Finding Fate

Brother's Different

The next morning, she shuffled into the main room with an air of exhaustion. She hadn't made much of an effort to dress herself presentably, so instead she wore simply a light, purple nightie. She didn't catch her brother's questioning stare when she plopped down on his sofa.

"What's up with you?" He asked after he approached her with an apron tied around his neck and waist. If Angela weren't so tired then she'd probably laugh her head off at the sight. Her brother never cooked, as she didn't either, because neither could cook anything decent.

Angela rolled her eyes, "I just had the most uncomfortable night ever." She muttered loudly, crossing her arms, and leaning her head against the armrest. She caught his irritated stare, and couldn't resist but smile.

"Well, this house wasn't built for spoilt little sisters." He retorted, wandering back to the kitchen.

She huffed angrily, sitting back up and glaring at him from over the sofa. "I am not spoilt!" She snapped, and caught Kasey smiling to himself as he flipped over what seemed to be a pancake.

"Then why are you complaining? At least I didn't make you sleep on the sofa."

"The sofa's more comfier than that bed!" She yelled, but sighed and clambered to her feet. She noticed her brother arch his eyebrow, and glare at her again that morning. "What?" She snapped.

"What are you wearing?"

She glanced down, not noticing anything strange. "What are you talking about? I'm wearing my nightie…"

"That's a nightie? It looks more like prostitute's clothes."

"You better take that back!" Angela growled, storming over to her brother. "Mum picked this out for me before I left, so I'd like to see you give her your opinion on it!" She said, whilst jabbing his chest with her finger.

"Whatever." Kasey mumbled, flipping his pancake onto a plate. When Angela reached forward to take it, he smacked her hand. "What do you think you're doing?"

"…Taking my pancake?"

Kasey rolled his eyes, "But it isn't your pancake, it's mine."

"…I don't have a pancake?"

"You will," He told her, handing over the spatula that he'd held in his hand moments ago. "After you make it."

Angela was gobsmacked. Of all the things he could have asked her to do, he had chosen her true weakness. He knew just as well as she did that every time she cooked, she'd burn something, or make some inedible substance. Claire, her friend from the city who'd moved to a farm just like Kasey, had told her she reminded her very much of one of her friends in Mineral Town.

"You're asking me to cook something?"

"Uhm… yes?" Kasey agreed, though his face seemed to say, 'oh crap, what have I done now?' He wouldn't back out though, because he never said he was wrong.

Angela took a deep breath. "Right… that's cool. It's just a pancake… right? Shouldn't be too hard."

"Right… just how much sugar did you put in this?" Kasey asked warily, poking the sugar coating of the pancake. She had accidently tipped a little bit extra sugar in the mixture bowl, but she'd assumed it wouldn't make any difference.

"Just a little." Angela asked with an innocent smile, whilst grabbing her knife and fork.

Kasey pushed her plate towards her side of the table, pulling a disgusted look. "Hey, it's you who's trying it, anyway, right?" He said, cutting a piece of his own pancake and putting it in his mouth.

After Angela took a few chews of her own, she felt almost like she was about to throw up. It was so sweet; she felt she'd never taste any other food again. Her taste buds were ruined forever. "Ah… I'm not hungry." She sighed, pushing away her plate.

"But you've only had one bite," Her brother stated, but let her waste it anyway when he saw her miserable face. "Just chuck it in the bin over there."

Her eyes watched as her brother slipped on his big brown boots that she'd noticed last night. He glanced up at her and smiled.

"Hey, Kas, where are you going?" She asked, when he reached for the door's handle after slipping on a pair of tattered gloves.

"Onto the farm, obviously. It's my job…" Kasey told her, answering her question. She frowned. What was she meant to do when he worked on his farm? His house wasn't exactly interesting, and she came to the island to get closer to him. "Why don't you meet some of the villagers?" He suggested when he caught sight of her gloomy expression.

"Maybe." She shrugged. She felt there'd be no point, seeing as she wouldn't be staying for very long.

Kasey smiled. "Well, see you." He slipped out of the door, and the house suddenly seemed so empty, and dull. Her eyes fell instantly towards the TV. Back home, she liked to watch soaps, but she doubted any of her favourite ones could be watched from here.

