Mission Get-Mocha-A-Boyfriend

She notices her crutches propped up against the wooden desk behind Hinata.

Her expression softens in a touched manner. When she moves against her sheets, Hinata lets out a hum and moves, lifting his head. He flashes a tired but dorky smile, batting his eyelashes slowly. "You're awake."

"I want to go outside," Mizuki admits.

"It's not safe," Hinata frowns, reluctant to listen to her.

"I need to go out or my muscles are going to fall asleep on me. I have commissions to do so I can rank up. Also, I have a previous commission I haven't done," Mizuki reasons.

"A new week has begun. Your old commission should've been cancelled."

Mizuki is disheartened at this, disappointed that she couldn't keep to her word. She wonders how long it's going to take till she's at a higher social class, at least at one that won't have her kicked around by the public. "There's quests I need to complete."

"It isn't safe," Hinata reinforces his opinion, sitting up straight this time. "Who's going to take care of you when you get hurt again?"

Mizuki clicks her tongue in annoyance. "What made you so protective over me? I'll deal with my problems myself. I'm not weak," she spits as a matter-of-factly.

"Let me fix your bandages, at least?" he requests. Mizuki turns away, reaching forward for her crutches. Scrambling up with the help of objects around her, she gets her crutches under her arms, looking down at him firm-minded. "I'll do it myself."

Taking a deep breath, she braces herself before moving down the stairs. By some miracle, she makes it down safely without missing her step or tumbling forward. Hinata watches her as her silhouette distances, eventually leaving out the door and nowhere to be seen. Agitated, he clenches his fist and slams it against his bed, knocking his head forward. It always ends up like this between us, he grits his teeth.

'Why do I ever try?' Mizuki pauses outside the front door, turning back to face it. Her lips quiver, hands trembling around the grip of her crutches.

"I should've apologised," she sighs, mist evaporating in front of her mouth in the cold evening breeze. But there's not much apologising can do for me anyway.

Mizuki checks her commissions, realising that she can either speak to Mocha's love interest, Sebastian, or she can report to the Castle Library and speak to a lady called Esther. She's relieved defeating Valkyrie didn't turn out to be the main objective, she's certain she wouldn't be able to in a long while.

Not wanting to reminisce about her failure and also assuming the castle wouldn't let ragged peasants in past dusk, she decides to meet Sebastian, hoping to befriend Mocha after completing the task successfully.

Mizuki teleports outside Mocha's bakery, then walks across the street to the pub. Like any other business day, it's filled to the brim with sweaty adventurers and hapless drunkards. She's lucky enough to find one of such men who holds the front door open to let her in. Flashing a polite smile, she then turns with her nose scrunched in disgust, having caught an unshakeable stench from that man. The pub is not much like a bar, more like a tavern. Most of the rowdy ones are outside, the ones inside seated at tables at majority.

There is a short, plump man with a stern expression, walking around in patrol. Mizuki's eyes dart around in search of this man named Sebastian, then spotting him walk out from the back door, carrying three whole crates with his frail arms. He stumbles, unable to walk straight, especially with all of his vision obstructed. The earlier, older man (probably the owner of the place) screams in a hoarse voice, reminding him not to drop anything. Mizuki steps forward, tapping the presumable Sebastian on the shoulder to stop him.

Sebastian panics, flashing a flustered grin at Mizuki. "I'll help you with these," she whispers in his ear, taking two boxes from his hands. She helps him carry them to the back. Sebastian lets out a sigh, wiping sweat off his forehead in the storage room out back.

"Doesn't he work you a little too hard?" Mizuki questions cynically.

"Oh, my father's always been a little uptight," Sebastian admits. He has a peter pan collar and a red tie at his neckline, short bermudas that fall at his knees. He has an immature style of dressing, but something that fits his round, youthful face. His silver hair dusts a little too low over his eyebrows. Sebastian blows it away, catching Mizuki's attention before she loses herself staring. She can see how much he'd complement Mocha's warm-hearted demeanour.

"What do you think of Mocha from across the street?"

