I've given up saying excuses. I've been lazy about half the time this past month... and I even passed the deadline I made for myself. -.-

In any case, you probably noticed that there are characters for this story now. Kevin and Angela. BUT ITS NOT AN ANGELAXKEVIN PAIRING... So here's the explanation for something so... strange. o.o

A friend of mine (who actually managed to guess who I was in real life ( I mean is it THAT obvious?)) said that this story is very hard to find because it has no characters. It's not that forgot. It's because there are four main characters, (Molly, Angela, Kevin, Kasey) and doesn't allow me to have four main characters, only two. And it's obviously not fair for me to make two of the four siblings more "important" because in this case, they are all equally important in this story. It will be a little confusing, so please LISTEN/READ carefully. Here's the example.

*The main character of the most recent chapter, in this case is Kevin, would be first. And the main character of the PREVIOUS chapter/second-most recent chapter, would come second, making the character thing look like this:

Kevin (and) Angela

But don't get confused! Kevin and Angela are NOT the pairing!

And if the previous chapter or current chapter is something like first (introduction) or an extra/omake chapter, I would either put "General" there or leaving it blank. I haven't quite decided yet. But don't worry, something like that would not be happening anytime soon, I assure you xD

And thank you all for reading and reviewing my story! You are so kind! And special thanks to my un-official beta reader, Code name: Evil bunny!

It's really long... (going against what I had declared in Orange Plus Blue Equals, saying how I would keep it under 5k or 3k words) but I find it hard to squeeze all these events that happen in this chapter to 5k words. It would make things look rushed... and messy... and underdeveloped.

Before I forget, DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN HARVEST MOON OR IT'S CHARACTERS.

I hope you enjoy!


Spring 11th, Year 1

Farm

5:30AM

"Good morning," Kevin called, rubbing his eyes.

"'Morning," Angela replied. "Breakfast is ready." She turned her head to give Kevin a nod.

"Coming," he answered. After Angela was hired and trained at Yolanda's Inn, she started to cook their meals to practice at home. She was improving at a scary speed.

He closed the (rotten) wood door behind him and squinted. He rubbed his eyes again to make sure he was seeing clearly. "Angela, what are you doing?"

"Experimenting."

Kevin mouthed an 'okay' and took the completed omelet and set the table.

Angela sprinkled some salt on the omelet she was making, threw it up in the air and expertly catching it. She dumped it in the plate she was holding. "Can you put some cabbage in that, Kevin?" Angela asked without looking at him. She quickly cracked a new egg to make the final omelet while holding out the plate behind her.

Kevin quickly grabbed it and set it on the table (that was very far from the kitchen). Then, he grabbed a leaf of cabbage from the refrigerator. "What time did you come home last night?" Kevin asked once both he and Angela sat down at the table. "I was up until one, and I still didn't hear you come home.

Angela placed down the plate of omelet on Kasey's seat and set the table. "I just got home," she replied.

Kevin checked his watch. "It's barely past 5:45; why are you still up? Pulling all-nighters is not good for the body, even if it's you, Angela!" She shrugged and sat down at her usual spot at the table. "Being a farmer takes much more energy and endurance than being a spy, Angela. There are 'active' times and 'inactive' times so it's really not that tiring," Kevin explained.

Seeing that Angela wasn't really listening, Kevin breathed in a deep breath and continued with more reason this time. "We've had our first harvest and Kasey is mining daily now. You don't have to pull all-nighters for this. It's better if you stay healthy and not get sick. After all, you can't just ask Dr. Stanley from Division VI for medicines for free anymore."

"I haven't been sick for four years, five months, and fourteen days," she retorted.

"It's colder here, so you should watch your health; you wouldn't want to destroy that record, do you Angela?" Kevin snapped, almost in a rude way.

Angela grinned almost an evil way and replied, "Oh? Two can play that game." The two siblings held a very intense staring contest at the table. Although Angela acted as cynical as usual, in the back of her mind, she wondered why he suddenly acted differently than usual.

With the worst timing, Kasey opened the door and walked out of the bathroom and stared at them, confused with what was happening. "... What's wrong, guys?" Kasey laughed nervously. "It's kinda tense in here, isn't?"

Kevin turned away, his heart pounding. This was the first time he was glared at by Angela and stared back into her piercing brown- almost black eyes. He stared at his half-eaten omelet sadly before grabbing it and stuffing it in his mouth. He avoided Angela's eyes and placed the plate into the sink. "Al bee outshuide if yoo nud meh (I'll be outside if you need me)" he mumbled without spitting out his food. Then, he opened the door and closed the door gently behind him.

As he dragged his feet dejectedly, he heard Kasey snap, "Why did you scare him like that?" He heard Kasey fork the omelet and a second later, there was a scream. "WHAT DID YOU PUT IN THERE?"

Kevin could imagine Angela shrugging before answering, "It was an experiment."

He had a bugging feeling in his chest as he refilled the watering can. He had asked Angela a few days ago if he could buy a duckling for the blue bell quest. In return for buying something that was quite expensive (800G), he decided that he wouldn't eat breakfast the next morning. He had assured Angela that he would find something in the wild and cook it up using the box of matches he had. However, Angela still made him breakfast the next morning and told him that it was alright.

'Why did I get all bossy and order Angela around?' he continued to ask himself. Was it wrong for Angela to spend an entire night fishing to earn back the 800G he spent? Although it was not necessary, Kevin knew very well of Angela's insecurity, and she had to do a lot more than necessary for her to feel… okay. Was it wrong of her to earn the money back so just in case anyone else- just like him- believed the bell quest was more important than their leader's well-being?

