A/N: So, first HM fic. In my opinion, the bachelors in ToT are kinda crap--the only ones I considered marrying where Luke, Chase, and maybe Julius or Jin. So right off the bat, before I even started playing for the first time, I decided that I would marry Luke. Then Chase came to my Island, and I was like: WOAH. I should've thought this through. But I didn't really care that much, not really, because I thought Luke was a cutie. And then, while reading some LukexAkari fanfic, I happened upon a piece of ChasexAkari. And here we are.

Thing is, Akari is a toal self-insert, because she's the FREAKING player character. But I do believe she was a subtle personality (subtle as she never talks) that can be intrepreted in many ways. I intrepret her as a sarcastic feminist who blushes easily when she likes someone. Note that my verison of Akari=/= ME. Yeah.

ANYWAYS, here is the first in a long line of HM fics. Enjoy.

She was already taken by the time Chase returned; married off to the ever-charming carpenter boy who had always managed to get on his nerves. But that wasn't hard—everyone in Waffle Town got on his nerves. Surprisingly, that first time Akari happened to visit her friend, Kathy, at the bar, only to run into Chase, he wasn't all that annoyed. There was something about her—some sort of kindness radiating from her that made exceptionally interesting to watch from afar. And that's what Chase did best—watching the rather slow-paced Waffle Town from the sidelines.

Chase knew that she was married; it was all anyone could talk about; about how unfortunate it was that he had arrived just in time to miss their wedding. He had always responded with a grunt, but that grunt told everyone what he was too irritated to say: It's not so unfortunate, because I really, honest to Goddess, don't care. Chase also did that very well—not caring. It was a perfected art to him, and he executed it flawless—save for those times when Yolanda was sampling his dishes.

Except, as the seasons passed, and Akari still visited the bar every so often, he couldn't help but wish that he had gotten to Island sooner—though it wouldn't have made a difference. It's not like Chase would actually venture out of his detached demeanor and approach her. Even if he had been there when Akari first moved to the Island, she would've still married Luke and would gush about her lambs and ride that ridiculous ostrich around town and would have lots of bouncing babies.

It wouldn't make a difference at all, because Chase didn't change. Whatever had happened, he would've still watched, and not cared.

He wasn't completely sure why he was marrying Maya. Loneliness didn't bother him—Chase reveled in solitude. And he was certain, absolutely certain that he didn't actually love Maya. But maybe he cared, just a little. Maybe he felt that while life hadn't offered him a second chance, it had offered him to make most of what existence he had left.

Akari was at the wedding, naturally; she was the closest to Maya having a best friend. All through the ceremony, he was hyper-aware that she sat a few pews away from, listening to him declare only half-true vows to her friend and he wondered if she could see the slight falsity in his tone. But after he sealed the marriage by kissing Maya, and turned around, her smile was like all the other guests: genuine happiness for someone because they were happy. That someone wasn't Chase. He felt rotten; a lair. And he felt disappointed, because she didn't care. He hadn't cared his whole life, and that one, single time—well…

Life was just that way: with thousands of pieces that never seemed to really work in harmony. Only a few, special instance did they finally match, but all too often there were missed encounters, misconceptions, and general unsatisfaction.

The only way too avoid the mess was just to not care, and fortunately, that was very easy for Chase.