I do not own Harvest Moon, but some of these characters are mine. Mainly, they're based on the Gamecube characters, but I haven't played for a while so I can't remember who they are. That's why there will be some differences.
Please Read & Review! Free farm animals for everyone who does!
The Simple Life… or not
It was a bitingly cold winter day; snow lay thickly on the ground and the trees' skeletal branches creaked quietly in the wind.
A few of the sturdier flowers poked their heads out of the snow, their stems and leaves submerged. The river was running normally, but around the edges thin sheets of ice that hadn't been broken up by the current still drifted. Some white ducks that populated the icy stream were huddled together in a clump of reeds nearby.
The only road out of town was unpaved and covered with snow just as thickly. No footprints yet broke the even surface; it seemed to glow in the dim morning light.
The daughter of a large woman - Kagura Shiwa- and askinny, unkempt man - Kyou Shiwa - who lived on the small horticultural farm stepped out into the beautiful snowy scene. The fields, neatly enclosed inside a picket fence and watched over by an eternally grinning scarecrow, lay barren and empty. The greenhouses were steamed up and locked tight; inside were all the crops the town could use to eat.
The girl's name was Saiyo; she was painfully shy but she loved nothing more than tending and learning about plants. When she wasn't working her family farm, she studied up on plants or read trashy romance novels that she hid from her parents beneath her mattress. She tugged the large bow she was wearing around her neck nervously. It had been her mother's idea and she hadn't been able to say 'no', even though she really didn't want to wear it.
She dragged her feet through the snow until she reached the first of the three long greenhouses. She began to fumble with her keys, her expression mild, when an unexpected and unfamiliar voice shook the peaceful setting.
"This is a frickin' set up! You tricked me – come pick me up RIGHT NOW!!"
Saiyo turned anxiously to see a girl she didn't know stomping down the road that lead to the outside world. Her hair was bright blue, probably dyed, and she was dragging an unsuitable wheeled suitcase behind her. A phone was pressed to her ear and she was glaring into the middle distance viciously. She seemed to be a few years older than Saiyo, but she couldn't tell.
"I'm lucky to even get this signal! I musta just caught it from a main one – but I won't get another one for years! This ain't no luxury villa, it's a dilapidated little… little… little…! Well, it's smack-bang in the middle of nowhere, and I want out! You hear me, mother?! I'll never forgive you for this!" The girl yelled angrily.
Saiyo turned around to watch properly; and then, after a moment's consideration, began to walk very cautiously over to the stranger who had staggered to a standstill before walking into the open space.
"Hey! Can you hear me? Dangit, the signal's breaking up…! Hey, hey! Answer me!! Just come gimme a lift – I've walked too much and I'm beat! …Mother? MOTHER? Hey! This ain't funny – I'm not cut out for manual labour!" There was a pause as the girl stared at her phone in disbelief; then she snarled, snapped it shut and rammed it into her front pocket.
Saiyo had finally made it near the girl; she stood uncertainly before her.
"Oh, and whadda you want? Is this your idea of the freakin' welcome wagon?" The girl snapped; Saiyo flinched. "When's the next bus outta here?"
"Umm… there aren't any… buses…"
"Oh, what? That is just typical!! I ain't gonna walk home and there ain't no buses or trains for miles!" The girl groaned. "They tricked me, dammit!"
"Um…"
"There ain't a hotel or inn in this dump, is there?"
"Yes… an inn… I can…"
"Don't bother yerself! I can find it just fine!" The girl snapped, and she stomped away again. Suddenly, a yellow piece of paper she had been brandishing fluttered onto the snow. Saiyo hurried – as much as she ever hurried, that is – and picked it up.
"Wai… wait! You dropped…" She glanced down. It was a deed – for the farm on the top of the hill! Saiyo gazed at it mutely.
"Oh – that ain't none of your beeswax," the girl said hastily, snatching it back. "Sheesh! Figures you'd be a nosy little brat!"
"Umm… are you…?"
"I ain't got nuthin' to do with that place! It belongs to me, yeah, but I'm gonna sell it off an' be on my way. Now move, runt!"
"Eh…?"
The girl realised she didn't want to walk back the way she had come, where Saiyo was standing, and actually needed to go the other way. Flushing a little, she turned and stomped onwards without an apology.
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"Whaddaya MEAN, you don't got a room for me?! Don't you want my cash or not?"
"I'm sorreeee, but that's the waay it issss," the boy at the desk trilled. He seemed to be practicing some kind of bizarre accent. "You can take it up with the management…"
"Maybe I will!"
"…or you could, if they were here," the boy finished primly. He examined his nails.
"Urgh… y'mean I hafta stay at that dump?"
"Hmm? Are you, perchaaaaance, the new owner of the farm?"
"Uh… no. Well, yeah – but I ain't no farmer!"
"I see. A reluctant new visitoooor. Wellll thennnn, run along!"
"Treat yer elders with some respect, kid!" The girl bellowed, seizing his shirt collar.
"Ho my!"
"What's your name? I'm gonna report you and get you fired!"
"It's Tomaru Gozou," the boy said quickly, dropping out of his accent. "As in 'The Gozou Family Inn'."
"Huh?"
"My parents own this place, so my job is secured. However, my parents are currently visiting my grandparents – on my father's side – and I have been left in charge. Our two rooms are already booked up… I'm very sorry."