The thought of Angela not progressing on the completion of the yellow bell and eventually losing the bet because of them-he and his other siblings- hurt him. Knowing Molly, she may not have noticed this yet, and unless someone told her, she would waste Angela's hard-earned money if she won. Kevin sighed as he continued to feel guilty while he watered the plants. "Hey, Mr. Potato…" Kevin said as he watered the still-a-sprout potato in front of him. "Wouldn't getting a part-time job like Angela help a lot of things?"

No response.

Kevin sighed and turned to Mrs. Potato next Mr. Potato. "What do you think, Mrs. Potato- wait! That's a really brilliant idea!" he exclaimed happily. "If only I had thought of that idea earlier; thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Potato." He quickly (and also a little messily) finished watering the rest of the plants and (at first ran) jogged towards Harmonica Town. He jogged down the miniature slope of the hill and slowed to his walking pace when he heard the clack-clack sound of his boots against the white stone bridge. It was the "entrance" to Harmonica Town. Kevin marveled at how clean and shiny it looked before finally walking off the bridge. He turned the knob of the blue door. The sign next to it read 'Town Hall'.

Operation: Save an Island!

Chapter 4: Azalea

Town Hall

7:45 AM

"A part time job?" Gill inquired curiously. He placed down his pen and stood up to find a file from one of the shelves.

Kevin nodded. "Preferably a job at the clinic so I can learn how to make medicines."

Gill raised his eyebrow as he scanned the contents of the file. "This is not exactly up-to-date, and things are slow on this island, so, most likely, there won't be any changes on this 'help wanted' list. And sorry about my father's untalented way of naming things."

Kevin's shoulders slumped. "It's okay… There are no open jobs at the clinic?"

"Unfortunately, no," Gill responded. He closed the file and put it back on the shelf. "The Brass Bar has been trying to hire a new employee for ages, but you know who that job is reserved for, right?"

"Angela?" Kevin asked.

"That's what Yolanda wants. The Ocarina Inn actually didn't require a worker since the beginning. She probably only intended to train your sister, and after she thinks your sister is qualified, she would transfer her to the Brass Bar." Kevin mouthed an 'oh' and stared at his shoes. Gill showed a rare, small smile and reached out to put his left hand on Kevin's shoulder. Before he managed to say any comforting words, the blue door burst open. "Gilbert!"

There was a small silhouette standing at the doorway- pink hair tied in two curly pigtails. Gill winced and used his left hand to rub his ringing ears. "As I was about to say," he continued, placing his finger on the name of a shop in his file. "This shop is looking for a helpful part-timer."

"Which one?" Kevin asked excitedly. He was finally going to have a part-time job!

"Helloooo?" the girl called, waving her hands in front of Gill's face. Kevin noticed she had to go onto her toes to be able to reach his eyes. For the first time, he realized that Gill was taller than he thought previously, seeing how he was shorter than Angela the first time they met. "Have you noticed me at all, Gilligan?" she demanded angrily.

"For the last time, my name is Gill," he growled.

"I'll call you that as long as you don't ignore me," she huffed, sticking her nose haughtily into the air.

"I was discussing something important, Luna."

"I am more important!" she demanded.

Kevin noticed Gill roll his eyes as he searched for a piece of paper on his full desk. "All you have to do is fill this out and sign your name here. Then, all you have to do is pass their test," Gill said, handing him the paper and a pen.

"I am talking to you, Gill!" Luna screeched angrily. Gill returned to his desk and covered his left ear with the hand he wasn't writing with.

It took Kevin about a minute to fill the entire paper with his and his family's personal information, even with Luna's constant whining in the background. Angela had "expected" that he memorized all his personal information (including his full social security number) at age twelve. He chuckled at the memory of a nineteen year-old Angela giving Molly a lecture about tying her shoelaces.

One time, while on one of their simpler missions (around the time Angela was nineteen and Kevin had to stay back because he was too young), Angela spotted Molly's untied shoes and began to lecture her, distracting our other teammates. Molly refused to tie her shoes, insisting that she won't trip like Angela had said. One of our teammates accidentally mis-aimed a shot and if Angela didn't trip over a tiiiiiiiiny little ledge in the ground, she would most likely have died that day. It was considered a taboo for Molly to tease Angela about the shoelaces. One time she did, about a year after the incident, "Even though my shoelaces were untied, who was the one who tripped? And your shoelaces were tied too!"

Kasey, who was planning to add in, decided that he was going to live a lot longer if he didn't say anything after seeing Angela's irritated expression. Kevin wasn't exactly sure what Angela did/say to Molly, but Kasey had covered his eyes and ears and led him into another room. For weeks, both Angela and Molly didn't exchange any words.

"Gill," Kevin said, saving Gill from Luna's screeching for a brief moment. "Where is Sonata Tailoring?"

"Luna, why don't you lead him there?" Gill suggested.

"Why do I have to?" she huffed. "And what business does he have there?" she demanded, pointing almost childishly at Kevin.

"He's your new part-timer," Gill replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

Luna frowned, averting her gaze to examine Kevin. "But he dresses so… plainly! Look at those country-bumpkin-like pants. It's almost disgusting! And look at that scarf thingy he wears at his neck. Not only it is totallyyy outdated, it doesn't even match! And look at those gloves! They-"

As Luna continued to rant on how badly he dressed, Kevin wondered if he really looked as bad as she said. He pulled on his gloves. Were they really that stupid-looking? He found them quite comfortable.

