Hello. Another oneshot from me. I wrote this because I really wanted to write something related to Grand Bazaar. While I don't think of it as the best Harvest Moon game, I still liked it a lot. And it's about Dirk! My second favorite bachelor in the game (first being Ivan 3). I hope you enjoy!

Wishful Thinking

Anita was so beautiful, and not only in how she looked; to me, it was more about how she presented herself – how she acted.

She was a kind girl with a big heart. Once she saw someone in trouble, she wouldn't hesitate to help them. She also made friends very easily, too. That smile of hers was so contagious – it always helped me cheer up when I was depressed about something.

Anita was really funny and charismatic as well. Every time I saw her she would always be laughing or joking about something.

In my opinion, those were all perfect qualities that a person should have, but the quality of hers that I admired the most was her determination.

That girl… that girl wouldn't give up anything without a fight. She runs a large farm all on her own, she sets up her own shop at the bazaar dedicatedly every week, and she was always moving – whether it was fishing, foraging, or catching bugs Anita never seemed to get tired. For someone so fragile-looking and small… she was one of the strongest people I've ever met in my life.

It was because of those qualities that I fell in love with her.

At first, I just thought of my feelings toward her to be only friendly in nature – like a brotherly love. But soon, she was all I could think about and I realized…

I was totally head over heels for her.

So, how do you think I felt when she came to me on my lunch break one day, asking me for advice concerning my brother?

Well, to be frank, I was pissed off.

I didn't want her to know how I really felt, so I smiled at her hoping I heard wrong. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

The girl in question blushed a light shade of pink as she played with a strand of her hair and answered. "Well… uh… I was hoping you could tell me a little more about your brother… Ivan." When she noticed the questioning look I was giving her, she stammered. "I-I.. just don't know much about him, that's all! I just wanted to get to know him better – I don't know him as well as I know you."

I laughed. Great, just great. I just had to fall in love with a girl and she just had to like my brother. I knew Ivan was better than me at a lot of things – intelligence, maturity, self-control… but who'd knew he'd be better with love?

Don't get me wrong, I love my brother more than anything in the world – I do. I owe everything to him, but…

Couldn't he just let me win for once in my life?

"Hey, Dirk? What's so funny?" I snapped out of my thoughts to see Anita pouting at me – she was so adorable like that. "I don't think this is a laughing matter… you're making me feel stupid."

I smirked. "This is a laughing matter, Anita!" I laughed again, despite all the jealously I was feeling. "You have a crush on my older brother! Who would've thought he was your type?"

Yeah, who would've? I always thought of myself as being more of her type since we were so alike.

In reaction to my comment, her pink blush turned into a deep shade of red. "W-why would you think I have a crush on him?" She softly punched me in the arm repeatedly. "You're jumping to conclusions!"

I shrugged as she continued to punch me in the arm. "Well, you came up to me blushing and stuff… what else was I supposed to think?" I pointed at her red face. "And look at you now. Why are you getting so flustered, Nita?"

She stopped punching me and huffed, crossing her arms in the process. "Because you're embarrassing me…"

I smiled. In the year that I knew her, I had never once seen her so flustered. Sure, she would get embarrassed when somebody complimented her on one of her many (and I do mean many) achievements. But she was never this bent out of shape before.

I could feel my smile weakening when I remembered exactly who was the cause of this.

Ivan.

She didn't feel this way towards me – no, Ivan was the reason she was so flustered. Ivan was the one she wanted to get to know better.

Ivan was the one she was falling in love with.

And the worst part about it was that I was jealous. I wanted to deny it, but I couldn't. I felt jealous and it made me feel horrible inside.

I hated feeling jealous of my brother – I hated it. Ivan deserved to be happy as much as I did, if not even more.

He worked so hard from such a young age just to take care of me in place of our deceased parents. He had to grow up young… his childhood was taken away from him.

His happiness was taken away from him.

Ivan seemed to be happy and he took care of me with no complaint, but I couldn't help but feel that he was sad. I always felt like I was a burden to him. If I had never been born then he wouldn't have had to take care of me, he wouldn't have had to grow up early…

He would've been able to fully enjoy his childhood.

And that was why I couldn't stand feeling jealous of him – I owed him everything! He didn't deserve to be hated by anyone, least of all me – the person he risked everything for.

I smiled once again, and this time it was a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Anita… I didn't mean to fluster you."

At this, she gave me a quizzical look. "What's wrong with you, Dirk? You seem… sad." She then frowned and put her hand on her chest. "Are you feeling alright?"

I nodded, putting on a happier smile for her. I didn't need to bring her down with my somber mood. "Yeah, I'm fine… I was just thinking about stuff, that's all. You don't have to worry."

She looked hesitant, but then shook her head. "Alright… if you say so. But if you have any problems, just talk to me alright?" She smiled. "I'm here for you, kay?"

I gaped at her. She really was a sweet person. It made me fall in love with her all the more. I could feel myself smiling a genuine smile this time. "Thanks, Nita. That… really helped."

She looked confused, but nodded nevertheless. "No problem!"

She may have been in love with my brother, but… "Hey, so what did you want to know about Ivan?"

Anita blushed again, giving me a small smile. "Well, uh… what type of girls does he like?"

I laughed. "What kind of question is that? I think you do like him…" She punched me in the arm again.

"Stop teasing me!" She yelled. "Can you just… answer the question?"

I smirked. "Well… I'm not really sure what kind of girl he likes, either." She sighed and I touched her shoulder reassuringly. "But I'm sure he would love someone like you. I know I do, and were related, so I'm sure he will too."

Anita gaped at me for what seemed like forever before finally grinning. "Thanks, Dirk. You're a great friend."

Yeah, that's right. Even though Anita didn't seem to return my feelings, I still had a friend in her. So, I would do all I could to support her in her love. It's the least I could do for her for being there for me – for being my best friend.

I was still in love with her… but I wasn't going to be selfish. If she liked my brother, then who was I to keep her away from him? It would ruin our friendship, everything we had…

It's up to her if our friendship becomes something more. But I doubt it would. It was only wishful thinking on my part.

And for some reason… I felt better about it than I thought I would.

So, that's the end of the oneshot. Truthfully, I'm not too satisfied with it, but hey… it's what I came up with, so you'll have to deal with it, kay?

To me, Dirk is the kind of person who would get jealous (he's only human, right?) but not that obsessive kind of jealous. And it's not like he's giving her up… he's just satisfied with how their relationship is right now. He wants to be someone more important to her, but he doesn't want to be selfish, either. He's trying to respect her feelings for Ivan because he deeply respects her and Ivan.

Maybe, I could make another oneshot related to this… or maybe I could make a longfic sequel…. maybe. Not too sure about that, yet. Well anyway, hope you all enjoyed this.