A/N: Hey, another story is up! I wanted to try out the Harvest Moon contest. The theme was 'Secrets' and when I heard that, this popped up. Might be a bit confusing but I hope everyone enjoys the read anyways.
Want to thank my friends for helping me when I got stuck on this xD
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility or any of its characters.
I knew my brother was hiding something from me back then, but I didn't know what...
Angela wiped the sweat off her forehead. It was another hot summer day and the unforgiving sun was beating down on her. She didn't mind it really; the sun was good for her crops. But sometimes, she just wished the sun will pop out from the clouds after lunch time, as she was usually done all her chores by noon. It'll make the work easier that's for sure.
Sighing heavily, she went to go refill her watering can. Though she had to admit, things would have been a lot worst for her if her brother, Kevin, didn't decide to move in. After being kicked out of the house for reasons Angela did not know, Kevin needed a place to stay. Angela had offered him one of her vacation villas if he promised to help her with the farm work.
It didn't make any sense really. Kevin was a good boy. He was never rude, had the best set of manners, and was the "I'll-be-with-you-till-the-end" types. She always saw him getting along with everyone. Heck, many of her close female friends had told Angela what a wonderful brother she had.
She smiled. It was pretty obvious that a few of the girls had a crush on him. Angela wouldn't be surprised; Kevin was a pretty good catch. She was proud of her brother.
That's why it made her wonder what Kevin did to upset their mother so much that she kicked him out.
Angela chuckled quietly despite the seriousness of the situation. Maybe he arrived late for church one too many times from all the morning volunteering he did. Their mother wasn't very tolerant to tardiness, especially when it came to church.
She shook her head and glanced at her younger brother, who never seemed very upset that he got kicked out of the house. In fact, Angela would have guessed he was happier here. It wasn't as if Kevin hated their mother. Maybe there was something here that's making him smile. She briefly wondered what it could be.
Suddenly, Kevin stopped working and stared towards the big blue sky. Angela blinked and turned her gaze in the same direction. Nothing. This had been happening for awhile. She'll notice her brother just gazing at absolutely nothing. Was she just blind or something?
"Kevin? What are you doing?"
Said boy jumped slightly and turned to face his older sister. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"N-Nothing. Just thinking, that's all."
"Oh?" she said slyly, a sudden thought popped into her head. "Thinking about someone in particular, aren't you?"
Angela knew she hit it dead in the center when Kevin blushed and averted his focus elsewhere.
"Aww! Little Kevin has a crush on someone!" Angela teased.
"Sis, be quiet," Kevin mumbled, returning back to his work.
"So, who is it? Who's the lucky girl?"
For some reason, Kevin froze and his shoulders tensed. Angela blinked. Then, as if nothing happened, Kevin just resumed plowing the ground.
"No way, Angela. You may be my sister but I'm not telling you." Kevin answered back, his voice betraying nothing.
Angela ignored the initial pause too.
"Oh come on! I promise I won't tell! Please? You can tell your older sister! You used to tell me everything!"
"Angela, that was when I was a kid. Do I really have to?" Kevin sighed, really not wanting to tell his sister. Angela knew that much and decided to let him go for now.
"Fine, I'll figure it out soon enough anyways." She grinned. "After all, the Firefly Festival is coming up soon. I'm bound to see you with the lucky girl during this romantic event!"
Kevin rolled his eyes. "Good luck sis, I'm not even sure if I'm going to go."
"Why not? Are you afraid the girl is going to say no?" Angela chuckled. "Oh Kevin, who wouldn't want to go with you?"
Her little brother didn't give her a response and Angela was a little shocked at how cold he was acting. She should have figured out that something was wrong right there, but she decided to leave the topic alone and go back to her watering.
Angela kept a close eye at all the female interactions Kevin had. To say she was an overprotective sister would be an understatement.
But she wouldn't admit that out loud. Of course not.
So far, she managed to narrow it down to Luna, Maya, and Anissa. Though there was that horse racing he did with Kathy. He also helped Phoebe carry some stuff back to her house one time. Not only that, but Angela remembered seeing Kevin give flowers to Selena and some herbal tea to Candace. And right now, Angela noted, he was fishing with Renee.