Gill sighed heavily. "Must you always do this to every living human you see?" He pushed Luna and Kevin out the Town Hall. "Why don't you two get acquainted somewhere else? Unlike you, Luna, I am very busy today." He gave Kevin an encouraging nod and slammed the door.

"Stingy," Luna hissed, and stomped away with her arms crossed. Kevin didn't follow. After stomping for quite a distance, she stopped and yelled angrily, "Well, are you coming or not?"

Kevin smiled a little and ran after her. She saw his smile in the reflection of the Sonata Tailoring store window. "Don't think I approved of your way of dressing," she said with an annoyed tone. She didn't understand why this guy was smiling. "He's like an idiot!" she whispered to herself.

Sonata Tailoring

8:00 AM

"Sis, make this test very hard," Luna whispered. The moment she entered Sonata Tailoring, she ran to the back and pulled her sister to a corner.

Kevin was in their store, marveling at almost everything he saw. "This looks so difficult and professional," he commented, admiring a lace curtain.

"W-why?" her older sister asked, playing with the hem of her blue dress nervously. She had long, blue bangs that hid her beautiful face.

"Because, Candace!" Luna whispered, almost too loudly for a whisper. "He's weird! What kind of guy is interested in laces and clothes?"

"J-Julius is…" she replied almost inaudibly.

Luna sighed exasperatedly. "What I mean is, I don't like him."

"B-but you wouldn't know if he's good or not…" Candace mumbled.

"I just don't want two gay people in our shop everyday!"

"I really doubt that either Kevin or Julius are into… that." Candace whispered, shivering at the thought.

In the distance, the pair of siblings heard Kevin questioning Shelly about his way of dressing. Luna heard Shelly comment that his outfit wasn't bad or anything and a vein popped on her head. 'Is grandma blind?' she thought angrily. "You better make the test hard," she told Candace before running off to lecture him once again.

"I-i-it's quite s-simple," Candace explained. Shelly managed to get Luna to stop ranting on the same things over and over again long enough for Candace to explain their test. "W-with these materials, p-please m-make anything to t-the b-best of you're abil-ability." She quickly handed the materials to Kevin and sped away, avoiding her younger sister's menacing glare.

"Oh really?" Kevin asked, examining the blue yarn. "Alright, then." He picked up the yarn began to weave something. Luna was about to start complaining about anything that came to her mind until Shelly grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.

"B-but," Luna had tried to protest.

"You should perfect your embroidery first before you bother everyone else," Shelly hinted, patting the unfinished pink piece of fabric on the work table. Luna grumbled angrily as she dropped herself onto the seat and began working on the 'dress' clumsily. There was a very uncomfortable silence in the shop as Kevin finished his project. Candace hoped that he finished quickly so Luna would stop shooting daggers at her.

"Done!" Kevin proudly announced. Although he spoke at a normal volume, he felt that he shouted because of the eerie silence in the room.

"Let me see," Shelly said, gently taking the object from Kevin. It was a teru teru bozu, a cute charm thing (usually hung near the door) to ward off rain, made from blue yarn. It had a cute happy-face sewn on its head, and it wore a very complicated dress.

"…I-it is well-made," Candace complimented almost silently.

"I think it's too plain! Not cute! It's all the same color!" Luna huffed, crossing her arms defiantly. Kevin tilted his head, noting to himself that Luna was also only wearing one color- pink. She glared at him from the corner of her eye and yelled, "I am not only wearing pink. Look!" She lifted her skirt up a little, and Kevin quickly slapped his eyes, covering them. "M-Miss Luna! You shouldn't flash your panties randomly at guys…!" he exclaimed.

Luna glared at him. He complains too much, she thought. She crossed her arms. "You better not look; I am lifting it up all the way," she lied.

Kevin panicked. "M-Miss Luna… the people outside will see you- Oh my goddess!"

Luna jabbed him in the side, the spot where all ticklish people were ticklish at, which lowered his hands so they weren't blocking his view anymore. "I-I am so sorry Miss Luna! I am very certain that I did not see anything," Kevin stammered.

"Pervert," Luna said.

"I am very sorry, Miss Luna! But I really did not see anything, from the bottom of my heart. You have to believe me, Miss Luna!"

Luna hmphed, and turned her head to the right. Behind that frowning face, she was a bit amused that someone actually fell for her acting. She lifted her skirt again- "Ahh! Stop doing that, Miss Luna!" Kevin exclaimed, covering his eyes again.

"Guy with a bad taste!" she yelled. "Uncover your eyes!"

He slowly and kind of unwillingly moved his fingers out of the way. He peeked with one eye between two of his fingers. Kevin noticed that Luna was only lifting up her skirt a little; you couldn't see her panties at all. Then, he noticed that the underside of the pink skirt she was wearing was actually red and the colors of her socks were white.

"I am not wearing the same color," she commanded. Luna let a small amused smile appear on her face. She didn't expect him to admit it. She huffed again and grabbed a red ribbon, put in her hair, and grabbed her black bunny plushie. "Happy now?"

Kevin gave her a small, sincere smile. He didn't want to continue this argument about clothes. "Yes, it looks cute."

Luna's face reddened. To hide it, she huffed defiantly again and whipped her head to the side. "And you look soooo unfashionable today."

Kevin frowned, obviously very confused.

