Year 1: 3rd of Spring – Part 3

Family Jewel

Directly north of Yodel Ranch was Rose Square. I had passed through this that first day as well.

To the right would be the path to the beach and the pier. The nice thing I can say about that is how clean it was. Back in the city, all the beaches you went to were full of broken glass as cigarette butts. You had to wear water socks or sandals the whole time or risk cutting your feet open. I wouldn't even put it past those beaches to have needles buried in them. There was none of that in Mineral Beach. The sand there was nice and clean. It was a good place.

Straight ahead was the Chapel. It was undoubtedly the tallest building in Mineral Village, if only because of its bell tower with spire on top of that. I could even see it all the way from my home, and my home was the farthest geographically from the Chapel. At noon and at six p.m. the Chapel bell would ring and announce the time to the whole village. It was a lot nicer to hear than a rooster.

To my left was where I was heading. I hadn't been that way yet. I could see a two story building off that way, but I had no idea what it was. As I made my way over there, I came across a billboard just before the square turned into a path. On the board was a sign that said:

Notice For

"The Spring Goddess Festival"

When: The eighth of spring from ten a.m. on

Where: Rose Square

Spring has come! – The mayor

'The Spring goddess Festival, eh? I wonder what that's all about…' I pondered as I continued down the path. Like most of the ones in the main part of the village, this was also cobblestone. Street lamps lined the sides to light the way at night. That was about it. This place was so rustic that it was beautiful with all the trees and bushes within arm's reach. Eventually, I came up to the building. The sign had Doug's Place on it and that it was open from eight in the morning till nine at night.

All in all, it looked like Doug's Place was an inn. This must be where the village gathers at night or to party or to get wasted. Hopefully, this was a place where I could get good food. I walked up to and opened the double doors. The first thing that I saw was a red headed girl bent over a table wiping it down. She was wearing overall shorts that were so short, her butt was practically hanging out of them. And I thought Karen was bad! Compared to this girl, Karen was a nun!

Her long smooth legs were separated just enough to give me a nosebleed. I tried to look anywhere else, but I couldn't look away from her body. So I decided to focus on a part of her that wasn't giving me a raging hard on. Her hair was long. Too long in fact. That fell down to her lower back. It was in a ponytail and braided all the way down to the tip. I hated the fact that girls with ponytails also turned me on.

"Welcome!" the girl said to me without even looking my way. She was really focused on cleaning that table. "I'll be with you in a moment. Please take your time!"

I was saved from my animalistic instincts by someone clearing their throat. I turned to my right and saw a man with slicked back red hair as well with matching moustache. He wore a long sleeved button down white shirt with a brown vest over it. I looked around me to see if there was anyone else in the inn. There wasn't. So I looked back over at the guy and pointed at myself. He nodded and motioned me over with his finger. I slowly approached him, fully expecting a shotgun in the face.

The red headed guy leaned over the counter. "Say, you're Jack, the guy who took over Grandpa's farm, right? Since you're new to the village and all, could you… uhm… humor me for a second?"

"Do I have a choice?" I tentatively asked.

"I just want to ask a question is all. A simple harmless question… Whadja say?"

Hoping he wasn't going to ask what I was afraid he was going to ask, I slowly said, "Okay?"

"Great! Well… Um… How do I put this? You see… that girl there is my daughter Ann, and… Er… Well… W-what do you think of her?" he asked shyly.

I had to refrain from exhaling. I thought he was going to be pissed off for sure that I was eyeing her. Instead, he just wanted to know what I thought of her. I looked back at her and immediately regretted it.

From this angle, I could see her from the side. She wasn't just wiping down the table with a cloth. Her breasts were doing most of the work. My mouth nearly hit the floor, letting my tongue roll out all over the place. Her breasts were huge as well! Almost if not the same size as Karen's! What the heck was the village feeding these girls?

Ann had an hourglass figure. Big boobs, round butt, skinny waist, and long legs. The overall shorts that she wore, though definitely short, somewhat hid her waist… at least from the back. From the sides, they were revealed for the world to see because underneath her overalls was only a baby rib crop yellow tee. They barely contained those milk monsters! From here, I could even see her belly button.

I turned back towards Ann's father with a wiry grin on my face, my eyes bugging out, and sweating profusely. "I-I-I'm af-afraid I-I c-c-can't answer that, S-S-Sir," I stutterd.

"What? Why not?" the man demanded.

"Well… If I say I like her, you'll think I have a thing for her. If I say that I don't like her, you'll demand why you're daughter's not good enough."

"That's a very diplomatic answer," the man stroked his chin.

"Thank you, Sir." I wiped my forehead.

"I hate diplomatic answers!" he seethed. "I just want to know what you think of her. Not if you like her or not. That can come later. So give me the honest truth this time, or else," he sneered.

