Daikon~
By: Lone Inuyasha
Disclaimer: Be rich if I owned them.
The plant clung stubbornly to the earth. Giving a huff Inuyasha carefully adjusted his grip around the bundle of stalks before giving another tug! That look of annoyance deepening over his face as a few leaves shredded, but otherwise the plant refused to budge. Part of him wanted to just rip the whole damned thing right out of the ground! But he knew that the green top of the radish would simply break right off and leave him with more work to do than he cared for as punishment for his garden rage.
This would take patience and care, two skills the hanyou was hardly adept at to begin with, yet the thought of being defeated by a vegetable was harder still to accept! Drawing in a deep breath he tried to exhale away his frustrations in a technique Kagome had taught him. Breath in - It was just a daikon radish, breath out - don't throw a fit over a damn radish!
With a final exhale he rolled his shoulders like a fighter getting ready to enter the ring. With a reaffirmed grip on the wilting stalks, he began to wriggle the plant back and forth, trying to loosen it's stubborn white root. But the more he worked the plant the more he could feel the leafy stems popping and crunching under his grip. Until suddenly all he was left with was a hand full of greens and a bitter curse on the tip of his tongue!
"Awww Nooo!" Came the cry of a small but none the less distraught voice.
Chucking the torn greenery over a shoulder he followed the whining voice to the little boy working on the other side of the field. The child was probably no more than five or six, dressed like a typical farming peasant with his hair bound up in a top knot. Sitting on the dirt the boy was glaring at the fist full of broken stems, a look of utter disappointment over his dirt smeared face.
That was the second radish the kid had ripped the top off and if the hanyou let him continue, they'd be digging daikon out of this field by hand until sunset! Breathing a little sigh through his clenched teeth, Inuyasha sat back on his haunches in a doggish manner.
"Leave this side of the field for me to harvest, go see if there are any other vegetables you can pick without crushing them." The hanyou managed in surprisingly even tone, that miraculously stayed that way despite the child throwing the stems in a fit and making a mocking face at him before running off.
Oh how he would have bopped the brat on the head for it! Any other day and he'd have no qualms about popping up behind that kid and beating some respect into his skull! But this time he found himself unable to blame the brat. Still didn't mean he wasn't annoyed by it and giving a snuff he kicked some dirt in the boy's direction. "Feh!"
Turning his attention back to the daikon, he sized it up like the foe that it was! Carefully pawing the soil away until enough of the root was exposed for him to grab! Gathering broken stems of the cursed plant in his grasp he set back to work trying to pry it free. This time his efforts were rewarded when at last it yielded its grip and popped out of the soil!
Holding it up like a freshly caught fish, he eyed the dangling white vegetable and wished a curse or two on it for all the trouble, before he tossed it into the back of a waiting cart where two others lay. Three down, an entire field to go, not exactly something he was excited about. Brushing off his hands he begrudgingly trod off to the radish the kid had managed to maul, reflecting on his lot in this whole mess.
Damnit all, he was a fighter not a farmer! Kagome knew this but still she volunteered him to go and help with the mid summer harvest. While she remained with the family, all of whom lay in their farm house battling a terrible fever, Kagome by their side doing her best to help. But the family had been ill for weeks now and the fields which were now little more than forgotten vegetables growing amidst weeds was proof.
The only one who had not fallen ill was the little boy, the hanyou pausing a moment to try and remember the kids name. Taro maybe? The hanyou could easily imagine how hard it must be for this child, facing the possibility of being left alone in the world.
Taro's bruised radish turned out to be more forgiving than Inuyasha's as he managed to wiggle the smaller white root out of the ground fairly easily. Brushing off the mess he straightened himself up with a hand pressed to his lower back while he tossed the food into the cart. His mind wandering back to a time he'd never usually spoke of.
Of his early years as a child living with his mother in an unwelcoming estate. Secluded in a room off on the farthest wing of the house, they saw little of anyone aside from two servants. As a young kid he understood very little of why they were treated like that, but for the most part it didn't bother him. Rarely did he ever ask about any other family, after all he had his mother and they had a back door to a garden to play in, what more could a kid ask for?
