In My Life

Well, here's the next part. Enjoy!

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Somehow, Makoto has been caught up in meeting every last lunatic villager, the last thing he wanted to begin doing. Everyone had to get a load him, stopping all work just to stare him down at the first encounter.

Saibara, the grumpy, chrome-domed old Blacksmith, muttered something about how Mineral Town had just gotten another Gray. Gray stood in the corner, and deliberately burnt his hand on the smelting iron.

"Boy," Saibara began. "Watch your crappy piece of work next time, eh?"

Makoto looked over at Gray, and Gray made a gagging motion as he pointed at Saibara. Makoto feigned not paying attention to Gray, but turned and nodded when the grouchy Saibara got back to work.

"Are you just going to stand there all day, Ogawa?" Saibara finally asked gruffly, turning back to the counter.

"I do want to get new tools," Makoto quickly replied, dumping all his tools from the rucksack onto the counter. Saibara clanked around behind his counter, oscillating from watching Gray coldly to sifting through some ores and back again. Makoto waited, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. Saibara finally turned back to the counter, letting out a somewhat acknowledging grunt at the sight of the useless tools that were sprawled all over his workspace. He looked up at Makoto, his little beady eyes still steady on his face.

 "How did you clear the field with these pieces of rusted crap?"

Makoto shrugged.

"Guerrilla training?"

Saibara gave him a disapproving stare.

"Boy, you're a…"

He decided to stop.

"How did you clear the field so quickly, anyhow?"

Makoto leaned in, and ever so Makoto-like he said:

"I don't sleep."

It was true. In five days since the festival, Makoto had weeded out the entire farm, stored away every little branch for firewood in the winter, took all the rocks and used them to line a hole in the ground that might have been a pond at one point before over flooding in a hurricane over the summer and drying up in the drought, planted a decent share of crops, and tuned the old piano in the house.

His thin frame denoted that he couldn't possibly do all that work by himself. No one could! Saibara stroked his long, white beard for a moment, giving Makoto a cold stare.

"I appreciate a hard worker. Nice to meet you."

Makoto reached forward and formally shook his hand one-handily.

"You have no social skills, though," Saibara grunted. He jerked a thumb in Gray's direction. "Too much like the boy."

Makoto looked over at Gray again, who was making another gagging motion with his finger practically jammed into his tonsils.

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"I heard you cleared the entire place out in five days!"

Makoto was talking to a little old man named Barley at the entrance of the Yodel Ranch. He wasn't so much little, but his hunched over stature made it seem that way. He wore practically opaque little glasses and a bald head that might have been able to fry eggs on a hot day. Looking rather comfortable in his flip-flops, he leaned onto the fence-post as he finally got to speak with Makoto.

"Yeah."

"Heh… I remember when I was able to do that hefty amount of physical work." Barley chuckled a bit, and returned to Makoto with a warm smile. "But alas, those days are long gone. I can't even ride Baboon in the Horse Race anymore." The Yodel Ranch was home to many cows, sheep, and…

Makoto looked over, and there was a monstrous horse with a wild mane glaring at him from the stable. He turned back to Barley, whose face light up like a light bulb. Makoto quickly turned away again.

"Makoto, you don't weigh too much, eh?"

"Barely 160…" Makoto sighed.

"You could be a jockey in this year's horse race for me."

Makoto tried to swallow the next question, but choked it out.

"Aren't I a little tall?"

"That has nothing to do with it, my boy," Barley replied with a slick smile.

Makoto let out a sigh once more, and from behind him came a quick giggle. He turned, and saw a little black-haired girl, clad in an adorable red dress and boots to match her hair, tied in two loose braids. Her dark eyes gleamed as she looked up at Makoto.

"I'm May!" she declared with a cute smile. "Who are you?"

Barley smiled, knowing Makoto's tendencies.

"This is Makoto, the boy who works at the farm down the road."

May gave Makoto a smile in return.

"Oh! I saw you at the Goddess Festival!" she exclaimed, her ecstasy climbing. "Next year dance with me, okay Makoto?"

Makoto looked down at little May, giving her an acknowledging shrug.

"I'm sure I won't have to reserve a dance anyway…"

May didn't quite get the response, but she smiled anyway.

"I can't wait! Come back again soon!"