"She's –" 'Don't say sexy! Don't say sexy! Don't say sexy!' I quickly thought. "… cute."

The man scrutinized me for a bit, then sat back. "Oh… well that's good." The man wiped his forehead from relieve. Then she smiled and stuck out his hand. "I'm Doug, by the way. This here's my place. As for my daughter… Well, as you can see, she's a bit of a tomboy for her age. Just look at what she's dressed in. Overalls for crying out loud! Why, all the other girls are wearing dresses, except for that slut Karen. Ann should be wearing dresses too. But no… She had to go and hang out with that Karen when she was little. That messed her up good."

My eyes were literally wide with shock.

"It's a good thing that those two don't speak to each other anymore. I'd hate to see how much more that slut could destroy my perfect angel. You see, she's got a great figure, but she's not that smart. That's why I buy her clothes that are purposefully too small for her. If I left things to her, she's be single the rest of her days. Like I said, she's too much of a tomboy. Her mother was a little quieter and more feminine… But she passed away years before Ann ever knew what a period was.

"I had to raise her all by myself, you see? Not only that, I had to provide a roof over our heads and food on our tables. It was a hard life for us. Most of the time, I couldn't even watch her at all. I was so busy. It was at those times that she would either play with her friends outside, or learn from drunken patients at night. I thank the Goddess every night she was blessed with her mother's looks. If she turned out like me, I'd kill myself.

"You're the only one it seems that's even noticed my daughter. All the other boys must be gay. When she comes around, they treat her like a little brother, just like all the older men treat her like one of their daughters. It's disgusting! No one is helping her get laid in the slightest!"

I started choking on my own spit.

"Well… I don't mean like that," Doug continued. "I mean they're not helping her learn the skills she needs to become a good wife and mother. To everyone else, it seems like she's just 'one of the guys'. She's not thought! She's my only daughter! Plus, I'm getting on in years. I want to have grandchildren sometime before I die. Since you're the only one here who at least has the balls to notice my daughter's body, you might as well become my son-in-law right now!

"Heck, I got Pastor Carter speed dial. He can set up a wedding in no time. I mean, you're the grandson of Grandpa, so you must be alright. Plus, you don't look like a social retard like Saibara's grandson does. Nor do you look like a nerd like Rick. The doctor is too stoic. He's probably the gayest of the bunch. But you! You have balls Jack! My daughter needs a good pair of balls in her life.

"I'm glad you said what you said. So what's it going to be? Are you going to be the father of my grandchildren, or are you going to be just another pussy in this village? We got a lot of pussy here. What we need is more balls. And balls you got."

I stared at Doug, wide eyed. "You're freakin' nuts…" I mumbled.

"You got that right!" Doug laughed. "My wife loved me for my nuts! I wasn't some whiney, sissy baby like Jeff is! When I saw my wife for the first time, I went up to her and I was like, 'Hey! Take a look at these –'"

"What are you talking about?" Ann suddenly asked standing right next to me.

"It's a private matter," Doug grunted, "men's business. Why don't you get back in the kitchen and try your hand at cooking again."

"Oh… Dad!" Ann cried out. "You're trying to pawn me off on one of the customers again! I told you, I'm perfectly capable of getting a husband myself!"

"Well, then what's the hold up?" Doug shouted. "I'm not getting any younger here! You're sixteen years old! I should have four or five grandchildren by now!"

"This isn't the fourteen hundreds, Dad!" Ann shouted back. "Girls like me don't get pregnant at twelve anymore! I'm not a whore, willing to throw herself at just anybody! I'm actually waiting for the right guy to come along!"

"Right guy?" Doug wondered. "Well, what about Jack here?"

Ann turned towards me as if noticing me for the first time. "Jack? You – here… Talking to Dad… about marrying me? DAD! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"

Ann took off and ran through the back door. As it swung open, heavenly aromas wafted out. Doug looked sad.

"Uh oh… I think I've done it now."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll get over it," I tried to console him.

"Jack, have you ever been in love before?" Doug asked.

"Uh… no?" was all I could say.

"Do you have a sister?"

"No."

"Female cousins?"

"Nope."

"Then let me tell you this, son. When a girl is upset with you, she will remember it her whole life. If you don't apologize or grovel for her forgivness, if you just pass off a girls temper without doing anything to reconcile it, she will continue to hold that grudge until the day you die. The thing with Ann is that she is exceptionally stubborn. Unfortuneately, she got that trait from me. Her mother was the only one who could humble me into seeing the error of my ways. Next to her and Ann, I was always wrong. Everyone else, I'm right, but to them I'm always wrong. Do you get me, son?"

"I… think so. So what are you going to do about Ann?"