Was her younger brother after all the girls or something?
The thought made Angela pale.
No, she was probably mistaken. Kevin wasn't the type to be fooling around with the hearts of all the bachelorettes in town.
Was he?
She shook her head violently, smacking her cheeks to regain some sense. This was Kevin she was talking about. Her younger brother for Goddess's sake! There must be a logical reason for this. She just couldn't see it at the moment.
She peered closely at Renee and her brother laughing when he lost the fish.
Angela was starting to think she really was blind now. How could she not have noticed Kevin hanging around all the girls?
It was time to stalk her little brother. Or well, time to stalk her little brother even more to be precise. So far, she hasn't seen him ask Renee out to the Firefly Festival that was happening tomorrow.
Maybe he likes someone else?
Kevin waved Renee good bye as he packed up his fishing gear and started heading towards Angela's hiding spot. Angela quickly ducked her head and froze, but not without seeing the shy blush on Renee's cheeks as she waved back to Kevin.
Luckily, Kevin didn't notice his sister so he walked away, blissfully unaware. After a few minutes, Angela shot straight out of the bush and followed her brother, momentarily forgetting that there was still someone left at Caramel Falls.
Renee stared at Angela's back with wide eyes as the farmer girl ran off, leaves sticking out of her clothes and hair.
Angela lost her brother. She didn't know how she even lost sight of him. Well, except for Gill stopping to ask her out to the Firefly Festival, to which she responded: "Not now Gill, I have to go catch my brother!"
To say she was utterly disappointed in herself right now would be another understatement.
But she really wanted to know who the lucky girl was!
Looking to her right, and then glancing to her left, Angela shoulders slumped while she released a disappointed sigh. If Gill hadn't interrupted her, she wouldn't be in this situation.
Angela frowned and decided to just forget about it. She'll find out who he liked eventually, there was no point in following her brother. Besides, she should probably head to Praline Forest to go chop up some wood. She wanted to upgrade the size of her barn and she's delayed the chore long enough. Angela knew she hadn't been the most productive the last few days either…
She sighed again, she really hated cutting down trees. Each time one fell down, she died a little inside. Trees were life too, but it was necessary for her to cut them down. Ignoring the fact that trees are living would make things easier on her. But she wasn't the type to ignore things because they were inconvenient for her.
Swinging the axe up to sit on her shoulders, Angela hummed quietly to herself as she walked by the Mother Tree root short cut and headed towards the forest.
That is, until she heard a voice.
Angela quickly hid behind a tree and peeked. The amount of trees made it difficult to see, but she was close enough to hear the voice. Close enough to hear that it was her brother's voice.
"Hey, tomorrow is the Firefly Festival right? I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."
Angela had to cover her mouth to stop herself from squealing. She knew her brother had a crush on someone! She held her breath to make sure to hear the girl's response properly. Angela was sure she could figure out who her brother liked just by hearing the girl's voice.
There was silence for awhile before a loud laugh was heard.
But, what was strange was…that wasn't any of Waffle Island's girls laughing. Not Maya or Kathy or… any of the girl's for the matter.
Angela boldly peeked further from her spot.
Sure enough, her brother was standing there with Luke right next to him. She narrowed her eyes to a squint. She didn't see any girls with them…
Luke stopped laughing and gave Kevin a big slap on the back. "Ahh Kevin, you crack me up! Didn't Angela tell you that the Firefly Festival was a romantic event? You're supposed to ask the girl you like! Not your best friend!"
From where Angela was standing, she could only see Luke's broad smile and the back of Kevin's head.
"O-Oh. Of course. My mistake. I just thought it'll be nice to go together," Kevin paused. And then as an afterthought, added: "You know?"
"Nah, I wouldn't know. I was brought up knowing the Firefly Festival was like a date Kev."
"Haha, yeah. Sorry."
"No problem! Good luck on asking your secret crush. I bet she'll totally go out with you!"
Kevin nodded and turned around. His face had a smile on it, but once he was completely facing away from Luke, the smile slipped off. His face was entirely devoid of any expression. Angela watched her brother's eyes turn dull, unfocused, as he walked by her. Kevin didn't even notice his sister standing there, her head clearly peeking out from behind a tree. Angela continued to watch as her brother left the forest without a sound.
