lifted a brow. "Does it sound like it's true?" She snapped, glaring at him.

"Uhm… maybe?"

The waitress' let out a frustrated sigh. "Of course it's not! I couldn't have feelings for a guy who orders me to get his food every morning and night, and demands me to clean his sheets every week!" She cried out, and then her eyes fell back to their audience, who'd completely ignored her, and were still staring at her. "Look, just wipe the thought from your mind!" She snapped furiously.

"R-right…" Gray muttered, seemingly forgetting that he was in a bad mood, and looked pretty scared. "I'm going to go to work now…"

"Thank you!" Ann cried out, looking grateful, and slightly happier. "Good luck with Saibara!"

Gray looked back with a furrowed brow. "Erm… okay?" He muttered in response, quickly disappearing from the room, either in a hurry to get to work, or to leave the Inn as soon as possible. Most likely the latter.

Ann noticed that the Inn's customers were staring at her again. "What?" She snapped in frustration, throwing up her arms, "Can't I wish a friend good luck?"

"Right! I dug up some more information!" Popuri exclaimed, with a wide grin on her face. She'd just entered the Inn, looking quite pleased with herself, with a picture clutched to her chest, and a bright smile that somehow lit up everyone else sat at the surrounding tables.

Ann lazily lifted her head up to lean on her arm. "What about?" She questioned, letting out a loud yawn, and not even making an attempt to hide it.

Looking like she very much wanted to scold Ann, mostly because her breath stank, and because she'd been taught better than that, but she forced herself to continue. "About the new villager, of course! Look, here's a picture of her!" Popuri said, slapping down a photo on the counter top with a large grin.

Lifting a questioning brow, Ann let her eyes look down at it, instantly gasping when she saw it. "Woah! Are you sure that's her?" She asked, her eyes flinging back at Popuri.

"Yeah! It's strange, isn't it, how she's so pretty!" She replied quickly, deciding to look at the picture again for the hundredth time.

Ann furrowed her brow. "Why would a girl like her want to move to a country town like this?" She asked herself, not really aiming the question at her companion.

"I don't know either, but that's not it, Ann!" Popuri cried out, ceasing the chance for Ann to get a minute to think. "The girl's from the city! A city girl! We've never met anyone from the city!"

Ann looked up at Popuri questioningly. "Sure we have, Popuri. What about Gray, or Zack, or Kai, Cliff, and Won?"

"They're not girls, silly!" Popuri giggled at her friend's foolishness, "Though I'm not entirely sure about either Cliff or Won. Why would a guy have the desire to grow his hair that long?" She asked her innocently, pursing her lips.

Ann sighed. "Guys can grow their hair whatever length they want!"

"But what if they grow it past their hips? Doesn't that make them way too girly?" Popuri gushed, seemingly on a role now. "Could you ever date a guy with long hair? I don't have to think about it because I have Kai, and he said he would never grow his hair that long! He's too masculine!"

"U-uh, I don't really think about those sort of things…"

Popuri returned her eyes to meet Ann's. "Oh! That's right! You're Ann, you aren't even looking for a boyfriend, are you? By the way, you never explained that… Are you a lesbian, or something? Because you know this town frowns upon it, but don't worry, I don't mind lesbians, I'm sure they're really good girlfriends. Well, not that I want a lesbian as a girlfriend, because of Kai, but I'm sure that if you had a girlfriend, you'd treat them right. How about Mary? She's never dated a guy… Maybe she's a lesbian too?"

Ann snapped her eyes shut. "Please shut up, Popuri! You're hurting my head!" She yelled out, "I'm not a lesbian, and neither is Mary!"

The chicken farmer furrowed her brow. "You checked already?"

"Of course not! Don't you see the way she looks at Gray! She's obviously interested in him!" Ann yelled frustratedly, her eyes weary from shouting all day long.

Popuri blinked her eyes. "So, you're jealous? You suspected Mary of liking Gray, so you stalked her, and found out that she does like Gray? And now that you have competition, and you're going to kidnap her, or kill her, or something? Don't think I don't love you," Popuri started, quickly adding: "As a friend, obviously," to the end of that, "But Mary's my friend too, and I think you're taking this too far. Just because a guy has gotten between you, doesn't mean you two should fight. You could always flip a coin for who gets him if you want…"

Ann stared at her with amazement. "Please get it through your mind that I have absolutely no interest in Gray whatsoever. He's forever grumpy, and annoying, and he never smiles!"

"So, he's just your eye-candy? That's not very nice, Gray's going to be heartbroken!" Popuri scolded, looking genuinely upset for the imaginary sorrow of the blacksmith.

"Right…" Ann said, turning her back to her friend, "I actually have work to do tonight, so you can return to your house on your own, right? It's the same route you took to get here."

Popuri pouted. "I know that! I'm not a child."

"Okay sweetie, I understand. Now hurry home before it gets too late." Ann said with a sickly sweet tone, patting Popuri's head like her mother would.

Popuri huffed. "Stop mocking me!" She cried out, storming out of the Inn in a fury. Shrugging her shoulders at the confused looks of nearby customers', she walked off further down the bar to yet again set a limit to Karen's drinking.

Author's Note: Yeah! Another story! Please don't criticise me, I couldn't help it! I have a real feeling about my plot for this story though, so please at least try and understand. Please review, and tell me what you think of it. Or do whatever you think will make me realise that the plot isn't that crap. And yes I know this chapter doesn't exactly go anywhere, but it's mostly building up Ann's character, and her friends. But it's like the shell right now, but not her feelings inside… And yeah, ignore my bad humour, but erm... don't ignore the typos, please tell me if you see any, I haven't really checked this...