"Me?" Doug laughed. "Not me, boy. You."

"Me?" I cried out. "Why me?"

"If you want a child to forgive you, give them ice cream. If you want a boy to forgive you, send a pretty girl his way. If you want a girl to forgive you, do the opposite. Let's face it Jack, you're one good looking guy. Not as good looking as I was when I was your age, but still good looking none the less.

"I'm sure Ann thinks so too. That's why she was so embarrassed. If you're next to you, she wouldn't want you to see anything but her good side. Trust me on this one. I know how the world works. That's why I run this inn. If I did anything else, the world would implode upon itself. I stand here behind this counter, offering drinks and meals and occasionally advice to those who ask for it, because if I didn't everything would be thrown outta whack.

"So good luck when you go into Ann's room. The Goddess knows I would never go in there. Living is just too darn fun."

I gulped, hard. "Gee, thanks for that."

"You're welcome," Doug didn't need to say but said anyways.

I slouched over and through the back door. In the next room was indeed the kitchen. Though nothing was cooking, because of all the meals made here, it must've permanently smelled like this. It just reminded me of how little I'd eaten since I got here. I looked around the kitchen until I found a door that said, 'Ann's Room: Keep Out! (That means you, Dad!)'. That was probably the first inclination that I saw that suggested Ann was a tomboy.

I walked over to the door and knocked on it.

"GO AWAY, DAD! I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU EVER AGAIN!" Ann yelled from behind the door.

"It's me, Jack," I said from the other side.

"Jack? Oh… Wait! Just a second! Let me… clean up a bit!" From the noises that she was making, it sounded like a bull in a china shop. I probably spent the next ten minutes listening to this go on. The whole time, she kept shouting that she was almost ready and for me not to go. Frankly, I'd had enough estrogen this morning with Popuri. I didn't need anymore. Although… I was more than curious to see what the inside of a girl's room looked like, even a tomboy's.

When Ann finally opened her door, my eyes once again bulged out of my head. Ann was wearing nothing but a towel. It took all of my will power to turn away. "I… I'm sorry. Is now a bad time?"

"Oh, no! I was just going to take a bath to help me relax, but that can wait! Please, come in!"

Before I could do anything, Ann grabbed my hand and yanked me inside and slammed the door behind me. My first look at Ann's room was unexpected. Now I believed Doug when he said his daughter was a tomboy. Her room was full of video games, comic books, manga, and anime. Her room looked just like what I'd wished mine looked like if I had the money to buy stuff.

Her walls were covered with posters of superhero movies that had come out, dragons fighting adventurers, anime characters, and dozens and dozens of pictures of her and her friends. Her shelves were stacked full of anime, movies, and video games. Most, if not all, of her manga littered her floor. She had other books as well that filled other bookshelves. One shelf was dedicated purely to Dungeons and Dragons!

Along the wall opposite her bed sat a huge flat screen TV with just as big a surround sound system. In the entertainment center that the TV sat on were nearly every video game console known to man. It was ridiculous what this girl had. The inn must be doing very well for her to afford all this stuff.

When I turned to look at her bed, I got the biggest surprise of all. Sitting in a corner up against the bed frame was an actual sword and shield. Not only that, I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing this correctly, on the floor was a legit platemail bikini. I was actually hyperventilating. I think I was actually suffering from a heart attack because instead of running out to Doug and begging for him to let me marry Ann, I just let her lead me over to her bed.

My eyes were so out of focus that Ann had to literally grab my face and turn it to face hers. When my eyes focused on her in her towel, I could see that she was looking depressed. "You're shocked, I know," she mumbled. "You're actually the first guy who's ever been inside my room. I can tell from your face that you think the same way about me as all the other guys do, that I'm just another one of the guys…"

"What?" I cried out. "No!"

"You don't?" Ann looked up at me in amazement.

"Of course," I said truthfully. "I don't know you well enough to make any judgements about you one way or the other."

"Oh," Ann said, not knowing what to think about that. "I guess I can give you that. Well… actually, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

"It is?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Ann was growing more and more excited. "Everyone else always tells me either what I want to hear or what they think I'd like to hear. No one's ever really told me the truth before. Well… there was one person, but that was it. In fact, it's thanks to that person that I'm the way I am. He introduced me to all this stuff and I really liked it! The only thing is, my dad and the other guys don't really understand what I'm into…"

"No, this stuff is pretty sweet!" I said, looking at Ann's stuff once again. "I love all of this stuff too! Coming from the city, I used to play video games, watch anime, and read manga all the time! I never owned any of it because I couldn't afford it… but if I could've I would've! I'm totally jealous of you right now!"

I looked back at Ann to see that she was once again looking down. "So you do just see me as one of the guys…"

"What? No… I seriously don't," I mumbled.