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The constable of Mineral Town didn't seem to have an all too thrilling job, but still, he heard about Makoto in the bar last week. Now was the chance to finally meet him, approaching him as he worked to harvest a decent load of turnips. The constable waited anxiously as Makoto didn't acknowledge him, turning to his work. Finally, the constable deliberately cleared his throat, jarring Makoto's concentration. The boy looked up to see the Fred Astaire look-alike, and gave him the trademark eyebrow arch.

Tilting the brim of his navy hat over his large nose to shield out the noontime sun, the constable kept his eye on Makoto. Makoto waited for him to talk, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

"Makoto Ogawa, is it?" the constable began. "I'm Officer Harris, the constable of this town."

Makoto nodded.

"Something clued me in," he replied. Harris sort of nodded in response, titling his hat again.

"Anyway, it's my duty to keep this town safe."

Makoto sighed, and looked away.

"Better give me the death sentence."

Harris was definitely taken aback, lifting the brim of his hat to give Makoto an overtly dirty glare. Makoto didn't back down, so they stood there. They stood there at about the same height, staring until Makoto decided to turn away.

"Well anyway, I gotta get back to work, Officer."

"I guess you do, Makoto."

And with that, Harris gave his hat a formal tip, and went about his duty.

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Pastor Carter was the strange priest who lived, supposedly, in the basement of the church. Makoto found himself walking past the church on an afternoon walk after purchasing some seeds, stopping to stare at the blond priest in the graveyard. The priest seemed to have been there for hours, staring solemnly at the headstones that were scattered through the small plot of land. He looked past the priest and saw where the old man was buried, underneath a simple, stony gray tombstone. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he wondered if he was going to get caught in a conversation with the crazy man in the graveyard. The blond priest turned around, his short hair parted over and into his golden eyes. He smiled at Makoto, and initiated a conversation.

"Why, hello there, newcomer!" he shouted, waving his right arm in Makoto's direction. "What brings you here today?"

Makoto shrugged, muddling in talking to this wacko too.

"Not quite sure…" he mumbled, wanting to turn away.

"Speak up, lad!"

"I'M NOT SURE!!" Makoto shouted. He sighed a bit. Too loud for him.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK??"

"NO, BUT I'M SURE YOU'RE GONNA ROPE ME INTO TALKING!!"

"GOOD!! LET'S COME INSIDE!!"

"MIGHT AS WELL KILL A PRETTY MINUTE!!"

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The church seemed to not need any lighting as it basked inside and out in the setting afternoon sun. There weren't too many pews, and the church wasn't too terribly large, but it gave off a sense of security. Candles took a vigil along the right side wall, next to a dusty organ. Carter's podium stood front and center, being neither elevated nor a shield, just an ordinary oak stand.

Carter turned to Makoto in front of the podium, arms open. Makoto waited for Carter to initiate what he knew to be a long conversation. Carter seemed rather comfortable, and began.

"Makoto, what is it that you want?"

Makoto sighed. He didn't expect to intercept such a bizarre question.

"Well, I guess I wanted to get out of combat duty, and then I guess I wanted to find the old man. Now that I've handled both things… I…"

Carter nodded.

"I guess you don't know what to do." He bit his lip a bit, and took a step back to be closer to Makoto.

In front of them, light danced its way into the church through colorful glass confetti, greens, blues, jades, turquoises, and whites. The confetti coalesced into the image of a woman that transcended beauty in her statuesque pose, long green hair draped over the finest skin.

"I don't know what I want…" Makoto sighed.

Carter grinned, letting loose a quick chuckle.

"How about the Harvest Goddess?" he quipped, giving a quick nod to the woman in the window. He looked over at Makoto with a flash of a grin. Makoto stared back, eyebrow arched. He decided to take a test at his own humor.

"What a sense of humor…" he sighed.

Carter chuckled in reply. Nodding a bit, he shifted back into seriousness.

"But seriously, you don't know what you want, eh?"

"You catch on quick," Makoto said with a shove of his hands into his pockets. He sighed, biding his time. He finally continued. "I guess I just want to get the farm back up to par within my time limit. Then I'm up and out. I'm not too interested in staying much longer."