Sebastian straightens his back, chuckling awkwardly. He rubs the back of his neck subconsciously, "She often gets me to try her dishes. Er..." Then he pauses, not knowing what else to comment about her.

"You don't like her food?"

"Well…" Sebastian's voice drags. He then meets Mizuki's eye, correcting himself immediately, holding his hands out in front of him defensively. "It's not that, per se, I couldn't say that about someone's cooking."

'He doesn't like her food', Mizuki purses her lips. "What do you do when you're together?'

"She likes to cook for me, is all. We do talk in the morning when business isn't busy. I do enjoy her company greatly," Sebastian confesses, his face getting increasingly redder as he speaks. "E-Eh, if that's all you have, I do have to get back to work."

He then scuttles off. "Serve up some drinks, boy, work isn't getting done on its own!"

Mizuki winces upon hearing Sebastian's father bellow, voice progressively masked by the clinking of beer glasses and loud chatter. Mizuki wonders how she can help Mocha as she steps out towards the bakery. Sebastian's not completely against her company but he doesn't seem head over heels for her either. Surely something nice would warm him up?

Mizuki walks in on Mocha sprawled across the glass display of her bakery, flicking a single coin around sadly. Upon noticing Mizuki, she springs up in excitement to greet her, meeting her at the front door. "Did you speak to him? Do you think he likes me?"

"Have you ever thought about doing something nice for him?" Mizuki takes Mocha's hands, caressing them with her thumb. Mocha pauses for a moment in thought and then realises where Mizuki could be getting at. She sulks. "He doesn't like me?"

"No, that's not it!" Mizuki quickly interjects, beckoning for Mocha to look up at her again. "If you want to confess your love for him, why don't you do something he'd like? After all, you always give him food. What about something else?"

Mocha watches expectantly, waiting for suggestions. "Er, how about you organise a picnic for him? The field outside the city gates could be a nice, quiet place for you to sit."

"Oh, oh! Do you think he'd be willing to follow me?"

"I'm sure about that. Do you want to prepare some food and get a few flowers before you ask him tomorrow morning?" Mizuki suggests warmly. Mocha nods vigorously, scurrying behind the table to make a list of items that she's going to need for the hang out.

She shoves it in Mizuki's face.

[Mocha's Picnic Plan received]

"We can do this, right? Right?" Mocha questions, leaning up to Mizuki's face. Mizuki takes a step back, agreeing to help her. She remembers that she has a couple of extra flowers from her prior forest expedition that she can tie into a bouquet. Pushing past Mocha, she leads herself to the back, suggesting that she bakes something for Sebastian instead.

Mocha seems hesitant with this idea but eventually gives in to it, allowing Mizuki into the back kitchen. The only window is a rectangular glass panel on the brick wall, designed to let natural sunlight into the kitchen. Mizuki dusts her hands, looking around in the kitchen for spare ingredients, hoping that they'll be enough to bake as necessary by the plan.

According to the list, she has to make at least two plates each of Carrot Cake, Apple Pie and Custard Tarts, all recipes that she hasn't heard of before. Scanning through the selection of recipes that she has learnt, she finds that she needs to discover two more.

"Do you have a recipe book I can refer to?" Mizuki inquires politely. Mocha, who has been watching from the side, pulls out a bright blue notebook, one stuffed with so many extra papers, the cover looks like it's about to burst. Mizuki flips through the pages, pulling out the two that she hasn't learnt yet. She learns the ingredients: Fifty bottles of Milk, ten Apples, ten Tapioca, five jars of Fruit Jam and more Flour than Mizuki can fathom.

"Do you know where I can get these?" Mizuki rubs the back of her head doubtfully, unaware of how she'll gather these ingredients in a short amount of time. She doubts she can even carry them all, especially with the ten-item storage space she has in her satchel.

"Garden Olive has all of the ingredients I'm sure! They can also be obtained through certain Quests," Mocha advises. "Thank you again for your help!"

And that's where Mizuki realises there are expectations placed upon her.