Disclaimer: I do not own any Harvest Moon's characters.

Author's Notes: I'm really sorry if my writing or plot is sort of sloppy in this chapter. It's a little bit of a challenge to finish this but thank you for continue reading and supporting. I really appreciate it. If you have any questions or comments, please ask me. I'll be happy to reply. Enjoy this romance moment! c:

After a week of practicing many different sports, the coach had officially decided the students to participate the festival. She held up her clipboard and began reading the list.

"The following six students will join the competition are Ash, Cam, Georgia…" The coach announced.

Lillian's heart raced as she patiently waited for her name to be called.

"Nancy, David, and finally, Lillian. Congratulation. Be prepares for tomorrow sport festival!"

Ash smiled at the girl who silently dancing with joys inside her head.

"You did it, Lillian!" Ash cheered.

"Thank you, Ash," Lillian murmured with a genuine smile.

The boy couldn't helped but blushed when she gave him such a kind and sincere smile.

"N-no problem," Ash stuttered.

Lillian turned to Cam and mouthed, "Thanks to you, too."

An hour before the sport festival, Cam and Ash sat next to each other in the locker room.

"I guess we're rivals from now on," Ash said as he stared at Cam with serious eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I likes Lillian, too."

Cam smirked and replied, "How can you be so sure I likes her?"

"Every characters you hid behind your own curtain of a stage play had showed up to the audiences ever since Lillian's arrival." Ash let out a chuckled and continued, "I know you well enough to know that you've change."

"I wonder if that is true. I've always been confused with myself and my own feelings. Is it a stronger kind of affection I have for Lillian that turns me to the person I am now?"

"What kind of affection do you think it is?"

"I don't know."

"Why can't you admit it? I know that you know exactly what it is. Why can't you say you like her, Cam?"

Cam stared at the floor with the sadness hanging in his eyes.

"A like eventually turns into a love. Loving someone and tries to forget them is a hard thing to do. It is a fear to love someone. It is a despair that they disappear without saying goodbyes. Everyone I loved had died or left. It's scary…"

Ash had never seen his best friend's in such a vulnerable state. He understood his reason to be afraid of loving someone. Everything would came to an end. Then again, maybe Ash had not been in Cam's shoe long enough to know exactly what a miserable and the tragic life he been through.

"You better admit it sooner or later. I won't be the best friend that will give a girl up just because his best friend likes the same girl," Ash said with a smile to lighten up the mood.

"And I won't be the best friend that will hesitate to get something I like."

"That's the spirit!"

At BlueBell's entrance, two principals stood in front of their students as they announced the first game for the competition.

"Welcome to our Competition Festival! Today theme is sports!" Rutger announced.

The other principal was a beautiful woman dressed in an Asian red dress. She replied, "Konoha is going to win for sure! "

Rutger laughed and said, "Ina, don't say something that is false!"

Ina glowered at him and finally announced to the student, "We'll be having three games for our competitors. The first game is Tennis. Please, find a partner in five minutes."

Lillian scanned her team but she wasn't sure who she wanted to be partner with or if one of them wanted to be partner with her. She spotted Cam walking toward her but someone grabbed her arm.

"Let's be partner for this game," Ash smiled.

"But-"

"But what?"

Lillian pointed to the girls that stared at them on the side. She noticed their screams died down when Ash came near her.

"What about them?" Ash asked.

"They stopped cheering for you," Lillian muttered.

The boy ruffled her hair and curved up his lip.

"As long as I am partner with you, I am the strongest. I don't need any cheering."

Lillian gave him a smile and nodded her head. She took a glance at Cam who turned his back toward her. Did he wanted something? Lilian questioned herself. She could had sworn she saw his smile moved in the opposite direction when Ash came. Did he had a fight with Ash? Did something happened? Did he wanted to ask something but forgot what the question was? Why didn't he come over? Why did he suddenly turned away from her? What was it? Those questions spun around her mind like a tornado trying to destroy her other concentrations and only left her with the curiosities of Cam. She looked at Cam that was standing on another court with his partner, David.

"Since when did I became interested in him?" Lillian mumbled.

The Konoha principal began explaining how the games work.

"Each school should have 3 pairs, correct? Each pair will go against another on the tennis court. We will announce which team you will be playing with."

Lillian felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, Nori and Kana were standing in front of her.

"N-nori?! Kana?! What are you doing here?"

They smiled at the puzzled girl.

"We're from Konoha High. We'll be going against you, Lillian," Nori said.

Lillian widen her eyes in surprise.

"How come you never tell me?"

Kana gently pinched the girl's cheek and chuckled.

"You're cute when you pout like that. I wants to surprise you about being in Konoha but I didn't know Nori works with you."

"Wait! You know Kana?" Nori interrupted.

The three laughed together and returned to the smile they had.

"Look like all of us are surprise," Lillian said.

Nori glanced at Cam and Ash then smirked.

"School competition is different. I won't go easy on you two," Nori challenged them.

"I was going to say the same thing to you, Nori," Cam replied with a grin.

A bell rang signaling to get into their positions. Lillian took a glance of Ash from the corner of her eye. He was smiling broadly that brightened up her mood. She then smiled at Nori who was ready to surf the tennis ball.

Kana was challenging to beat. He could smacked the ball no matter which height or angle it was sent. Ash's breath was getting harder and sweats were running down on his skin. Even though he was exhausted, he still presented a bright smile that only sent guilt to Lillian. The game ended with the point of three to one. Lillian was disappointed at her uselessness and failure. She was angry at herself for not being able to be great enough to help Ash. There were stares from the girls that showed their anger toward Lillian. Ash stared at his partner and sat down next to her.

"Why do you have such a sad face?" Ash asked.

"We lost because of me."

"But it doesn't matter, right? A great game is when you know you try your best on it even though you didn't win. Don't be so serious about this competition."

Lillian knew that Ash would comforted her with his kind words. She smiled and grabbed him by the hand to their resting spot. Lillian took the handkerchief and gently tapped it on her partner's forehead.

"Thanks," She smiled.

Her beautiful smile made Ash blushed to which he shifted awkwardly to hide his face. Lillian stopped her movement when Ash kept moving his head.

"I'm sorry," Lillian said.

Ash turned to the girl in surprise and replied, "Why?"

"I made you feel uncomfortable."

He shook his head and grabbed her handkerchief from her hand. He slowly wiped the sweat off from Lillian's skin.

"It's actually the opposite," Ash replied.

The girl stared at him without leaving his face for a moment as if she was digging through his mind. The bell rang for the end of all games.

"It's two to one, BlueBell win this match!" Rutger announced.