Carter nodded. Then he turned to Makoto again. Makoto turned to look at him, wondering what he was going to say next. Carter gave him a warm smile.

"I heard that you've been here before as a kid, Makoto," he said gently. "Did you like the town back then?"

Makoto nodded.

"Yeah, because I didn't meet the rest of the lunatics," he replied. He paused for a moment to take a quick look at Carter, turning back to empty air. "Well… umm… excluding you with the lunatic thing…"

Carter nodded, still wearing his smile.

"I'm sorry," Makoto continued, his eyes cold. "I hate it here."

"You've had it tough these first couple days," Carter replied, biting his lip again.

Makoto took a deep breath, preparing to let something loose as brought his arms up and slapped back onto his thighs.

"I just wanted to find the old man. No go. So I'm stuck. I don't even know why he wanted me to take over the farm." A solemn look hovered in his eyes as he stared at Carter.

"He wanted you to be happy here," Carter said. "Makoto, do you remember an old friend from years ago?"

"A little girl," Makoto sighed. "I remember her… but I don't."

"I understand," Carter nodded. "It would be nice to find her again."

"It would be," Makoto replied. He turned away for a moment to find the words. "It would be perfect. It would be like a… a fairy tale!" He stopped to look back at Carter. "But… no." He folded his arms over his chest.

"I see…" Carter muddled with a nod. He looked into Makoto's solemn eyes. "One day, you'll know what you want. But for now, just know that nothing you do here will be pointless." He smiled. "After all, taking on that farm is quite a hefty task. You have my support, and you'll be in my prayers."

And with that, Makoto headed for the giant doors as Carter headed to his podium to wrap something or another up. As Makoto reached for the handle of the door, he turned around.

"Thanks, Pastor," he said softly.

Carter nodded.

"No problem, Makoto."

Makoto reached for the door handle once again, just to be cut short once again.

"Oh, and Carter is just fine!"

Makoto nodded to himself briefly, turning to look at Carter once again. He didn't seem like a regular guy, that was for sure. But alas, he was.

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Makoto returned to his farm for the second round of crop planting. While the cucumbers weren't quite ready to go, the turnips and the potatoes came and went in record time. Fortunately, Makoto's farming was the one thing going right in town.

Makoto turned suddenly, and there was a familiar man standing far at the entrance of his farm. Giving him a squint, Makoto made out a wide brimmed hat and a large hiker's bag. The distinguishable trademarks of Basil, the town botanist.

"HELLO THERE MAKOTO!! CAN WE HAVE A CHAT?"

Makoto nodded, giving the cue for Basil to do as he wished. Basil took it as an invitation to come on over, stopping in front of Makoto as the farmer turned to see what the botanist had wanted. He took off his hat, his matted, sweaty boyish brown hair sticking to his forehead.

"I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Basil, the town botanist."

Makoto nodded.

"Yeah, you were at the festival," he replied with an underlying tone of bitterness. Basil didn't seem to pick up on it, and continued with the replacement of his hat.

"I just wanted to come by and see how your crops were doing."

Makoto held up a bag of turnip seeds.

"Quite well, actually. I just finished one harvest, and they didn't come out half bad." He shook the bag a bit. "So I'm off to plant this batch."

"Good, good," Basil replied. "I'd like to see next time,"

Makoto motioned to his cucumbers.

"You can see those, if you want," he said. "I'm gonna do some work."

Basil nodded, taking up the invitation to examine Makoto's cucumbers. Makoto went back to his planting, poking little holes in the soil with his long, graceful fingers. As the sun continued its westward trek across the sky, Basil got up from the cucumbers.

"They look great!" he announced with a grin. He turned to Makoto. "Makoto! I think I'd like to write a book on your farm!"           

Makoto turned to Basil.

"That'd be great…" he began. "But this isn't my farm. It's the old man's."

Basil, once again, didn't quite know what to make of Makoto. He sort of nodded, his brain boggled.

"Never mind," Makoto shot in.

Basil reeled back, and thought of something to say.

"Hey, Makoto," he began. "Would you like me to take you to find some great plants to forage? It'll make you some good cash on the side." He paused. "After all, this farm needs quite a bit of work, so every piece of gold you make counts."

"Cash sounds good," Makoto agreed with a nod.

Basil let out a hardy laugh.