As Luna stalked off to the back of the shop, she whispered, "Also, you smell like a rancher." She didn't know, though, that Kevin heard it loud and clear.

"Miss Shelly?" Kevin asked while he helped her with simple tasks such as feeding their silkworms, organizing the clothes, and cleaning their shop.

"Shelly is fine, dear," the old woman answered with a kind smile.

Kevin beamed. He dusted the surfaces a little faster than before. "Okay, so, Shelly, I have a question." The old woman nodded, assuring her attention. "Do girls normally get angry when you say they are cute?"

Shelly frowned. "Usually no, unless she's very… manly. Why?"

"Oh, because Miss Luna seemed to be quite angry when I complimented her clothes." He wondered if he had trouble understanding people. He didn't exactly have many chances to get acquainted with normal girls. Mostly all the girls back in the military, like the girl his team collaborated with during a mission, were very tough and refused to admit they thought Hello Kitty was cute. Although he thought he had a pretty good understanding because he read quite a number of books about building relationships with others. It made him sad, thinking that he might have just wasted his time.

Shelly laughed. "That's her personality so don't let that get to you, dear."

Kevin scrunched his eyebrows together. "Why would she do that? Wouldn't saying such things make others …dislike Miss Luna?"

"Luna… is very kind at heart…" Candace whispered.

Kevin jumped, almost dropping the frilly top he was folding. Luckily, he managed to catch it and placed it neatly on the display table. He turned around and faced her, noticing that her eyes were full of determination. Although he had just met her, he could tell by her personality that she was serious.

That made Kevin think if there were any hidden intentions behind calling him a 'country bumpkin' and 'what kind of 70's fashion sense do you have?' besides trying to make business for their shop. He smiled. "I'll take your words into consideration, Miss Candace," he replied politely.

She smiled warmly, bowed, and walked off.

"She's cute, eh?" Shelly asked, smirking.

"Young love. Young love," Yolanda said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Master Yolanda!" Kevin exclaimed. He bowed. "Thank you for always taking care of my sister."

"It's no problem." The head chef chuckled. "Sooo, young Kevin? How's life, especially those juicy teenage dramas?"

"Grandma, Yolanda, can you two please knock it off? Must you ask that same question to every living teenager you see?" Luna snapped.

"Oh, you're here, Luna!" Yolanda said, delighted.

"Yes, she was working on her dress in the back of the shop until now," Shelly said.

"Are you this young man's girlf-"

"Yolanda, would you like to purchase anything today?" Luna hissed. She sounded like she was about to kill someone.

To be safe, Kevin backed away. "Excuse me, Miss Shelly, Master Yolanda; I am going to find the broom."

"Young Kevin!" Yolanda said. "Why rush? Make us old ladies feel included too!"

"U-um… I noticed a dirty spot on the floor…" he said. From behind, he could almost feel Luna's angry glare bearing holes in his back for ditching her and leaving her behind to deal with the old ladies.

8:00 PM

Harmonica Town

"See you tomorrow," Kevin said, waving politely and closing the door of the Sonata Tailoring. He received a kind reply from Shelly, a hmph from Luna, and a silent nod from Candace. He felt a little guilty for ditching Luna to deal with Master Yolanda and Miss Shelly a while ago.

The evenings on Castanet were beautiful; the night sky and stars looked so close and almost touchable. It gave a very different feeling than back on the mainland. (Castanet isn't exactly an island, but I really have no idea what to call it so let's pretend it is.) He breathed in a breath of air as he strolled down the quiet, evening street of Harmonica Town. Kevin sighed, wondering how he would properly apologize to Angela. He knew that whenever he said sorry, she would nod and it would be fine, but he felt that it was a bit different this time. He wanted to properly make it up to her for once.

Kevin crossed the bridge again, scrunching his eyebrows together, deep in thought. He heard a soft humming from the bottom of the bridge, interrupting his train of thought. He looked over the side of the bridge, noticing that there was no one there. He started to wonder if it was a mermaid or something. He read that mermaids were beautiful half-humans, half-fish people that were really good at singing. He got a little excited. If there were goddesses and Harvest Sprites on Castanet, it wouldn't be weird if there were mermaids, right?

Kevin then saw a fishing line being casted. He was confused. Mermaids are also fish so they wouldn't eat their own kind! Unless… they were cannibals…! He leaned farther over the side of the bridge, curious of what was under it. He began to hear the humming again. It was most definitely a female voice… Angela often fished. Kevin leaned over even farther, almost to the point of falling over to the side of the bridge. The humming stopped abruptly. "What are you doing?" the voice asked.

Kevin hung over the edge, unmoving. He could finally see the person now: it was a girl with kind of a nut-brownish shade of brown hair and eyes. She stared at him, bewildered of his strange actions. He did seem kind of suspicious, he admitted to himself. After all, he was pretty much hanging upside-down to look at a girl fish under a bridge. Kind of like a peeper. He blushed and immediately stammered, "I just started; I wasn't spying on you!" The girl tilted her head either in confusion or suspicion. It was kind of dark to see clearly. "I assure you! I was just curious who was singing-"

While he was trying to prove his innocence, he forgot to hold on to the side of the bridge and tumbled head-first into the cold canal. The girl jumped to her feet. "Are you alright?"

Kevin's head rose above the surface, gasping. "C-cold!" He shivered once before he began swimming towards the land the girl. It seems that there were a small flight of stairs from the side of the bridge to where she was sitting to fish. He pulled himself out of the water and onto the concrete. His teeth continued to chatter. "G-good thing my rucksack is w-waterproof," he mumbled.