She sighed. Maybe she should visit some of the villagers; after all, it'd be nice to have some friends on this island. She walked over to the coat hanger, and grabbed her jacket, slipping out of the door, after slipping on her pair of trekking boots.

She waved to her brother when she trailed through the farm; he was tending to the crops, making sure they grew well, and gave him a good harvest. Being honest, she didn't know where to start. She would have visited Renee, but she decided it would have been impolite to come to their house twice in two days, especially after what they did for her yesterday.

So, this time she set off on the path to the left, admiring the plants, and ocean like she'd done yesterday. She didn't realise there was a girl strolling down the path was coming right at her, round the courner. Moments later, the two girls crashed into each other, and snapped Angela right out of her trance. Since Angela wasn't small for her age, she wasn't knocked off her feet.

"…Renee?" Angela said with surprise. She had knocked Renee over? That wasn't a good way to meet each other… And she had been carrying a basket full of food as well.

Renee's eyes snapped open. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, Angela! I wasn't looking where I was going!" She apologised quickly, clambering onto her feet. "Are you alright?"

"Of course," Angela assured her, "I wasn't the one who fell over though… Are you alright, the question should be."

Renee nodded, with a bright smile. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Hey, where were you going, by the way?" She asked.

"I was just going to town to meet some of the villagers," She told the farm girl happily, "I thought I could do with some friends here." She explained.

"That's nice… would you like me to come with you?" Renee offered. Angela was surprised that she was happy to offer anything to her at anytime. It was obvious the girl was off to do something, yet she was ready to sacrifice her time to help her. That never happened in the city…

"This is the Ocarina Inn," Renee told Angela with a smile. "I don't spend much time here, but there's a few girls who work here."

"Why? Don't you like it here?" She asked curiously, her eyes concentrated on the building suspiciously. Was it dangerous to walk inside—maybe it was old and might collapse?

Renee blushed. "Uhm… well, it's a bar at night, so I don't like getting caught up in that…" She explained meekly. "Dad likes it here though. That's when he's not working…"

"Oh okay. Let's go inside."

Renee reached forward to open the door, when it swung wide open, almost knocking her right over. A girl with blonde hair tied in two pigtails stared at her with dismay, and a frown. "Oh gosh! I'm so sorry, Renee!" She burst out, pulling the girl into a tight hug.

Angela could tell that Renee was majorly uncomfortable, but she didn't feel it was right to prise her off when she didn't know her. So she just stood there awkwardly, until the girl's bright, childish eyes fell on her and her eyebrows shot up.

"Who's that?" She whispered into Renee's ear, though not very quietly.

Renee smiled at her, and her eyes fell on me as well. "She's Angela, Kasey's sister."

"Wow! No way! He has a sister?" She gushed, a wide smile already on her face when she skipped over to Angela's side. "I'm Maya! I work here as the waitress, so you have to pop by!" She insisted, tugging at the girl's jacket, and pulling her over to the door.

"I have to introduce you to some people!" Maya explained, swinging the door open for the second time, with Renee trailing behind quietly. "Hey! Chase!" She yelled when she took a step inside.

A young man with light orange hair came out of the kitchen, with a red apron and sandals, with a miffed frown. "What is it, Maya? I thought you'd gone on your break…" He muttered.

"This is Kasey's sister!" She shoved Angela forward, so she almost bumped into him, but she managed to stop just before. He stared at her with an arched brow.

"I didn't know Kasey had a sister…" He mumbled to himself. "Uhm… I'm Chase?" He offered his name, though more like a question. He held his hand awkwardly, so they could shake hands.

"I'm Angela, it's nice to meet you." She introduced herself, shaking his hand. She turned her head to Maya, who had her head stuck in another door. Renee shrugged gently at her when her eyes fell on her, so she assumed that she didn't know what Maya was doing either.

"Uhm… right. I'm going to go back to the kitchen now…" Chase muttered goodbye, and walked back into the kitchen, where he came from.

Renee and Angela stood in the large room awkwardly, muttering only a few words of small conversation after Chase left. Maya had disappeared into the other room, and they weren't sure if they were meant to leave yet or not.