"Yeah right!" Ann said, growing angry. "Why should I believe you? You're probably just like every other guy here! What could I possibly have that would make anyone see me as anything but a guy?"

"Oh… I can think of a couple things…" I mumbled to myself.

"What?" Ann asked, obviously hearing what I said.

"Listen…" I stood up and scratched the back of my head as I moved away from her, "I'm not really comfortable saying."

"Oh, please!" Ann said, jumping in front of me. "I promise I won't laugh or anything! I know what my dad says about me. He's embarrassed that I'm not as feminine as Elli or Popuri. Even I know that Karen is the prettiest girl here. I bet he wishes that one of them was his daughter instead of me. Please, if there's anything about me that guy's would like, tell me! I need to know that I have some redeeming quality after all!"

"YOUR BODY!" I blurted out.

"My… what?" Ann was shocked.

"You have a gorgeous body. That should be proof enough that you're a woman. Who cares what you're into? What you like is what you like and no one should judge you about it! As long as you don't spit or do drugs or smoke, I don't see why you'd have any problem getting a boyfriend. All you need to do is continue to have good hygiene and men should be falling for you left and right."

Ann started blushing. "You mean… you're attracted to my body?"

I blushed as well. I couldn't even say yes.

"You don't think my boobs are too big?" she asked, lifting them a bit.

My nose started bleeding and I shook my head furiously.

"You don't think my waist is too thin or my butt to round?"

Again, I shook my head furiously.

"Wow…" she wondered. "No one's ever complimented me on my body before… And you don't find my interests to dumb for a girl?"

I was starting to grow dizzy from shaking my head too much.

"Oh, thank you Jack! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You've made me the happiest girl in the village!" With that, Ann jumped on me and gave me a hug. That's when I heard something flap to the floor.

I gulped hard and looked up at the ceiling while my hands were as far apart as they could get. "Uh… Ann? I think your towel came off…"

"What?" Ann released me a bit and looked down. "Oh… so it has…"

"Ann? Are you okay in here Sweetie?" Doug asked, bursting into the room.

Ann immediately turned us so that I was covering her from her dad. "DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? GET OUT!" she shouted in my ear.

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, SIR! I SWEAR!" I shouted as well.

I couldn't see what Doug was doing, but I heard him say, "Oh…" as if he just walked in on Santa leaving gifts under his tree. He cleared his throat. "I'll, uh… let you two get back to… er… whatever it was you were about to do." And with that, he closed the door behind him.

"Geez…" Ann groaned. "That man… Honestly!" Then she just let go of me and bent down to pick up her towel. Once release, I quickly turned away from her to avoid seeing anything. I swear, these girls were going to be the death of me.

"You can turn around now," Ann whispered in my ear softly, sending shivers through my body. When I did so, she was wrapped in her towel again, but she was giggling. "So… It seems like I can turn a guy on after all."

My hands quickly covered my tent. "Hey! That's not cool!" I shouted. "This is wrong on so many levels. This isn't one of your manga's! Things like this happen in anime's, not real life! It's times like this where you really should act like a girl!"

"And where would the fun be in that?" Ann placed her hands on her hips. "Besides, you're cute when you're embarrassed… and horny."

I snarled.

Ann walked up to me, stood on her tiptoes, placed her hand on my cheek, and pulled me forward to kiss my other one. Then, she whispered, "Is that girl enough for you?" in my ear.

This girl was evil, pure evil. She wasn't a clueless tomboy! She knew all the right things to do to get the reaction she wanted! I especially hated how the reaction she wanted were the exact ones I didn't want to give! I walked out of her room still holding myself. Once in the kitchen, I moved over to the freezer and opened it. There, inside, were the keys to my salvation. I reached in and shoved a handful of ice into my boxers.

Once the ice had melted and I was back under control, I walked back out into the main room where Doug was laughing behind his counter. When he saw me, he ran up to me in a flash and shook my hand wildly. "Thank you, Boy! You've made me the proudest dad in the whole village!"

"Y-Y-You'r n-n-not m-m-mad," I said as clearly as I could while I was being shaken to death.

"Mad? Heck Boy, I could kiss ya! To think, my own daughter… naked in her room with another boy! I never thought I'd see the day…"

"You're all insane!" I said, shaking my head.

"You've just earned yourself a week of free meals!" Doug said, picking me up and giving me a bear hug.

'Then again…' I thought to myself. 'A week of free meals….' "It was my pleasure, Sir!" I beamed and hugged Doug back, tears coming to my eyes at the thought of food in my belly.

When Doug finally released me, I wobbled over to the door, my back having been crushed. "Come back anytime! And I do mean anytime… son…" he shouted and waved as I fell through the double doors in order to get outside.