She turned her gaze briefly at Luke, who was happily chopping at a tree, before she left the forest herself.
It didn't make sense. It just didn't make sense, Angela thought as she splashed the water in the hot springs idly. What happened today at the forest had her completely baffled. She could have sworn she told Kevin that the Firefly Festival was a romantic one. Besides, why would he want to watch fireflies with another guy? It just didn't make sense.
She sank further into the hot springs and looked up into the night sky.
Was there a chance…that Kevin asked Luke to the Firefly Festival on purpose?
Angela shook her head and quickly got out of the hot springs. The heat was making her think absurd thoughts. Grabbing her towel, she dried herself and changed. Swinging her bag over her shoulders, she made her way down the path, deep in thought again.
She stopped when she neared one of her vacation villas, the one she gave to Kevin. The light in the house was still on even though it was past midnight. Angela stared wordlessly at the windows; half hoping her brother would somehow sense her discomfort from inside and come out. Her mind buzzed from all the thoughts and questions. One phrase kept ringing through her head: "Why did he do that?"
Maybe she should just ask him.
Her expression hardened at the thought. Face blank, Angela turned her gaze away.
She decided to ignore it. For some reason, she didn't really care about finding which girl Kevin had a crush on anymore.
A part of her mind asked how blind she really was.
She decided to ignore that too.
Angela managed to apologize to Gill for the mishap yesterday and they were both enjoying a lovely evening with the fireflies. When Angela glanced at the other side of Caramel Falls, she noticed her brother sitting next to a blushing Renee.
The brown haired girl covered her mouth as she giggled, or at least Angela thought she was giggling. The sound of the waterfall drowned the all other noises. Kevin had a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Despite how normal he acted today, Angela knew something was wrong. Just looking at his eyes, she could tell something was bothering him. And yet, she couldn't help but feel that she didn't care to figure out why.
That kind of shocked her. This was her brother she was talking about. Since when did she not care about him?
Even from the distance, Angela noticed her brother blanking out again, staring directly in front of him. Directly at the direction of Dale's Carpentry, a part of her mind whispered.
Angela shivered and averted her gaze.
Looking at her brother and Renee, Angela thought that they would make a cute couple. The longer she stared, the stronger she believed it. Perhaps Renee was the one Kevin had meant to ask.
If it wasn't Renee, then why would he have asked her to this festival?
"Kevin and Renee look really cute together don't they?" she asked Gill.
Gill turned to her, surprised.
"Right? They do right? Totally perfect for each other right?" she asked, not even questioning why she was sounding so desperate at the moment. She was half afraid of the answer.
Gill peered at the other pair. "Yes, they do make a good pair. Renee is very knowledgeable about animals and Kevin is a very efficient farmer. I think together they can successfully create their own ranch."
Despite Gill's reassurance, a small part of her mind was still questioning it, but Angela shoved it away. Besides, the proof was right in front of her. Kevin came here with Renee.
Yes, it was making a lot of sense now. Of course Kevin liked Renee. Angela laughed quietly to herself. Everything made sense now!
Angela smiled happily at the realization. She knew she would eventually figure out who Kevin liked. After all, her little brother couldn't keep anything from her.
In her blindness, Angela did not notice her brother's eyes dulling when Renee took his hand. Nor did she notice the longing on his face as he stared at the distance again.
Or perhaps she just turned a blind eye.
After all, Angela thought, there are some things you should keep to yourself. It was better that way, she was sure.
Just as she was sure that Kevin changed after that day too.
I knew my brother was hiding something from me back then, but I didn't know what...
Or maybe I just didn't want to know.
Sometimes I wonder… if I had asked him about it back then, if I had been the supportive older sister I thought I was, would he be smiling now.
Maybe there are some things you shouldn't keep to yourself.
- Fin
A/N: Congrats to those who figured out Kevin's secret. I hope Angela's actions aren't too confusing. I tried to subtly word it out. Well, you can decide why Angela did what she did, the answer is a secret =) Well, I tried to make it seem like that anyways