The first chapter of one of the short stories. Er, maybe somewhat long stories.. ^^; I do NOT own Harvest Moon. (:


Popuri. The adorable, pink haired girl that I had dated every summer, for about two years. Her brother, Rick, well, he loathed me. He thought that his little sister shouldn't be involved with a guy like me. I guess he was right, but I didn't want to admit it. You see, she was irresistible. Her cotton-candy pink her, her sparkling pink eyes—her smell, her sweet, bubbly personality. I fell hard for her, but she didn't deserve a guy who only came around during summer. She needed to find someone else to be with. Was that was so hard to realize…? I guess it was, because I had to force myself to walk down to the Poultry farm. "You got your wish, Rick." I growled under my breath as I knocked on the tall wooden door. One, two, three knocks. Rick answered. "What the hell do you want?" he snapped, and adjusted his glasses, for they were sliding down his face. "I need to see your sister." I said smoothly—but it obviously just made him angrier. "She's in bed, she's sleeping in today." Rick said. I decided to piss him off some more. "Great, I think I'll join her." I smirked, and pushed past him. "Damn you Kai! Leave my sister alone!" Rick yelled. My eyes darkened. "Just what I intend to do…" I muttered under my breath. His raised voice had obviously woken up Lillia and Popuri. The young girl ran down the stairs and jumped into my arms. "Kai! I missed you sooooo much!" she cried, burying her heart-shaped face into my shoulder. "I… I missed you too Ri-Ri." I said softly. "Good morning, Kai!" called out Lillia with a soft spoken voice. "Good morning! How are you doing, Lillia? It was quite unpleasant, not seeing you and Ri-Ri for so long. Do you need any help?" Ri-Ri was my nickname for Popuri. "No, but thank you dear. I'm perfectly alright getting down my stairs." She smiled. "Popuri… can I talk to you outside?" it pained me to say it. "Sure!" she said. But I saw Rick give his mother a worried glance.

"What is it, Kai?" she asked. Was there… joy in her voice? Shit. She probably thought I was proposing to her. Dammit! "Popuri, this has been great… but… you don't deserve a guy like me. I don't want to hurt you." Her red eyes teared up. "No Kai! No! don't leave me!" she cried. "Baby, I'm sorry. But your brother is right. Goodbye, Popuri." I kissed the top of her head, and walked away. I couldn't look back. I couldn't see her cry and know that it was my fault.

I sat behind my counter at my shop, and waited. It was rather pointless, because barely anyone ever showed up. I sighed, and turned around, opening the freezer. I got the ingrediants, and made a snow cone. The door opened. "Umm… Hi," a girl that I had never seen before said. "Welcome!" I greeted. "Hi, I'm Claire." She said, her long blonde hair swishing around her shoulders. Her eyes were blue. She was pretty cute, I had to admit. I turned on my charm. "I'm Kai! I run this shop." Damn, I was losing it. "Would you like a snow cone? Free of charge, of course, for you." I smiled refreshingly at her. Claire's face shone. "Thank you so much!" she sat down on the stool. "What flavor?" I asked. "Pineapple, please." She said. My face was slightly twisted in shock. "R-really? That's my favorite too." I said. I handed her the snow cone. She slightly looked away, and I could see tears in her eyes. "Claire! What's wrong?" I asked, lightly touching her shoulder. She flinched at my touch, but didn't draw away, and looked at me. "It's just… no one's ever been so nice to me before." She murmured. "Thank you, Kai." I quickly made myself one, and sat down next to her. We ate our desserts in silence, I think Claire didn't know what to say. I didn't either, but it wasn't awkward. It was more of… a peaceful silence.

"Thank you Kai, it was very nice meeting you. I'll be visiting you again!" she smiled and walked out of the shop. I looked at her seat—there was something sticking out. I gently removed it. she smiled and walked out of the shop. I looked at her seat—there was something sticking out. I gently removed it. 500 gold. I shook my head and grinned.

The next day, I sat at the end of the dock, my hands running through my hair. I tied my bandana back around my head as I heard footsteps. Rick was storming up to me. "Why did you do that to Popuri you bastard?!" he yelled. "I thought you didn't want me to be with Popuri." I said coldly, emotionlessly. "You made her cry—I'll make you pay." I closed my eyes, my fists clenching into balls. "No Rick. You can't do anything to me." Fury shaded every inch of my tone. Rick then promptly punched me in the face. "What the hell Rick?!" someone yelled. I looked. It was Claire. She ran up to me. "Stop it! You have no reason to hurt him! I know what happened, Popuri herself told me! He did what you wanted him to do, so why the hell are you so determined to hate him anyway?" she sort of broke down, collapsing. Tears ran down her face. "You got your way, why Rick? He did what you wanted him to do so why, why?" I bent down and attempted to pick her up. She flinched. "Damn you Kai," he muttered, and stormed off. I picked up the limp girl and took her inside my shop, laying her down in the back room. I had a nice living area in there, but I liked sleeping at the Inn for some reason.

I went to the front of the store, to make her some tea. I had just about finished, when Popuri walked in, followed by over half of the town. "Welcome!" I called out, smiling welcomingly to the people. There was hardly enough room for them all, but somehow they fit. I pulled Popuri aside. "What is this?" I asked. "I thought you might want some more customers!" she said happily. "This is a little much, Popuri." I said, probably sounding harsh. Her face fell when I called her by her first name, not the pet name I gave her after our first summer. She left the building quietly. I needed help, and instantly thought of Claire. I woke her up, and asked for her help. "W-what am I doing here?" I explained. "Yes, of course!" she followed me out obediently, and went to take Gourmet's order. We rushed back and forth, taking orders, serving food. It was pretty tough, even with Claire's help. But I was happy, finally, everyone in Mineral Town had come.

Ready to clean up, I looked around to see what mess the villagers had made. From the looks of it, Claire was already cleaning. "Claire, sweet heart, you're exhausted, why don't you go home and rest?" I said to her. She shook her head. "No, I need to help. I may be tired, but that doesn't matter. At all. It's my responsibility to clean up after myself." She said those words assuredly, but there was a weary tune in her voice. "Seriously, you passed out on the beach when Rick and I were arguing." I looked at her sternly. "This is my shop, I will clean up. Go home, Claire." She refused, so I scooped her up and ran out of the shop, laughing to show her it was okay.

"You nasty pervert." Said someone, and I felt something hard hit my head. When I opened my eyes Gray was standing over me with an iron pan in his hands. "What the hell was that for, Gray?!" I yelled. "Being a pervert." He said simply. "Where's Claire?" Gray shoved her over to me. "Are you okay?" I asked. "I'm f-fine." She mumbled. "Oh, sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Gray! That idiot Saibara is my grandfather…" he said loudly. "Gray… Are you drunk?" I asked astounded. "Er.. I dunno." He mumbled, his enthusiasm disappearing. "Sorry, he's not usually like this… ha ha…" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Come on, Claire. Let's take you home." I walked her to her house, happy I could help.


Erm, it ended quite... well, I don't really like the ending to the chapter much, but owell... New chapter coming up soon! (: