Time flashed forward to the day Penny brought the kids to visit the farm.
Penny woke up bright and early today. Since it was summer, she dug out a skirt she rarely wore, fixed her hair in the mirror, and finally found the perfect hat to put on.
Pam poked her head out of the kitchen, watching Penny. Beside her, Clefable let out a call.
"Clef~"
"Yeah, she seems really happy today." Pam said, flipping the eggs in the pan, then bringing everything to the table.
"Time to eat." Pam called out to Penny. "You're taking the kids to visit the farm today, right?"
"Yeah!" Penny nodded.
Pam stared at Penny, suddenly remembering something. "I think I saw Indeedee buy a bouquet from the grocery store yesterday and take it back."
"Ah?" Penny froze for a moment.
"Confessing with a bouquet—Pokémon don't have that custom, do they?" Pam said. Seeing Penny's cheeks begin to flush crimson as if she'd thought of something, Pam couldn't help but pause.
Rather than saying Indeedee bought flowers for itself, this seemed more like Ron had asked it to run an errand. Combined with the fact that Penny had just invited Ron, and he immediately went to buy flowers—it was hard not to overthink it.
But after thinking about it, Pam felt a bit regretful for bringing it up. She couldn't help but caution, "But I don't want to discourage you either. If he doesn't intend to give you flowers—maybe you could consider looking at other boys in town."
A bouquet wasn't a decoration in Pelican Town. If you didn't need one, you wouldn't buy one. If Penny wasn't the one receiving it, then it would be someone else in town.
If that were really the case——
"Yeah, I know." Penny lowered her head, and after a long while, let out a soft laugh. "Then that's okay too."
Actually, a secret crush was a sweet thing in its own right, even if it wasn't as legitimate as being in a relationship. But just having her mood improve from accidentally bumping into him at some point during the day was enough. She'd start looking forward to it the moment she left the house each day, and if she actually did run into him at some point, she'd be elated all day long.
She had even started looking forward to those festivals where everyone gathered together.
Just the thought of being able to see him made every day seem worth anticipating.
"Sigh——"
Pam let out a long sigh.
She couldn't help but feel this was all related to the lousy things she'd done in the past. If Penny hadn't gone through those hardships with her, if she had enjoyed enough love during her childhood, maybe she would be a confident young woman. She wouldn't be so anxious about gains and losses in matters like this, always feeling like she wasn't good enough, wasn't pretty enough, wasn't worthy of the person she liked.
She even sometimes doubted whether she truly deserved happiness.
Not noticing Pam's expression, Penny finished eating quickly, then checked herself in the mirror once more, making sure her outfit was appropriate, before walking to the door and taking a deep breath.
"Phew——"
She let out the long breath, then opened the front door.
The moment she stepped out, she saw Leo, who had just been dropped off by Linus, not far away.
After waving goodbye to Linus, Leo skipped over to Penny's side.
"Good morning, Teacher Penny." Leo said, his gaze sweeping over Penny's face. "Did something bad happen to you today?"
Having grown up alongside animals, Leo had no concept of nervousness or anxiety. He could only categorize the emotions on Penny's face as dejection or something similar.
"No, nothing." Penny shook her head and showed Leo a gentle smile.
This was supposed to be a happy occasion.
Penny thought.
And she'd always been lucky. If there was a certain probability that Ron's bouquet was meant for her, then in her case, it should be one hundred percent.
Unfortunately, love was never a game of probability.
But, it was okay.
Penny thought, reaching out to hold Leo's hand.
Her fingers were quite cold. Even though it was summer, in Leo's experience, only when you were scared by a monster would your hands and feet turn cold like that.
He couldn't help but glance at Penny again.
After picking up Vincent and Jas along the way, Penny hesitated between the farm's south gate and east gate.
They were currently at Marnie's doorstep. Logically, the south gate was closest, but the east gate would give her a bit more time to catch her breath.
She hadn't figured out at all how she would face everything if the bouquet wasn't for her.
Because of her good luck, Penny had never hesitated over unresolved matters like this before, nor had she ever experienced this kind of feeling.
"Let's go through here!" Jas pointed at the south gate. "Shane works in the barn near the south gate! He specifically told me this morning."
"——Okay." Penny took another deep breath.
It was still a bit early for the appointed time with Ron.
But Ron was already waiting. Figuring that based on Penny's route picking up the kids, she would most likely come in through the south gate, he stood at the entrance, watching the Miltank playing with the animals in the barn not far away.
As the sole highly intelligent creature permanently residing in the barn, Miltank now carried itself like the king of all beasts.
"Moo~" Miltank called out, and the cows and sheep consciously made room for it, letting it lie peacefully in front of the newly grown blue pasture grass to enjoy its breakfast.
Ron chuckled at the sight. Turning his head, he saw Penny standing there, holding the hands of three kids.
"Morning."
"Ah, m-morning." Penny was tugged by Jas before she snapped out of it. She smiled at Ron, awkwardly tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Where would you like to start the tour?" Ron asked.
"Uh, this——" Penny's eyes darted everywhere.
Seeing that Penny couldn't make up her mind, Ron asked the kids for their opinions.
"The barn!!"
"Hmm—the Day-Care/Nursery!"
"Either is fine."
Ron glanced over and saw Shane in the barn frequently looking this way, so he rubbed Jas's head. "Then how about we start with the barn?"
"That's not fair! Why does Jas get to go first?" Vincent protested.
"Hmm——" Ron thought for a moment. "Then you could also come with me to the Day-Care, while Jas and Leo, along with Teacher Penny, go to the barn."
Hearing the address "Teacher Penny," Penny felt a bit flustered. Even though she knew it was just a title used for the kids' sake, it just sounded a bit strange, especially coming from Ron's mouth.
"No need!" Jas waved her hand, grabbed Leo's hand, and after thinking for a moment, pulled Vincent along too. "The barn and coop can be toured with Shane showing us around! He's definitely better than Ron at this kind of thing!"
Ron smiled. "True."
"Then Brother Ron can take Teacher Penny to look around elsewhere!" Jas said, dragging the two boys and running off in that direction.
"Wait! Hey, I didn't agree to go to the barn!" Vincent struggled mightily.
But at this moment, Jas's strength was astonishingly powerful.
"Teacher Penny——"
Ron looked at Jas's retreating back, then turned to Penny, who was still standing there, a bit at a loss, and gestured toward the farm.
"Shall we?"
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