The girl used her handkerchief and wiped off some water droplets off his face. "I am sorry, but I don't have a jacket," she said.

Kevin shook his head vigorously, unintentionally splattering water on her from his wet hair. "You even dirtied your handkerchief for a peeper like me…"

She laughed. "My name is Renee. You're one of the new residents, aren't you? Are you Kasey?"

"I am Kevin," he replied, kind of happy that someone mistook his measly self with his much-admired older brother.

"Oh, sorry. My mistake," Renee said, scratching her head nervously. Her eyes softened. "And you shouldn't put yourself down so much. I am sure being the youngest of your siblings is tough; how they seem to be a lot better than you. But it's natural because they are older. Someday, when you are the age they are now, you might actually be better than them." She stopped. "Wait, let me reword that. It sounded strange." Renee paused again and laughed nervously. "For example, let's say they are 19 years old and in a few years when you are 19 years old, you might actually be better than your siblings when she/he was 19 years old!" She frowned. "That didn't make sense either. Let me rephrase that-"

"I understand what you are trying to tell me," Kevin interrupted.

She smiled. "Thank goodness. I tend to have a hard time explaining things." Kevin returned her smile. It seemed like they were having a who-can-smile-the best-contest until Kevin sneezed. "Oh my gosh. I totally forgot that you fell into the water earlier!" Renee exclaimed. "Do you want me to run to the Tailor's to get a jacket for you?" She checked her watch. "Oh no, but they closed three hours ago-"

"I can run home," Kevin suggested. "It's kind of convenient for me because I haven't jogged properly in a long time."

Renee frowned. "Are you sure? You might catch a cold."

Kevin shook his head. "I'll be fine!" He was pretty sure she would protest so he turned his heel and ran off. "See you some other time, Miss Renee!"

8:30 PM

Farm

Kevin opened and slammed the door abruptly. When he was finally in the warmth of the house, he breathed a sigh of relief. The first person he saw was the last person he wanted to see- Angela. She was at the kitchen and her head was turned almost 360-degrees to examine him. Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you wet?" She turned off the stove and removed the gloves she had on her hands and felt his face and forehead. "You're freezing."

"What happened, Kevin?" Kasey worriedly asked from where he was sitting on the couch. With eyes full of concern, he quickly stood up and walked over. Kasey repeated his question.

"I fell off the Harmonica Bridge," he replied, a little embarrassed.

Angela narrowed her eyes even narrower than earlier. "Why?"

"I thought a mermaid was singing," Kevin rubbed his head, very embarrassed for admitting to doing something stupid like that.

Exactly how he had expected, Kasey snickered. Angela sighed and rolled her eyes. "Go take a bath," she ordered before turning her heel and continuing to cook.

Before Kevin could leave the living room, Kasey yelled, "Wait for me! Let's take a brotherly bath together; sisters can't join!" He stuck his tongue out at Angela, who didn't even bother to look back. He ran into the bathroom to get his clothes, and Kevin went into his room to get his clothes. Kevin didn't exactly understand why Kasey had to make him wait for his older brother. Kasey's room was temporarily the bathroom, meaning all his clothes would be in there. Did he just say that so he can inform Angela what they were doing? He didn't understand why though.

"You go in first," Kevin said, motioning towards the bath. As cold as he felt, he didn't exactly want to share a bath with another guy; it's kind of weird, especially since the bath was small.

Kasey gasped dramatically and pushed him into the bath. "Kevin, do you now how long it's been since we last bathed together?"

Kevin looked away, careful not to see anything. "Last month?"

"Wrong!" Kasey yelled. "It was some time last year!"

"But I remember last month-"

"So you see how long it has been since we had some brotherly bonding time?" Kasey interrupted, getting into the bath. When he got in, a lot of the water escaped. Kevin stared, watching most of the bathwater flood the bathroom. Angela was going to be so mad later… "And don't worry about that female grouch out there!" he assured, waving his hand.

"I can hear you loud and clear," Angela said.

Kasey flinched. "Her voice sounded like she was still in the kitchen and yet she could still hear us!" he whispered. "She's got the ears of a devil!" He shivered. "Eavesdropper Angela~"

Kevin could hear his sister sigh. "Could you two hurry up and finish your brotherly bonding so you could clean up the mess you made?"

Kasey scowled. "Since you're the neat freak, why don't you clean it up?" he mumbled to himself. He flinched when he heard something metallic drop onto the ground in the kitchen. "So Kevin," he said, his face serious all of a sudden. "What happened with Angela this morning? She wouldn't tell me even a word about it."

Kevin stared down at his hands and played with the warm bath water. "I… had an argument with her."

"I can tell that much," Kasey replied. "Why? You guys never argue." His eyes narrowed. "Did she start it?"

Kevin shook his head vigorously. "N-no! It was me. I kind of yelled at her for pulling an all-nighter last night. And she's not even sleeping yet…"

Kasey's eyes softened. "So that's what happened. So it's Angela's fault."

Kevin shook his head again. "No, it's mine. She wouldn't pull an all-nighter if we had plenty of money in our savings. I guess she was feeling insecure and I… made her feel even more insecure."

"Why? Angela is always money-hungry."

"It's because I bought a duck," Kevin said bitterly.

"You bought a duck," Kasey repeated. "What's wrong with that?"

"It was worth 800G and I took one of the eggs it hatched for the Blue Bell quest."

