://Authorly Notes\\: Here we go again! I don't really have to put a disclaimer, but honestly, I think it would be so cool if the owner of Natsume and Harvest Moon wrote a fanfic and put "And yes, I do own Harvest Moon". XD
Untitled Until Further Notice
Chapter II: "Kane"
Kane always thought his parents were very different from each other. His dad was a big flirty nice-guy and his mom was the insecure clingy woman. The two didn't really mix well, but between Kai's charming and Popuri's childish clinginess, the two have never really grown apart. Even still, Kane could easily see that Kai had never really wanted to be married. Nevertheless, he knew that his dad would never cheat on his mom.
But just from looking at his dad, he knew that love didn't really exsist.
Kane was a smart kid, and he knew it. He had As and Bs all down his report cards. He retained just about everything he learned in previous classes and magazines and the internet. He was a smart kid. It was his attitude that needed adjusting. Chores were done right and without question or asking. Dishes were cleaned, floors were swept and vaccumed and toilets were sparkling. It was his parents way of making him a good man...Yeah right. Kane didn't belive in love. Not even with his family. True, the chores have made him responcible, but it wasn't like that was Kai and Popuri's intention, right?
Every summer they sent Kane to Kai's mom. He and his Nana worked on her day lily farm in Virginia. She was the one who almost made him believe in love.
Too bad she died a month ago.
Now he's on a boat, going to Mineral Town with Kai and Popuri. It would be the fourth time in his life he met his other grandmother and his uncle. Kai and Rick don't see eye to eye, mainly becuase Rick is always bothering Kai about Popuri, and supposedly Kai didn't like Rick because he was just annoying. Kane knew better however. He knew that Rick hating Kai was true, but Kai hated Rick because Rick badgered him for no reason. Kai never wanted to marry Popuri. It was simple.
Kane sat outside, letting the wind whip at his hair while his parents were inside, talking and chatting and being a couple, but not a married couple. He snorted. His parents thought he had a problem with attitude. Yeah right. They had the problem. They made it terribly easy for him to know the truth about the whole "love" scene, especially Kai. Popuri wasn't in love with Kai either. She was obsessed with the image of traveling. And marriage. Not Kai. Kane looked up from the water below. It was clear from what he could see. Not murky and brown like on the east coast. At his Nana's, the river water was only clear in the winter when there wasn't anyone boating or crabbing in the channels. And the air was fresh. Fresher than the air in the Northern Neck of Virginia even, but then again the fumes from the fish factory would blow over every once in a while, causing a musky fish smell to wash over the residential area. Better that than the tons of exhaust in the city, though.
The sun started beating down on Kane's back, and he started to regret wearing black, but black was the color he wore. He felt uncomfortable in any other color...Even though black isn't really a color, it's a neutral. As the sunlight started frying his combat boots (Bates, bought directly from the Air Force Base), he started to wonder about what he was going to see when he got to Mineral Town. A bunch of country bumkins? Probably. All of them with some kind of country fried accent straight from hillbilly hell. He grimaced. This summer was going to be hell. It's bad enough Kai and Popuri wouldn't let him go to Nana's house for the summer. The will said her property was his, so why couldn't he go there and take over the day lily farm? Oh, that's right. Because he was "only seventeen, and too young to be in a place by himself". Well what the hell, he was going to college when the summer was over and he was staying in Nana's house while going to college so what. The. Hell?
"Kane, baby!" Popuri called from the window in the cabin. "You should come inside! Zack has some interesting stories to tell!" she coaxed.
Kane turned his gaze on her. "No." he said stoticly.
Her eyebrowns furrowed. "Are you sure? It must be getting hot. You might feel more comfortable inside."
"No, thank you." he answered with faux politeness through his gritted teeth.
Popuri squirmed, but soon straightened uncertainly. "I really think you should come in though. You're going to get hot under that sun and this way we can be like a big happy family." her expression lightened as she neared the end of her offer, but was soon squashed.
"Popuri," Kane started. "What family?"
Popuri ducked back in through the window and closed it. The ride was silent for the remainder of the trip.. Kane was glad that Kai didn't try to come out. God knows he didn't need to get into another fight with his dear father. He snorted. Maybe he should lay off the snide remarks and sarcasm.
Or maybe he should get a root canal without any novicane.
