Inspired by a prompt on the yyhfanfiction community on tumblr.
#56: Kurama gets frustrated with the deer chewing on his garden, until he realizes one of the culprits is a baby.
A/N: This is a situation I can very much relate to!
"Darling, are you going to sit out here all night?" Shiori asked her redheaded son as she draped a blanket around his shoulders.
Shuichi blinked blearily up at her for a moment, then rubbed his eyes. He was slumped in the loveseat on the porch, dressed in rumpled pyjamas, his hair loose and a little ruffled. Shiori settled herself into the loveseat beside him and Shuichi adjusted the blanket so it wrapped around both of them. An almost empty cup of tea sat forgotten on the table beside him.
"If I must," he told her. "The pepper did not deter them last night."
Shiori stared out at the garden that her son meticulously tended. Unfortunately, there were now brown patches in the grass and many of the rose bushes Shuichi carefully cared for were looking dismal in the dim light from the streetlamp.
"You know, deer are a symbol of peace," Shiori told him.
Shuichi laughed quietly. "My garden looks like a war-zone," he said sourly, brushing his bangs from his face. "Most of the roses will have to be replaced."
For the past week their garden had been plagued by some unwelcome visitors. Shuichi had spent hours trying to repair the damage wrought by the deer, who seemed to have mistaken Shuichi's garden for an all-you-can-eat buffet. Irate at the destruction of his precious roses, Shuichi had tried various remedies to deter the culprits, but they returned every night.
Shuichi yawned and rested his head on his mother's shoulder. She ran her fingers absently through his long red hair. He had never been this affectionate as a young child and she had missed out on moments like these.
A shadow passing below a streetlamp caught her eye and she nudged a dozing Shuichi awake. For a moment, he looked startled. She pointed towards the left of the yard where there were now half a dozen large dark shapes moving. Shuichi stood up, intending to scare off the intruders when Shiori grabbed his wrist. A small shape had separated from the larger ones and was moving closer to the house. In the light from the porch, it was clearly a fawn.
"Oh, isn't it cute?" Shiori gushed softly.
Shuichi winced as the fawn moved to one of the still mostly intact rose bushes and began to eagerly munch on the plant. "Mother . . ." he sighed and Shiori pulled him back into the chair.
"Perhaps you could move some of your rose bushes into the backyard?" Shiori suggested.
Shuichi's shoulders slumped in defeat. His mother was leaning forward to get a better look at the ungainly fawn. "I suppose," he muttered. "But next year we will be getting a fence."
"Next year," Shiori agreed placidly.