"It's just 800G," Kasey replied. "Ducks cannot get any cheaper than that. Both of you guys are exaggerating."

"B-but!"

Kasey put a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Here, I thought that something big happened, but you guys are just arguing over a mere 800G? That's equivalent to about 800 Japanese yen, or 8 U.S. dollars, or 8000 Korean won, or… or… anyways, 800G is cheap stuff!"

"Angela-"

"You guys made such a big deal out of a small siblings quarrel like this," Kasey continued to scold. "I expect the both of you to apologize to each other, since you are both at fault." Kevin nodded bitterly. Kasey grinned and pulled Kevin's face into a smile. "With the heavy things out of the way, let's talk about why you fell off the bridge." He smirked. "Soooo? Why did you fall off the bridge? Did you see some hottie by any chance?"

Kevin sweat-dropped. Kasey just recently learned of people called 'playboys' and he was trying to be one. He would feel bad for Miss Renee if Kasey tested his so-called talent on her. "I hit the nerve, didn't I?" Kasey winked. "So? What did she look like?"

Kevin shifted uncomfortably. "I… got hired at the Sonata Tailoring…" he said, trying to change the subject.

Kasey paused before slapping Kevin on the back "Man, so you fell into the river because of two hot chicks from your workplace? What a nice thought. I bet you were drooling at the sight of them and you didn't even notice that the bridge had water in it and whoops!"

"I did not fall in the water because of that," Kevin said.

"Really?" Kasey rubbed his chin. "Anyways, were they pretty? What did they look like?"

Kevin stared down at his hands. "You'll see if you come visit me during work times."

"Hmm…" Kasey nodded, as if deep in thought. "I might have to squeeze in some time between lunch break but I think I'll be able to make it to-" It seemed to Kevin that Kasey couldn't even pull his eyes away from something he shouldn't be staring at long enough to finish his sentence. Kasey grabbed Kevin's shoulders and looked at him seriously in the eyes. "You know that free cow I got from somewhere and never told Angela, fearing that she would threaten the people to give her another one?" Kevin nodded slowly. He knew very well that Angela wouldn't do that… probably. "Well? This hot chick and her family at the Horn-" He stopped and snickered before continuing, "-Ranch gave me that cow for free. Such nice people, aren't they? And that chick was hot!" His eyes shined brightly.

Kevin sweat-dropped. Guess Kasey already knows Miss Renee…He thought.

"In any case, that milk that 'Little Ann' produces should be MINE, not Angela's. I earn quite a sum in the mines, so Little Ann's milk shouldn't have to thrown into the shipping bin half-heartedly everyday." He shook his head once, like a very knowledgeable politician in debate. "It should be given for you to drink everyday, Kevin-poo!"

Kevin raised his brow. "I don't understand."

"It's obvious you didn't get enough nutrients when you were in your growth spurt so that," he said, pointing to a place where the sun didn't shine, "is as tiny as a pea!"

Kevin blushed and looked at the door of the bathroom and the mess the two made. He wondered if normal brothers talked about things like this while bathing together. He kind of doubted that they did it over the age of five.

A week later…

Spring 18th, Year 1

Sonata Tailoring

5:00 PM

"G-g-g-good work a-again to-today, Kevin," Candace whispered, folding her hands and bowing her head in her usual, refined manner.

Kevin smiled up from his job- which was fixing Luna's somewhat amateur embroidery and replied, "Thank you, Candace." He was quite happy. Candace rarely talked to him, and when he tried to start a conversation with her, it didn't last very long as she would stutter even before finishing her sentence and run away, leaving a very angry-looking Luna glaring holes into him. He noticed, as Candace tried to explain a week before, which Luna was kind-hearted, but expressed it in a strange way.

He noticed Shelly, his boss and highly-respected mentor, turning the open sign to closed. He got up from his special space on the work table in the back of shop and walked towards Shelly. "Uh… Miss Shelly?"

"Yes?" She turned around and looked at him in the face. She had told him a while ago that talking to someone face-to-face is a courtesy that should not be avoided.

"I know this might sound greedy of me, but may I have this week's salary? I know I am only supposed to receive my salary every month, but there's something special today…"

Kevin stared back at her, fidgeting and expecting a refuse. "Alright." Kevin blinked twice and wrinkled his brow; he wasn't sure whether he heard it correctly. Chuckling, Shelly repeated, "I'll allow you, just this once." She watched the young boy's eyes brighten. "You worked hard this week and you were very eager to get things done quickly, efficiently, and you always finish with quality work. For what ever urgent business, I think you deserve this." She took huge strides to the cashier, where all the money was stored. She took out a key, unlocked it, and did some calculations. "May I ask what this is for?" Shelly asked as she counted the G bills.

Candace flinched at where she sat and glanced nervously at something she was holding.

Kevin replied, "It's Angela's birthday today."

"Oh my." Shelly placed the bills into an envelope and handed it to Kevin. "You are a kind a little brother. Does this mean that you aren't coming back after today?"

Kevin shook his head. "Don't worry, Miss Shelly. I plan on working here for a while."

Shelly nodded. "That's a relief. Someone needs to fix Luna's embroidery. Either we- Candace or I- are too busy or we simply just don't have the patience."

"I heard that loud and clear!"

Shelly shook her head and chuckled. "Anyways, Kevin, you can leave today."

"Already? I usually stay until eight or seven," Kevin said. He placed the envelope gingerly in his rucksack.

"It's already five, and most shops close around 6. Unless you want to give your sister a late birthday present, I suggest you get going and buy that gift."