Kane knew it wasn't his fault he was "hateful" and "anti-social". It was his parents. Way to go on the love there, guys. They could have at least noticed how perseptive Kane was and try to act like they love each other. He looked up from the water and shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling the square cloth deep in the fabric of his pants where no one would ever see it.
Even if Kai and Popuri didn't love Kane the way they should, it didn't stop Kane from at least loving Kai and Popuri the way he should. Even if it meant hiding Kai's old bandana on his person. Kai gave him that bandana when he was about ten, hoping (as Kane saw it) the gesture would cause some father-son bonding, and that Kane would be just like his dad, a bandana wearing pirate. After Kane snatched the bandana with rolling eyes and walked away, he silently thought to himself that, maybe, just maybe, his parents cared enough to try and show him that they do love him. However, Popuri could on that Kane appreciated the gesture and ever since, they had a pattern. Smother, space, yell, repeat. They would smother him with trying to include him in everything and offer him things, then they would get the hint and back off, then they would get sick of his attitude and fight with him and each other, then they would feel bad and smother him again.
Kane's chest started hurting again. He groaned and pressed his hand where his heart would be. He glanced up, seeing land, obviously Mineral Town. From what he could see, it wasn't going to be that much of a hick town, which was great, but for some reason looking at the town just infuriated him.
"Almost there, bud." Kai called from the cabin. "Can you see the beach?"
Kane didn't even acknowledge the question with an answer. Instead he turned slowly to give Kai the "are you stupid?" look he normally give Popuri, but stopped. Kai looked elated. Popuri came out of the cabin and joined Kane at the bow, keeping her distance, but still grinning excitedly all the same. Kane looked back out to the beach, which was getting closer fast. Whatever's in that town must be worth coming every summer for. Kai squeezed in between Kane and Popuri. "See that white shack?"
Kane nodded. "Yeah."
"That's my shack."
"Really?" Kane wasn't feigning the interest in his voice. He was genuinely curious.
Kai picked up on it and grinned stupidly at Kane. "Yep! Kai's Seaside Lounge! I came here when I was a teenager, and when I had the construction worker build that shack, I painted it white."
Kane raised an eyebrow, barely looking Kai in the eyes. "And that's important why?"
Kai laughed. "Because it made the whole male part of the town hate my guts!" Kane turned his attention back to the beach. Nice, he thought to himself.
The boat began to slow until they were putting up to the dock. Kai grabbed a rope and stood up on the bow. Zack halted the boat right next to the dock with flawless effort, and Kai jumped to the dock and roped it in. Kane walked back into the cabin to get the luggage. He was starting to think the main reason he did work without Kai and Popuri asking was to subconsciously make them upset at how robotically responcible he was, not that it was working but still.
"Ey!" Kai was shouting outside. Though he couldn't tell if he said "hey" or "ray". It was probably the first one though. Kane's grandfather on Popuri's side has been out of the picture since before Kai and Popuri met. "Is that my favorite red-head?!" he heard Kai shout outside. He was probably yelling at that Gray guy he talks about. Or Gray's cousin-sister thing, Ann. Kane never couild figure out which one she was.
"Is that my favorite sexual predator with my favorite pink-headed wife of the sexual predator?" a girl shouted back.
"What the--" Kane hit his head on the opening to go below the deck. "Ah, hell..." he rubbed his head. Well at least he knew it was Ann that Kai was talking to. He grabbed a couple suitcases and started up the couple stairs.
"You're never going to live that down are you?" Kai laughed.
"And you're never going to give up on me living it down or whatever!"
Kane snorted. "She sounds articulate." he snickered to himself. He pushed the door to the deck open as his mother chirped into the converstation.
"Oh! Rae, I've missed you so much! How've you been?!"
Kane quirked up an eyebrow. "Rae?" he turned to look at the person his parents were gushing over. "Rae?"
"C'mere and give me a hug!" Kai opened his arms wide.
He couldn't see her. Carefully, but with purpose, he stepped forward towards the bow. When he was well away from the cabin, he looked up.
No. No that girl was definately not Ann.
First of all, Ann was suppose to have a long braid. Braid this "Rae" girl did not have. In fact, she would be lucky to get a pony tail out of that nappy pixie cut. Second, Ann was suppose to be pale because of all the working in a kitchen, and "Rae" had a deep tan. A farmers tan from hell, but a tan nonetheless. Plus, "Rae's" face just pissed him off for some reason, Ann's probably wouldn't. And on top of all of this...
