Hello and Welcome to my newest fan fiction. I just love Harvest Moon, so I decided to write a fan fiction about it. This is based off "Harvest Moon DS Cute" and I'm using the brunette "Jill" or "Pony" character, however, in my story I'm using the names from my game file, so she is "Kitty." The only other note is that this fic is rated "T" for mild swearing (the characters are supposed to be in their 20's!). Other than that, I hope you enjoy! :)

Kitty yawned and stretched as the morning sun poured through the little window in her small, but cozy house. It was a beautiful day and she couldn't wait to get outside. It was her first summer in Forget-Me-Not Valley and if Spring had been any indication, this was going to be a great season. Her cat, Stealth, didn't seem to share the desire to awaken and he burrowed further into the bed.

She stepped out of bed and peaked inside the refrigerator to see if there was anything that could possibly make a decent breakfast. She frowned. No such luck. Yet another breakfast of plain bread…she really needed to invest in a kitchen. Too bad the only way to get your hands on one in the secluded Valley was the TV Shopping Network, but that only came on once a week.

She took a quick shower and changed into her blue set of work clothes. She gazed sadly in her bureau after realizing that the clothes she owned looked the same except for their color schemes.

She stuffed a slice of bread in her mouth as she refilled Stealth's water dish and poured some cat food in his bowl. He opened one eye slightly, but didn't move from the nest he'd formed in Kitty's bed.

Kitty sighed as she pulled her watering can out of her toolbox. This farm hadn't been used in awhile, so it seemed to lack certain amenities…like a hose to water crops instead of a watering can. Still, she guessed her mom would be happy, since she'd wanted Kitty to learn the value of hard work.

So, here she was at the tender age of twenty, owning her own farm, living off the land, and raising her own animals. Well, a dog, cat, and three chickens anyway. She'd only been in the Valley for one season.

She stepped outside into the sunlight only to be greeted by an unfamiliar face…An unfamiliar and incredibly handsome face.

The man in front of her wore a bandana on his head and a t-shirt and jeans. He was tanned, obviously from being out in the sun and his hair was dark brown. He grinned at her. "You must be Kitty. Am I right?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded, her voice seeming to fail her. She'd seen the Forget-Me-Not Valley guys; they were a decent bunch and the Mineral Town boys were an even better group…but this guy…!

He held out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Kai. It's nice to meet you, Kitty. I work down at the snack shack at the beach," he explained with a smile.

"Ah…umm…It's nice to meet you, Kai," Kitty stammered lamely, "I'm Kitty."

He laughed. "I know," he replied jovially, "I already figured that out."

Kitty mentally kicked herself for her stupidity. "So, are you moving into the Valley, Kai?" she asked, trying not to give away her silly wish that he was.

Kai shook his head. "Nope. I come here in the Summer every year," he clarified, then pointed toward the road down to the town, "But I gotta go man my shop, so I'll see you around, yeah?"

Kitty nodded, perhaps more vigorously than necessary. Kai laughed a bit, but didn't say anything about it. She watched him leave until he was out of sight. Kitty found herself leaning up against her house. She placed her hand over her racing heart.

"Oh my god! Did you see him?" she almost squealed, looking down at her dog, Cassie. Cassie sort of snorted, but didn't seem to have any opinion on the matter.

Kitty frowned. "Dear god, I'm talking to a dog," she mumbled disgustedly. She reached down and patted Cassie on the head anyway. Then a brilliant idea popped into her head. She knew exactly who might know something about Kai.

She raced down the pathway toward the inn. The chickens and crops could wait; she was on a mission! She turned the corner and burst through the inn's doors. Rock was nearby and looked at her like she'd finally lost it, then donned a look of pride. That was never a good thing.

"Wow, Kitty," he said grinning, "You didn't have to run all the way here to see me. I would've waited for you…at least a little while anyway." He held out his hand for her to take and presumably swoon in his arms.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Stuff it, Rock," she retorted and bolted up the stairs. Normally, she would've waited to see the look on his face, but this was a matter of utmost urgency! Besides, it didn't take psychic to realize Rock would eventually marry Lumina…Kitty always thought that Lumina must've been a veritable bodhisattva to deal with Rock, but then again, Kitty relented that as far a virtues went, she was definitely lacking in the patience department.