Kevin's eyes widened. "Thank you, Miss Shelly!" he yelled before sprinting at the door.

Before he could leave, Candace stood in his way, staring at her shoes, stuttering, "U-um… For Angela…" She pressed a cute little box into his hand. Blushing, she bowed once before running off.

"You knew?" he called after her.

He saw her nod her head as she ran. "Saw… in the Town Hall."

"Thank you," he said before opening the door and closing it softly.

Shelly watched Kevin sprinting like there was no tomorrow immediately after the door was shut. "Oh my, what an energetic boy Kevin is."

5:59 PM

Flute Fields

Kevin slammed himself into the door of Horn Ranch, panting. It was the effect of sprinting all the way here. He checked his watch and let out a sigh of relief. At the moment, the front door flew open, knocking Kevin back several feet. "Honey, I swear I heard some kind of strange thump on the door!" a deep, male voice said.

"Well do you see anything?" a female voice replied.

"No but-" He looked down and saw Kevin- who was trying to stand up to dust his pants. "Oh! There you are!" He bent down and reached out a hand. "What are you doing here?"

Kevin helped himself up. "I am here to get a birthday present. Is Miss Renee here?"

The man smiled. "My name is Cain, Renee's father." His eyes darkened a bit from before. Kevin stared, confused of his sudden change in expression. He had heard that fathers were very overprotective of their daughters. Cain paused, as if expecting Kevin to cower in fear or something like that. He scared off Toby with his masculine body several times.

"I see…" Kevin replied. "I am Kevin, one of the new ranchers."

Cain nodded.

"Hi… Mr. Cain."

Cain nodded again.

"… May I see Miss Renee now?"

Cain almost frowned in confusion. "Hey why are you so rude-"

"Oh, hi Kevin!" Renee exclaimed, emerging from behind Cain. She walked around her father's huge figure and dragged Kevin into their shop. "I am glad you managed to make it here before seven," Renee said, glancing at the clock.

Kevin wiped a small bead of sweat that was barely visible off his forehead. "Yeah…" he said slowly. He didn't exactly want to admit it, but he was still a bit out of breath.

"You got here so early… Did Shelly excuse you around four?"

"No… I asked her while she closed the shop around five," Kevin replied.

"So you… ran here?" Renee asked, her eyes widening.

Kevin nodded.

"You don't look like you ran- you're supposed to look tired!" Renee exclaimed.

"I do look tired," Kevin replied. "See, I am still a bit out of breath."

Renee looked at Kevin nervously and said, "Well, do you want some water-"

Her mother, Hanna put a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Renee, if you are going to spend the rest of the day with your boyfriend, can you please do so outside where you father can't see?" She motioned toward a corner of the shop, where Cain stood there, facing the wall and poking a piece of cheese with a twig he found. Every once and a while, he'd turn back and glare at Kevin and then dejectedly turn back to the lump of cheese with a long sigh.

"He's not my boyfriend," Renee whispered back.

"I see, he's not," Cain said, regaining his usual energy. He coolly walked over towards Kevin, kind of smirking. "Well, boy, I hope you quickly finish your 'friendly visit' soon because you are annoying Renee."

"He's not, Papa," Renee answered with a sigh. "He's here to buy a birthday present."

"The shop already closed-"

"For whom?" Hanna asked eagerly. No one buys birthday presents at their shop. They only buy the ingredients for cakes and other sweets but never something that actually came from their shop.

"My older sister," he answered. "We were kind of in a fight and I wanted to make it up to her."

Hanna stared dreamily at her merchandise. "How sweet." To think that something from here would be able to patch up a sibling relationship! "What would you like, then?"

After Kevin had left, Cain turned to his wife, frowning. "All those were white horses, weren't they?" Apparently, she gave kind of a choose-a-random-marble game and each different colored marble represented the available colored horse he was going to receive. Kevin randomly chose the left one and "luckily" got a white horse.

"So what if they are?" Hana asked kindly. She put the boxes back into the basket where she kept them.

"Are you just happy that someone bought something from our shop for a birthday present?" Cain asked dully. His wife loved birthdays… "So you gave them our rare white horses?"

"Correction, darling," Hana said, dusting the counter again. "He bought the horse and I was just being generous. It's no point in keeping three white horses to ourselves."

"But no one on this island, even our ancestors, had more than three horses on their ranch. If by chance we were to get a fourth one-"

"It doesn't matter to us," Hana replied sternly. "Did you notice that that boy ran from the Sonata Tailoring to here in about an hour?"

Cain barely raised an eyebrow. "Why, when I was his age-"

"Yeah, but he doesn't seem like he… works out daily like you do, darling," Hana replied.

"Even so, he is definitely not good enough for Renee-"

Hana sighed. Cain could be so silly sometimes…

6:15 PM

Horn Ranch Barn

Kevin gazed at the three white stallions lined up together, their coats almost glowing. "They are very pretty," he managed to whisper. He couldn't remove his eyes from them.

Renee smiled. As their caretaker, she was proud of their beauty as well. "Well, chose one. On the farthest right is the oldest one, whom we call-" She stopped, noticing that Kevin's eyes were fixated on one specific horse: the youngest one on the left. "She's the youngest and probably the fiercest of the three. Even so, she had the prettiest eyes," she introduced. Kevin smiled and walked slowly towards the horse with his hand outstretched. Renee was a bit worried. The youngest horse had an extremely horrible temper and if Kevin received one of her hind kicks…

"There, there," he assuringly whispered, calming the horse entirely.