Ann would definately not flip over a wall and fall into the sand. Just "Rae's" facial expression itself was enough to send Kane into a fit of laughter.
Kai and Popuri ran over to Rae, obviously worried even though Kane couldn't see anything through the tears in his eyes.
"HEY!!" a booming voice screamed at Kane. His laughter stopped abruptly, and he knew that when he turned around, he was going to see Zack, an old drill sergeant of a man.
"What?" he turned his head to the side, looking at him over his shoulder. Zack was indeed glaring at him, and he was indeed ready to blow a casket.
"DON'T LAUGH AT OTHER'S MISFORTUNE! ESPECIALLY NOT MY RAE!" he commanded. Kane stuck his finger in his ear.
"Uh...ow?"
Zack was already running to the other side of the beach, joining Popuri and Kai as they flocked and freaked about Rae, who didn't look like she was moving. Kane's chest started hurting again, more so in guilt than the pain he felt before. He put down the couple of bags he hand in his hands and joined the others. The first thing he noticed when he got up to the unconscious Rae was that she had bandages everywhere. One on her head, two on her leg, all recent looking, and a couple older looking bandaids on her hands, face, and elbows. Obviously she was active.
"We should go to the doctor--"
"But we can't move her--"
"Shouldn't we go get Claire or Cliff--"
"Is she breathing--"
Suddenly, gigantic Zack scopped Rae up as gently as a he was a new born kitten. "We knew to take her to the clinic!" he annouced in his gravely voice. Kai and Popuri nodded obediently. Popuri picked up a couple of colorful crutches with "Rae" on the side of them and followed Zack. Kai went to follow and stopped, turning to face Kane. "There's a farm at the very corner of the town. Go through the square and make a left and then a mandatory right."
Kai knows that word? Kane thought to himself.
"You can't miss the farm. Go there and tell Claire and Cliff what happened." Kane nodded. Kai stared hard at Kane for a minute, as if trying to assess something. Kane turned his gaze to the retreating forms of Zack and Popuri. Kai followed his gaze and jumped, scrurrying up the stairs.
"I hope she doesn't die." Kane said to himself absently before climbing the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he suddenly got the feeling that Mineral Town wasn't as country-fried as he had initially thought. "Wow. Nice square." he bent down and touched the ground as he walked. "Cobblestone." he noted. He stared ahead at the road to the right. "And that just about ruins the whole thing." he sighed, catching sight of the church. It was big, and it was beautiful, but it was a church, and Kane hates all forms of religion. Just the hipocracy of it all.
He began walking to the left, down the road Kai directed him to go. He saw a lot of trees and plants everywhere, and though it was a hot day, the air was fresh and cool with the wind. When he turned down the road he saw a couple farms and houses. "All of them are different..." he murmured in awe. The city was always so monotonous. Everything and everyone was the same. Cows, chickens, a blacksmith, everything was so rural, but not in a bad way. Not at all. Kane saw the dead end in front of him, with the road branching off in two ways. Left or right?
"Boo."
Kane jumped. "Holy shit!!" his heart began pumping so hard that his heart started hurting again.
The girl next to him laughed. "Oh yeah, you're definately new."
Kane didn't even try to act cool. "What the hell, lady. What. The. Hell..." he fought to catch his breath.
The girl laughed. "Well, I'm on my way to meet this guy at the beach."
Kane offered a nervous smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Yeah, I have to find Claire. This girl Rae had an accident at the beach--"
"Rae did what now?!" the girl's mouth was opened in a huge O.
Kane jumped again. "She's at the clinic. She flipped over the stairs or something." this girl was really taking it seriously.
She whurled around, her blond hair flying behind her. "Cliff!" she called over the gate of the farm frantically. "Get Zolo! Rae had another accident!"
An older man with a ponytail jumped over the gate with his horse. "Come on, Claire, get on."
"Oh you're Claire." Kane realized. "Are you her sister or something?"
"No, I'm her mother." she deadpanned. Before Kane could react, the horse had already left.
"Uh...holy shit."
://Authorly Notes\\: Yay Kane! He's such a complex character, but still so hot. At least in my head. ._. I love comments!
Next: Chapter III: "Impression"