Maybe that was why her mother wanted her to work on the farm. Huh. Imagine that.

Kitty found the door to the girls' guest room where the Mineral Town girls usually stayed during their weekly visits to Forget-Me-Not Valley and burst through the door. Karen nearly dropped her drink upon Kitty's overenthusiastic entrance.

"Geez, Kitty, you scared the crap out of me!" the older girl complained, pushing one of her dark blonde bangs back into her brunette hair, "Is something wrong?"

Kitty nodded. "Kai! I need to know about Kai! Do you know anything?" she cried between her panting. She should really work out more. Maybe she could ask Wally for some pointers. She thought farming was enough exercise, but her running skill hadn't improved much.

Karen's eyes widened at the request. "Kai? Is he in the Valley now?" she asked, blinking confusedly.

"Yes, yes, yes! Now tell me what you know!" Kitty spat back before finally seating herself on one of the other beds facing Karen. She peered at Karen as if doing so would make some fount of knowledge burst from the other girl's head.

Karen rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Well, Kai's a drifter. He follows the Summer. He comes by Mineral Town too…Rick hates him…mostly because, well, Kai is a 'cool' type and Rick isn't. That and Kai and Popuri are…close," she explained softly.

Kitty practically leaped across the room at Karen. "How close?!" she asked frantically feeling the first bloom of love slipping through her fingers before it was even realized. Kitty grabbed the front of Karen's vest and looked at her pleadingly.

Karen held up her hands in a inoffensive motion. "It's hard to say, Kit," she admitted, "I mean, Rick acts like they're going to get married tomorrow, but you know how Rick overreacts about, well, everything. Why are you so curious about Kai, anyway? Are you interested in him?"

Kitty let go of Karen's vest and looked at her like she wasn't blessed in the IQ department. "Duh," Kitty retorted slightly more snottily than she'd intended. She stood up and smiled despite of the bad tidings Karen had given her. "Thanks for the info, Karen," Kitty relented.

She turned and left the room trying to appear happy. After the door was closed, however, she thumped down the stairs grumpily. Kai was interested in Popuri of all people? It's wasn't like Popuri was a bad girl or anything…it was more of a surprise that a handsome and sophisticated guy like Kai would be attracted to such an immature girl. Kitty couldn't help the blush that crept to her face as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I see the face of a girl in love," Ruby said in a sing-song tone from behind her counter.

Kitty giggled, but couldn't form a much better response than, "maybe." She left the inn and plodded toward the farm. She still had to take care of the stupid crops and chickens. Well, she could do several things in the situation she was in…she could leave things to fate and see if somehow miraculously Kai would choose her over Popuri, she could actively try to win Kai's love behind Popuri's back or she could just hope Kai and Popuri would have a happy life together.

She snorted as if she'd let the latter happen. Besides, it wasn't like Kai and Popuri were dating, so why shouldn't she give it a shot? Your first love isn't always your only love, but then…sometimes it is. Still, only fate would tell.

She nodded to herself, her resolve hardened. She would definitely visit Kai this afternoon after she finished her chores. She also made a mental note to thank her mother for forcing her to purchase the farm…if she hadn't she'd have never met Kai. What a special day indeed.

-

Even though her attraction to the older boy was great, Kitty was still sort of nervous about visiting him. Still, as she stood on the edge of the beach, she knew there was no turning back. If she left now, she was letting Popuri have an advantage.

She crumpled her face quizzically. When had she stopped regarding Popuri as a good friend and decided that she was her love rival? She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Probably about the time she'd had her conversation with Karen. She sighed. Knowing her luck, Kai had no idea either girl liked him. Well, he probably hadn't figured out that Kitty liked him yet.

She strode over to Kai's store with mock confidence. No one else was there. Nami was way down the beach watching the tide come in, but that seemed to be it. Kai looked up from a magazine with a look of surprise.

"Hey, Kitty! Are you here to get something to eat?" he asked a tinge more desperately than he probably should have. Kitty let it slide. Then again, at this point Kai probably could've knifed someone in front of her and she would've let it slide.