Renee smiled. She (the horse) trusted Kevin already. "You are going to be a wonderful owner."

"Thank you. What should I name her?"

"Perhaps you should ask the person you are giving to?"

9:00 PM

Farm

Angela scowled as she trudged home. Surely it was the 18th and it was her birthday, but she didn't understand why her new boss (she was transferred), Hayden, and his daughter, Kathy, had dismissed her so early today. She could bet a penny (yes, only a penny) that her rival chef, Chase, who always picked fights with her, was laughing right this moment at her while drinking a cup of orange juice, aka that thick orange fluid filled with vitamin C. She must have done something to somehow anger her boss, and she probably would have to return to Yolanda's the next day. How embarrassing. As she got closer, she noticed that all of the house's lights were on. There weren't many, but all the light comes from batteries and light bulbs, which they do not sell cheap in the General Store. Kasey… she angrily thought. When I get in there, those lights better be- "Happy 25th birthday, Angela!"

She frowned as confetti flew all around her face and landed on her hair. She huffed, blowing the piece that landed on her nose off on to the floor. She glared at all the people inside the house: all of her siblings (which was rare because either Molly or Kasey was playing with their friends in the Garmon Mine District around this time) her co-workers from both the Brass Bar and Ocarina Inn, and a few of Molly's friends. "You were so slow, Angela!" Kathy sang, grabbing Chase and hauling him to greet her. "Even Chasie here beat you!"

"That's because you closed down the shop three hours early today and threatened me to come here," he grumbled in an irritated tone.

"Huh? What'cha say?" Kathy pretended. Before Chase could answer, she pushed him away and shoved a purple box into Angela's hands. "Happy birthday, Angela!" Kasey, who was observing from behind the couch, decided that it was the best time to tease her. He smirked. "Hehe, now that we're the same age, you can't call me old man anymore."

"I can once you turn 26 in the fall. Besides, I called you a drunk, old man so get your facts right."

"Burned!" Luke shouted. Kasey grinned and ran to the back of the room to lock him in a headlock.

One by one, the guests gave Angela gifts for her birthday, some extremely weird like Maya's "dried yams," which looked rotten more than "dried." "Hey! Stop dissing my yam! It was not easy to persurve this yam from fall! It's been half a year!" She huffed angrily.

"You mean preserve," Yolanda corrected, handing Angela her gift: a jar of beautifully-made cookies.

"What ever!"

Kevin remembered to give Angela Candace's gift.

12:00 AM

Farm

Finally, after the guests left one by one, Kevin said, "Angela, want to see my present?"

"Sure," she replied nonchalantly as if she was tired of all the gifts she received. They never emphasized her birthday so much since when she was twelve years old and her parents were murdered. She and her five year-old brother Kevin were orphaned and taken in by the captain. Molly and Kasey were both taken in on the same year as well. Despite her unenthusiastic reply, she was a little bit relieved. Kevin hadn't spoken to her in past few days, scared of revealing the surprise. To her, it was like a long siblings' quarrel that went on for a week.

Kevin led her outside into the barn where she saw the horse he bought. Angela frowned. "What's this horse doing here?"

"She's part of our family now," Kevin replied. Molly nodded.

Angela continued to frown. "And how much did she cost?"

"It's a secret. Don't worry, Angela!" Kevin tried to assure. "I paid it with my part-time money.

"I am sure you could have used your part-time money for something more recreational. This horse doesn't produce milk like a cow, goat or sheep does. It only eats grass and goes number one, two, or maybe three if she ate some weird grass!"

The horse snorted angrily, as if understanding that Angela was offending her. "Angela, it's my present to you! We all know it takes you more than two hours to commute from home to the Brass Bar. You can spend the time to be something more meaningful," Kevin said. "It's a birthday present, Angela! You deserve it."

"…You just wasted 50000G on me," she murmured.

"She was only worth 4000G!" Kevin replied. Angela smirked. "Oops, I just revealed it," Kevin whispered.

Angela smiled for the first time in so long. "Well, thank you anyways."

Kasey stared at Angela's smile incredulously. "If it makes you so happy to receive a horse as a birthday gift, I'll get you a goat then!"

Her smile faded and glared at him. "Do what you want." She spun her heel and proceeded to escape from the stench of animals in the barn.

"Angela! Do you like my gift! I made you a pretty bracelet!" Molly called, running after her.

"What about a name for our new addition to the family?" Kevin asked.

"Little Igloo," Angela said on the top of her head. Little Igloo whined angrily.

"There, there, Little Igloo," Kevin cooed. She calmed down and began to snuggle up against Kevin's shoulder. "You should learn to like Angela a little more. She's a nice girl." As if responding to sarcasm, Little Igloo snorted.

"Stupid horse."

Kevin patted Little Igloo's soft head and groomed her mane with his fingers. Her arrival here helped resolve the awkward silence he and Angela had against each other. "Thank you Little Ig."

She whined contently, happy with any name Kevin gives her. "Hey little Ig!" Kasey called. "Want some potatoes?"

She snorted, chomped the potato (including his hand) and "accidentally" stepped on his foot. "Hey! That hurt. Even if you are a female horse, I will still smack your buttocks because I am older and wiser-"

And she showed him her beautiful hind hooves.


An abrupt ending, but I hope it's not cliff-hanger-ish to any of you. I hate cliff hangers and I try to not have them at the end of chapters xD