"Guys! These are my parents!" Maya told the two girls, when she skipped out of that room with two older people. A woman with short brown hair followed after her lively daughter with a gentle smile, and waved at the two girls as they approached. Behind her was a man with greying hair, and he also smiled at Angela and Renee.

"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you," The woman told Angela, who'd just introduced herself as Colleen. "This is my husband, Jake." The man nodded towards them.

"I'm Angela," She told them with a grin. Maya's parents seemed just as nice as Renee's did, which made her feel at ease. Her friend's parents in the city were mean if she did anything wrong.

The five chatted for a few minutes, mostly about Kasey. Renee had quite a lot of input, which surprised Angela, seeing as her brother had only been here for two seasons. How did she know him so well?

"I'm sorry, but me and Angela better get going… We need to meet the other villagers." Renee apologised with a grateful smile. Angela reluctantly took her leave with the girl, waving goodbye when they left through the door.

They had visited all of the villager's houses and shops in Harmonica Town, and therefore, the sky was darkening, as was the time of day slipping away. She'd met some interesting characters, and was thoroughly looking forward to visiting the place again. Not today though…

Angela huffed with exhaustion whilst Renee just smiled sympathetically at her. "How aren't you out of breath?" She complained, holding her hand to her chest to steady her heart.

"Because I'm used to it." She explained without looking at her. The path seemed to go on forever, and they'd been going up it. "You know, you and Kasey are so alike."

"No way, we're not even similar!" Angela argued, puffing out her chest. She hated being compared to her brother, since they were similar ages, only a few years apart, they were always being told they looked the same.

"You both like complaining."

Angela arched an eyebrow. When she thought about it, Renee was remarkably accurate. That was something they had in similar, though perhaps it wasn't the best of things. At least she hadn't commented on how they looked the same.

"And you look similar."

Angela sighed. She spoke too soon.

"I can see the farm now…" Renee claimed after the conversation had run to a dead end. Probably because of Angela's angry glares at the floor. "Oh! I can see Kasey working on the farm! Does he always work so hard?" She asked, turning her head to the irritated brunette.

Angela shrugged. "He never used too."

"Oh…"

As they approached the farm, Kasey's head popped up when he heard footsteps. He smiled at Angela, waving his hand. And then he noticed Renee stood along with her, and he quickly turned his head away.

"Hey there, Kas!" Angela called out, with a bright grin.

He lifted his head to glare at her, and shook his head with irritation. "It's Kasey."

Angela lifted her arms in mock surrender. "Jeez, sorry!"

"Hello Kasey, how are you?" Renee asked with a gentle smile. Kasey turned to look at her, and his eyes instantly softened.

"Uhm, yeah, I'm great thanks. A little tired after all this farming, but hard work always pays off… Uh, what about you?" He answered, offering her a wide grin.

Renee smiled again with a faint blush on her cheeks. "I'm feeling alright, thank you." The two stood there, in silence, and Angela took that as a cue to leave.

"Well, I'll be going in to watch some tele!" She said with a bright grin. "See you, Renee!" She said, and headed off to the house.

The moment she got inside, and the door was shut, she peeped through the window curtains. The two stood there, still, awkwardly, until Kasey spoke up. "U-uhm… have you got any plans tonight?"

Was her brother asking a girl on a date? This was a first, and a big surprise.

Renee's cheeks blushed red, and she tilted her head away. "Well, actually, I promised Toby I'd go fishing with him…" She mumbled quietly, fiddling with her thumbs behind her back.

"O-oh…"

"You can come if you want," She added quickly.

Kasey shuffled on the spot, looking a little torn. "I wouldn't want to get in the way of your date…" He explained, looking more than just a little disappointed.

Renee's head shot back up. "Oh goddess! It's not a date, Kasey!" She said, "Plus, I want you to come…"

Angela quickly lowered the curtains. She felt that she had invaded her brother's personal business, and quickly plopped herself on the sofa, to watch some tele.

Her brother didn't come back to very late that night. She couldn't help but notice he had a small smile still playing on his lips when he walked through the door though.

"How was tonight?" She asked him with a bright grin. He turned to her looking a little confused, after all, she wasn't meant to know about his 'date' with Renee and Toby. That sounded like he was gay…

"Good, good…" He muttered happily.