She nodded. "Yeah," she replied sweetly, "What do you recommend?"

He grinned at her and went off on a tangent about the benefits of the different foods he served, but Kitty couldn't really say she was paying too much attention to his words as much as the sound of his voice and the animated looks that crossed his handsome face.

Geez, were all girls like this when they were love-struck? If so, it was sort of sad. She ended up ordering the pizza and a glass of water (she wasn't made of money) and talking with Kai.

"So, have you been farming long? I mean, last Summer when I was here you weren't," Kai asked nonchalantly, pouring himself a glass of pineapple juice.

Kitty shook her head. "No, I've only been here since the beginning of Spring," she admitted, "But I really like the Valley. My mother wanted me to learn the value of hard work by farming, so she sort of forced me to buy the Ranch."

Kai laughed. It was a nice sound that Kitty imagined she could listen to for the rest of her life. Kitty frowned inwardly. Wasn't she getting a little ahead of herself? It was quite possible that living up on the hill at the farm was starting to have a detrimental effect on her mental health. She was pretty much alone, since it wasn't like Takakura was awesome company and the Mayor (of Mineral Town, ironically) was…quirky…and that was being kind.

"You mother sounds pretty tough. I'm surprised your father allowed you to go to some strange place and live by yourself," Kai said in amazement, as if Kitty's accomplishments were something to be in awe of…Kitty couldn't say that she thought they were, but then again, she wasn't going to discourage Kai if he decided to be impressed by something she did.

Kitty sighed. "My father's dead," she replied bluntly. She was so used to the other villagers telling her how her late father would want her to work hard on her farm and how she's not working up to her potential and that her dead daddy would be sad up in heaven. These remarks tended to desensitize her on the subject.

Kai looked shocked. He reached out and rubbed her back. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" Kai began, but Kitty held up her hand.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, secretly relishing the feel of Kai's hand on her back, "It happened a long time ago." She smiled at him and nearly squealed when he smiled gently back at her.

He suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing and pulled his hand back like it was on fire. "I'm sorry!" he blurted out suddenly, "I didn't weird you out by rubbing your back, did I?" He seemed rather disconcerted about it.

It was Kitty's turn to laugh. "I don't mind at all!" she replied cheerfully.

Kai breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good," he said, "I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. It's bad enough that I barely get any customers, I don't want to be scaring off the ones I do get!"

Kitty looked at him quizzically. "Business not so good, I take it?" she asked conversationally. She really didn't want this talking streak to end.

Kai shook his head. "Popuri is pretty much my only regular. Sometimes Rock stops by too…but…" he sighed, then shrugged, "What do you do?" That was rhetorical, but Kitty felt like she should say something.

"I'll be a regular!" she announced, causing Kai to grin. She scratched the top of her head. "Why do you get so few customers? Your food's delicious!" she encouraged.

Kai shrugged again. "I guess because Rick hates me and likes to tell people that I'm a bad guy or some crap like that," Kai offered as an explanation, "He just doesn't like me because I hang out with Popuri…but she's a good friend and fun to talk to. Still, I'm not going to sweep her off her feet and elope with her." He gave Kitty a defeated smile.

Kitty tried her best to hide her happiness at his feelings toward Popuri. She mentally chided herself for celebrating someone else's misfortune. Oh, well, shit happens and Popuri was pretty enough to get another guy. She glanced at her watch, then gasped slightly at the time. She'd been here shooting the shit for two hours!

"Kai," she burst out, "I need to go! I have some other things to take care of on the farm. I had a good time talking to you." She grinned at him and turned to leave.

"Kitty," Kai said, catching her attention, "I had fun talking to you too. You'll come tomorrow?"

Kitty smiled at him, "Count on it!"

-

That night, Kitty barely had time to scribbled the day's events in her diary before bed. Stealth hopped up on the bed and curled up next to Kitty as she lay down to sleep. "Stealth," Kitty addressed the sleepy cat, "I think things are starting to look up." He seemed indifferent and quickly fell asleep. Kitty smiled in spite of herself and followed her cat's example…except she dreamt pleasantly of days to come.

I hope you all liked it! Drop me a line if you feel like it! Until next time, this has been B.R.Y., over and out!