"Good, good!" he exclaimed. "How's tomorrow sound?" He looked over at Makoto. "Unless tomorrow, you have some Valentine's Day plans…"

Makoto arched an eyebrow.

"You've got a twisted sense of humor."

Basil laughed again.      

"Tomorrow it is! Be ready early, Makoto!"

"Carter tried to ring a lot out of me. Well, he did ring more out of me than anyone else managed too. I really hope I can get this farm fixed up soon enough to leave."

-From Makoto's Journal

Basil arrived on cue at the crack of dawn that morning. Makoto, actually with a decent two hours of sleep after watering, planting, and more watering, stood ready at the porch with his knapsack slung over his aching shoulder. He waited for Basil to fully trek past the faded red mailbox and past the shipping bin, all the way to the unwelcome area outside of the porch.

"So, are we ready to go?" Basil asked, completely recharged. He was all too cheery for Makoto.

Makoto gave him a quick nod, gripping his bag with his right hand as he shot off the porch and past Basil.

"Sure, whatever," he replied, walking up ahead. Basil stood there for a moment before grabbing his own bag with both hands and running to catch up to Makoto.

Makoto stopped for a moment to wait for Basil. He just wanted to get away from the town as fast as possible.

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They hiked all morning up the twist and turns of the forest path of Mother's Hill, past the Goddess Pond that was overlooked by a fairly high cliff and past an old log cabin. A grizzly man was chopping wood outside the cabin, stopping to give the two hikers a quick nod as they walked past.

"Be careful on the mountain!" the man shouted from behind them in a gruff voice. Basil flashed the man a quick thumbs-up from behind his back as he and Makoto kept walking. The grizzly man returned to his chopping, which still rang out for long distances away.

Basil carried on, with Makoto following behind. Occasionally, Basil stopped and pointed at some kind of red four-leaf clover weed grass thing, with Makoto just standing there as he watched the botanist crouch down to pick it out of the ground. Basil handed each find to Makoto for a hefty profit, and the finds were beginning to build up into what could become some good wallet liners. It was all good, even if Makoto had to listen to Basil carry on about the classification of each type of weed.

After all, it was better than being in the village.

They finally came to a group of healthy looking plants that overlooked the Goddess Pond and the hot spring from the edge of the cliff. Basil trekked out to start foraging, leaving Makoto behind.

"Err… Basil?" Makoto began.

Basil cocked his head to Makoto.

"What is it?"

Makoto sighed.

"Just don't lose your footing," he warned Basil.

Basil let loose another trademark laugh of his.

"Nah, don't worry about that!" he declared jauntily. "I won't fall!"

So he stepped to the edge of the cliff to grab the prettiest prize to forage. The largest weedy-mabob stood full of pride in the soil, shining with rarity. As he inched closer and ever so closer to his beauty, he began to squat down and reach out for it.

"You're mine…" he grinned to himself, his large hand stretched.

He grabbed the plant, giving it a firm tug. It retaliated with resistance, digging its roots into the ground and refusing to leave the safety of the soil.

"C'mon… you little bastard…" he groaned through gritted teeth. Makoto came up several feet behind him, standing to watch. Basil shifted his weight to the left side as he gave the plant one last tug. As he tore the roots from the ground, he toppled over his own feet with a quick yelp.

"Basil!!" Makoto hissed, jumping forward to grab Basil's right wrist. As Basil was suspended in midair, he gave Makoto a quick, pained grin.

"Don't worry now, Makoto…" he groaned, trying to remain calm. A bead of sweat dribbled down from his brow and over his right eye.

Makoto nodded, and gave Basil a quick tug. Basil touched his feet to the cliff and managed to regain a bit of soil underneath him before Makoto gave him another tug. The tug backfired, and while Basil managed to jump back on the cliff, Makoto flipped forwards with his light body.

Basil quickly spun around in an attempt to grab Makoto, coming up with a pocket of air in his left fist. The boy fell without a yell, Basil cringing with the feeling of his intestines inverting as he heard the inevitable sickening, heart-wrenching thud.

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Hope you enjoyed the ending to this chapter! Now what?

If anyone else wants to say who they think Makoto might end up with, (yes, he will, read the lyrics) then go ahead!

Here's a clue. Some hints in the story add up.