However one day his mother had fallen ill, though she assured him it was only a cold the boy had been apprehensive. It was at this time where he suddenly realized how important having a family was. With his mother being a woman who was living in exile, neither of the two servants cared about her condition nor did anyone else the boy managed to find and talk to. Every time and every person brushed him aside like an unwanted puppy.
This did not stop the little hanyou. If the humans would not help his mother, then he'd find a way to help her himself! He braved the kitchens and the private quarters of the servant staff. Following his little nose he searched for anything that could be of help!
That night his poor mother awoke to a pile of tea, herbs, food, cups, bowls and anything else his little hands could carry. It was enough to get both of them into trouble, but the risk was worth it. Amid the mess there were somethings that could help her, if at the very least his impressive haul gave her a good natured laugh!
As a kid he was stubborn, much like Taro was. With his family in peril, Taro stood out on the road just outside the family's farm for what may have been a day or two. Hoping to flag down a traveler for some help. When Kagome and he came upon the little boy he was sound asleep in the middle of the road. The hanyou had to admit he respected the kids tenacity.
It didn't make babysitting him any easier however. Taro was trying to pull a pumpkin from its vine but much like the daikon he was only succeeding in mutilating the leafy stems snaking around the gorde.
"Damnit…" Inuyasha cursed under his breath, opening his mouth again to snap at the brats uselessness. Though the glimmer of tears on the kids round cheeks checked his words.
"Damnit!" He hissed again under his breath. The kid just wanted to do something for his family and for him that was a struggle. It was not about the field or the dinner Kagome promised to make for them with the vegetables later. It was about this kid wanting to do something, anything, to help him fight back the fear of losing his family.
Giving a little sigh he looked at his own hard won harvest, all three pieces of it. There were still one daikon that kept most of its leafy crown. Plucking up the radish he found a bed of soft soil and buried it back in, gathering the loose soil around it.
"Hey kid, come help get this damn thing out!" Giving a dramatic show of struggle tugging on the plant he released his grip and fell back on his rear. Brushing off his hands with a defeated look.
Taro sniffled and quickly rubbed away his tears, smearing more dirt on his face in the process. Before he turned to the hanyou and the stubborn looking plant. Reluctantly he made his way over and reached down to gather the stalks of the plant up. Sucking in a breath, he gave a mighty tug!
In hindsight the hanyou should have padded those roots down more firmly, because when Taro yanked it was hard enough to rip the stalks right out of the top, sending the radish and a sizable amount of dirt flying! Only to nail the hanyou right off the forehead when it came back down! Amber eyes widened as the hanyou tumbled backward onto the dirt, a dark brow twitching as a vein slowly popped.
"Watch . . ." The first word came with a growl.
". . .What your DOING!" Sitting bolt upright he snarled!
"I'm S-s-Sorry!" The young boy gasped, "I didn't mean to…" It was then that Taro noticed the radish perched perfectly between those two dog ears and a laugh threatened to bubble up! Clapping both hands over his mouth, the boy tried in vain to hold back his giggles! Which only grew worse when Inuyasha made a face!
Giving up, Taro scuttled out of the field laughing merrily along the way! Leaving the hanyou laying in a field covered in dirt! Clawed hands twitched uncontrollably for a moment, before snatching that daikon off his head with a snuff! Just wait till he gets his hands on that little brat!
"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice managed to cut through his plans for radish vengeance, his gaze turning to the miko. Dressed in traditional red and white shrine garb, she was toting an empty basket in hand while giving Inuyasha an amused look. "Everyone in the house is resting comfortably and you were taking so long to get the food that I felt I should come help."
Breathing an angry sigh through his nose he squashed all thoughts of bopping the kid before picking himself up off the dirt. "Like hell I'd let you, not in that condition." It may have sounded like a harsh thing to say, but there was a warm tone behind his words. Brushing himself off he closed the distance between himself and his wife and greeted her with a little smirk and a clawed hand pressed gently to her round belly. "The others going to be ok?"
"Yes they will. " Kagome gave him a patient look, "Are you sure you don't need help?"
He knew she hated being fussed over but in three months they would both become parents. They would be a family. At last, he would have a real loving family. One he could take care of and care for.
Saying nothing more, he plucked the basket gently from her hand.
* End.