Welcome to my drabbles! Enjoy and comment your suggestions and reviews! Thank you!

--RNichts

"CARROT CAKES"

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Sweat riddled Yatsuhashi's topless body as he swung the hoe towards the ground. Tilling the earth manually had been a hard process but Yatsuhashi found it to be both a good workout and a fun past-time. He'd been hard at work since 5am, and the results were quite beautiful.

Ten long rows of cultivated dark soil greeted Yatsuhashi's sight as he surveyed his work. Considering he'd been at it for at least two hours, ten was already fast. Also taking into account that this was technically his first time doing this farming thing, ten was already impressive.

Yatsuhashi smiled to himself. He felt very proud of what he had accomplished. He had always wanted to have a garden of some sorts. Back in his hometown, his parents were farmers. Their family of eight lived off the land; growing plants and vegetables behind their house, while the men fished or hunted wild animals for meat. Fresh eggs were given to them by a neighbor who had a henhouse, and milk and cheese they got from selling fish and clams to the cattle herder in town.

Their village was small, but it was home. In a place where everybody knew everybody, helping one another was the norm. That form of bond between the people... Yatsuhashi missed that. More specifically, he missed his family.

He shook his head. He shouldn't dwell on the memories of his family right now. It dulls the mind and rusts the senses, his father always said.

Yatsuhashi walked towards a large tree stump where he placed his water canister, scroll, and shirt. Removing his gloves, he picked the canister and glugged down its contents. Refreshed, he checked his scroll for any messages from his team. There was none. Unsurprising since Coco hated waking up this early; Velvet or Fox, maybe, but not his partner. The other two might be on their way to the cafeteria by now, probably getting some food for our leader.

Yatsuhashi was about to continue his work when he heard a small squeak from behind.

"I'm sorry!" Velvet apologized, hands covering her eyes. "I didn't know you were naked!"

Yatsuhashi chuckled. "You make it sound like I'm a nudist. I'm shirtless, not naked--"

"Just... put a shirt on!" she said turning around, completely flustered.

The young man walked towards the tree stump, taking his shirt and putting it on as fast as he could. "There... all decent now for the beautiful lady," he said jokingly.

Velvet started to walk towards him. She was still visibly flushed but was at least calm enough to approach him.

"What are you doing here so early anyway?" Yatsuhashi inquired. The girl didn't reply. She was too busy looking at the rows of tilled soil to even hear him. Yatsuhashi tried to get her attention by poking her cheek with his forefinger.

"Oh!" Velvet flinched. "What--?! Oh, um, I'm sorry. It's Coco, she, uh... " she trailed off before returning her gaze at the unfinished garden. She suddenly had an expression of deep longingness in her eyes, as if she was remembering a fond memory. Yatsuhashi's eyes widened, realizing something: I've seen that expression before. He saw it everyday when he looked in the mirror. She had the same look as him when he missed his family.

Yatsuhashi smiled. So... I'm not alone.

He threw his water canister towards Velvet. "Heads up!" he warned. The young faunus was plucked from her reverie, nearly dropping the canister as she fumbled to catch it.

Yatsuhashi took his gloves and went back to his farming. Taking out a small brown paper packet from his back pocket, he grabbed a trowel and started making small holes on the tilled ground, putting the mystery contents of the paper packet inside of each hole he made. Velvet shuffled closer, curious as to what Yatsuhashi was doing.

"It's carrot seeds," he announced. "From my hometown. My mother sent them to me last week. She heard I had a rabbit faunus for a team mate, so she thought it'd be a good idea for me to plant these and share them with you."

Velvet's face lit up like a light. "You talk to your mum about me?"

Yatsuhashi smirked. "The team, V. Don't flatter yourself," he quipped jokingly, carefully holding his tongue lest he slip and say something that could be misunderstood. The faunus girl smiled sweetly, hiding the slight tinge of cherry blossoming on her cheeks.

"Well, tell your mother I appreciate the gift," Velvet said. "But for future references: I actually don't like carrots."

Yatsuhashi stopped planting the seeds and looked at the faunus girl with a perplexed expression. "But... you're a--"

"What?" Velvet raised an eyebrow. "Just because I'm a rabbit faunus doesn't mean I have to act like one."

Yatsuhashi shrugged and continued planting, acting as if he heard nothing.

"I do like celeries though," Velvet mumbled. The young man paused as an image of a hamster-sized Velvet munching on a celery stalk popped into his head. He chuckled loudly to himself, surprising the lady behind her.

"What's so funny? Did I say something weird?" Velvet asked worriedly.

Yatsuhashi toned himself down, but still answered with a smirk on his face.

"Maybe I'll tell mother to send some celery seeds next time," the young man said as he continued planting the precious little seeds in his hands. After a few more rows, he was done. Yatsuhashi picked up his tools and took them to a nearby toolshed. He then went to the automatic sprinkler system and set the timers and watering schedules for the garden. The sprinklers came to life, creating a gentle consistent sshh, sshh, sshh sound, like a maracas.

Yatsuhashi looked at what his hands had made and he felt proud.

"Not bad for a beginner, isn't it?" the young man asked the lady with him. Velvet simply gave her an assuring nod. The two started walking back towards the dorms.

"I hope those carrots grow nicely," Velvet said after a while. "I think it would make your mother really happy."

Yatsuhashi agreed silently. "Maybe I should send her some of the harvest."

Velvet thought for a while. "Or some cake. Carrot cakes, maybe? I absolutely love carrot cakes," the lady exclaimed.

Yatsuhashi merely grinned to himself at the contradiction. Maybe I should ask one of the cafeteria ladies to bake one using my future harvest, Yatsuhashi thought. That way, CFVY and the rest of the gang can enjoy a piece.

The young man smiled at the idea. This is my family now. I have to treat it like one.

"Yeah, carrot cakes sound perfect."

END