"Two rooms? Two?"
"Yes, it is a little small…" the boy conceded uncomfortably. "Could you let go of me now, please?"
The girl growled and stalked out of the Inn, slamming the door hard behind her. A plant pot fell over undramatically. Tomaru sighed, sucked at his lip for a moment thoughtfully, and then pulled a dirty script out from under the counter. He started to read through it, playing every character in only marginally varied voices, his eyebrows waggling madly.
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The farm wasn't what Aya had been lead to expect. She had been told the buildings were run down, the fields barren, the livestock long gone, the duck pond cluttered and polluted (all right, it still was). But everything – besides the pond – was perfect.
Most of the buildings looked somewhat new, as though they'd been repainted and repaired by someone. A pair of black and white cows were grazing in the field, along with a brown house and three sheep – white as the snow around them, apart from the third, a black one.
A group of three or four chickens and a rooster strutted around the farm as though they owned the place; fences, the gaps between the posts covered with chicken wire, had been set up to stop them going too far.
She let herself in, pushing open the gate and blundering over to the main building. The house where the farmhand, who she was informed now just delivered farm produce to other towns by foot, seemed cold and empty. She walked up to the front door of the larger one and knocked stupidly.
A boy answered it. He looked to be the same age as Aya was, dressed in dungarees and wearing a straw hat. He was clad in thick socks, a pair of his boots dumped clumsily by the front door. His hair was wild but a normal brown colour; as normal, his gaze shot straight to her electric blue hair. He held a riceball in his hand and a mouthful of rice impeded him from speaking for a moment.
"Who're you?" He asked at last, still struggling with the food in his mouth but managing to be sneering and obnoxious.
"I could ask you just the same thing," Aya snapped, already irritated by his manner. "I own this dump! Who'n the heck are you, and whaddaya doin' here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" He replied icily. "I'm farming. And you might have the deed to the farm, but I took the place on since you'd been gone for so long."
"I don't care! Get outta my house!" Aya snarled, and she pushed her way in.
The main room was a complete mess. It was furnished with nice, simple furniture, but covered with cloths to look better. A double bed stood in the corner, unmade – a huge TV set stood beside the bed, blaring across the room too loudly.
Outdated newspapers and magazines, books, heaps of clothes, dirty plates and cups – they all lay everywhere, covering every surface including the floor. The windows hadn't been opened in a long while so the room stank; it hadn't been wiped, dusted or hovered since he'd moved in, it seemed. Aya covered her nose, disgusted.
"What do ya think yer doin' to my property?" She shrieked. "Geddout now, you lazy no good bum!"
"Do you think I'll do that after so long? I'm staying right here, and you've no means to remove me," the boy replied. "Besides which, it's obvious you don't want to be here, City Slicker. If you do have me removed, it will be through stubbornness and spite rather than anything else… isn't that so?"
"No! I got every right ta throw ya off my land. Look what ya did to it!"
"I fixed it up and got it going again. Could you even sustain it without my help?"
"I don't really care – just get out!"
"Why don't you stay in that house over there? It's clean and nobody's using it. And I'm in this one; there's got to be some give and take," he said generously. Then he smirked.
"Oh, that does it!" Aya yelled, snapping. "Get offa my land!"
She tried to push him out the door, possibly kicking him in the shins as she went, but he grabbed her wrists and hurled her backwards first. She landed heavily, grunting, and remained where she fell. The boy closed the door smartly.
"Now listen here," he said coldly. "I don't care what pieces of paper you wave or what things you scream. All girls like you can do is expect others to fix things up for you. Now – I understand that this is your land, and you must be surprised for me to be here; so I'll forgive your attempted physical assault on me."
"I… I had… ev'ry right to –" Aya tried to protest, but the boy kneeled by her side without a word and clapped his hand hard over her mouth. She gasped in surprise and fright.
"But I'm not going anywhere. I'm accustomed to this lifestyle, and as far as I'm concerned, this farm will be wrecked if I give it away again," he continued. "You can move into that house over the way. I will be staying here and continuing to tend the farm. Do you understand, City Slicker? Just nod if you do."
Aya scowled and nodded. She hated this guy so, so much, but he gave off a dangerous aura. She couldn't disagree with him because, well, he was her physical better; he could really hurt her right now. And she couldn't think up an argument anyway, because she was too shocked for words.
"Good. So run along," the boy said, hauling her up unfeelingly and practically slinging her out the door. She barely managed to keep her balance; she turned to look at him and was smacked in the face by a bunch of keys.
"Hey!" She cried weakly, somehow catching them as they dropped.
"You are the landowner, so you'd best have a set of keys. Those are just the spares, anyway, so I really don't mind," he said, going to close the door. Then he stopped and opened it again, as though having an afterthought, and called out to her again. "My name is Toya. It's very inconvenient to meet you."
And he closed the door.
WHAT is going on here? How is that boy managing to worm himself into my farm, and why aren't I doing somethin' about it? Aya wondered, blundering into her new home, shocked. It was sparsely furnished, not that she noticed; she just made sure the door was locked with the key hanging on the hook besides the door – which wasn't on her main set, so she presumed with relief that it was the only one and 'Toya' didn't have a copy.
Then she slumped down on the floor, pressing one hand to her head, and stared in disbelief at the tatami mat beneath her.
What the heck was going on?