"Love for Sale" Episode 3

Chieri, the cherry spirit, loved her mother very much.
However, Chieri's mother doesn't love her very much.
I've even been told, "I wish I'd never given birth to you."

Chieri tries to get her mother to like her by helping out and being a good girl, but her mother just won't look at her.
Chieri started selling fruit in Orchard Village because she felt that she wasn't getting enough vitality from her mother and would wither if things continued as they were.

When Chieri's mother found out about this, she said some cruel things to her and even asked her to give back the life force that the travelers had given her.
Right now, Chieri is running away from her mother and living in hiding, but she hopes that one day she will make up with her mother and live with her.
Because we're family.

There is a traveler who always buys Chieri's cherries because they are delicious.
The traveler also had a family in the past, but they are no longer with us.

"Chieri, we have in common the fact that we don't have families. We're two similar people, so why don't we become a family?"
Chieri said:
"I also thought of you as a father. I'm happy."

The traveler frequently visited Chieri, eating cherries and giving her life force.
Thanks to that, Chieri's skinny body is starting to look more feminine.

One day, Chieri found out that there was a festival going on in the neighboring village of Myrtle.
Apparently, young men and women from various villages gather at the festival to become close friends and make promises to become family in the future.

"I want a real family too."

Thinking this, Chieri decided to go to the festival.
The cute Chieri was soon approached by a man.
The man was a little older than Chieri, but he too had come to the festival wanting to start a real family.

Chieri began living with the man.
But the man had a problem: he was violent towards Chieri and criticized her for living in Orchard Village.

Chieri thought it couldn't be helped. It was her fault for selling cherries scented with false love.
 Meanwhile, in Orchard Village, travelers were worried about Chieri, who had suddenly disappeared. However, they also thought that this was a common occurrence and that Chieri must be finding happiness somewhere.

One day, the traveler stopped in a village and happened to come across a skinny Chieri.

The traveller cried out in surprise.

"What's wrong? Chieri, you look completely lifeless."
 Chieri answers.

"It's been a long time, Traveler. I have a family now, but somehow I don't feel happy. I miss the days when I sold you cherries and received your life force. I want to go back to those days."
The traveler realized that this was not normal and decided to rescue Chieri.
Then we took Chieri back to Orchard Village.

Chieri-chan and Tabibito-san's peaceful days have begun again.
However, Chieri still feels uneasy.
One night, Chieri got into an argument with Tabito because Tabito noticed that Chieri had been in contact with a man again.

"Violence and verbal abuse won't change anything. If it were any other man, I wouldn't interfere with Chieri like this. I'm not trying to be mean, but you should just stay away from that guy."

The traveller said.
And Chieri answers.

"I want a real family. You're just someone who buys fruit from me and shares a little bit of your energy with me. You're not family. Leave me alone."
 And Chieri disappeared from Orchard Village once again.

What is a real family?
The traveler remembered the time when he had a family.

And he sighed and muttered.
"I can't say I'm happy by any means, but it's still better than when I had a family."

Well, if this were the end of the story, it would leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Family is an important thing that brings happiness to many people, so I can't really accept a story that doesn't take me to that kind of salvation outlet.
But in Orchard Village, stories always end like this, in bits and pieces.

It's similar to the dreams we have when we sleep.
The events in Orchard Village may have all been a dream, which is why they are fragmented.