Chapter Four
He wasn't a morning person. Not at all. And it was so early that it barely qualified as neither night nor morning, but that expanse of time inbetween.
But the rats had woken him with a warning of the first impending chill of the season. And that meant action, or his garden would cease to exist. So the prince bumbled out of bed by the prodding of his rodent affinities, reading his alarm clock twice before comprehending the blinking number: 4:48, 4:48, 4:48.... He blinked twice, and after a pause, stepped into his house slippers. They did little to soften his clumsy footsteps when he bumbled downstairs.
The stars were still twinkling in the wide purple sky as he ventured outdoors.
A powder-dust thicket of frost crunched underneath his bare feet. The sting of the cold wind bit at his bare arms sharply. Yuki blinked slowly, realizing that he ought to wear a jacket, lest he freeze before arriving at his base. He turned around to face the screen door - and to his utter surprise, Honda-san stood in the place where the open door had been.
"Ohayo, Sohma-kun!" she smiled cheerfully. Yuki didn't have the energy to grunt her a reply, but managed to nod his head slightly. His head reeled with questions until at last he could pick out the most troubling of the bunch. He opened his mouth in an experimental fashion.
"Honda-san," he said, surprised at the coherence of his own voice, "Why are you up so early?"
The brunette girl brightened, as if she had been patiently awaiting this question.
"I saw you going outside, so, I had to get a jacket for you. In case you got cold and your asthma acted up, and then you became sick like Kyo-kun..." She suddenly grinned. "Oh, Sohma-kun, you're not wearing any shoes either!"
Yuki smiled. But his was darker, somehow; more of bitterness than her joy in playing the role of a mother to him, at this moment. The role of a nurse, to Kyou. "Ah. Is that why you woke, then? To take care of him."
"Ah... Hai?" asked the girl, clearly agreeing though she had no clue what Yuki was talking about. He tried again.
"About the cat, I mean. Were you tending to him this morning? Is he getting... better?"
Understanding dawned on her face. "Hai! He woke up cold this morning. But tomorrow he will be well, because of the soup you made him..."
"Honda-san, I believe you were responsible for making that soup."
She blushed at his sudden praise.
"I don't know about that! I made the soup but it would not have made him better had you not added your shungiku," Honda-san declared triumphantly. She stepped towards Yuki-kun and put the jacket into his arms.
"Put it on, Sohma-kun. We need to go to the garden and work very hard desu, since the ground is so cold now."
Yuki quickly pulled the jacket on, and looked at Tohru without really seeing her.
"Thank you," he said.
She laughed easily.
"Oh, it was nothing! The jacket was in the closet right nearby!"
Yuki shook his head and they began to walk to the garden together, with only one of them wearing shoes.
"Look, Sohma-kun, the raddishes!"
Yuki turned from the Chinese cabbage and watched as Tohru beamed at the state of her turnips. Their heads had sprouted and grown with the appearance of health, but to see the uprooted vegetables filled him with an uncharacteristic satisfaction. The dark raddishes twisted at its' roots and damp earth clung to it in many places. A perfect creation, nurtured and now complete. Pride swelled up in his chest as he took in the sight of a job that he'd done well - not because of who he was or a vengeful spirit, but because of his hard work and his constant care. The contentment of his garden was still here, even if dampened by an outsider and a harsh attempt at frost.
An hour had passed and 6:00 was fast approaching. He felt a sheen of perspiration on his forehead, and wiped it off with the back of his hand. He had just harvested the rest of the shungiku and the mustard greens. Tohru was nearly done with carefully extracting the raddishes from the fertile soil. Next would come half of the Chinese cabbage, just to be careful. A second frost could become a problem for those...
"Will we have time to cut back the garden now?" Tohru asked, suddenly. "Ah- Ah- I mean... I'm sorry! I just realized that it's nearly time for me to start breakfast. I'm sorry. That was selfish of me to say..."
"It's alright," replied Yuki, neutrally. "You can go. I'll be bringing these inside. And this afternoon we can harvest the snow peas and broccoli. We'll cut them back when there is more time."
"Thank you, Sohma-kun!" Tohru exclaimed, and jumped up with obvious relief. "It would be awful if Shigure-san got his Sunday breakfast late, I would... Oh!"
Yuki looked up as he realized that the girl had left her sentence trailing by accident.
"Honda-san? What is it?"
"Ano, there are some weeds, Sohma-kun!" she looked up at him with worried eyes. "There are many of them!"
Yuki shot up, startled. He'd just weeded two days ago! How could there be that large of an infiltration? Was it a fungus that he'd somehow overlooked? How had he allowed himself to become so distracted? He rose up and for once, didn't bother to wipe the dirt that had accumulated on his pant legs.
"Where are they, Honda-san?" he asked, his voice surprised but adamant. "Show me."
Tohru pointed to a clump of irregular greens. Yuki came up to her side with his lips set in a tight line.
"So, umm..." Tohru trailed off.
"Don't worry about those," he said shortly, before turning around and returning to the cabbage.
After the moment's shock, Tohru tried to warn Yuki again. "Hai, Hai, but there are clumps of the weed scattered all about this left side, Sohma-kun! They look healthy desu. What if they start taking over the mustard greens...? That would be terrible!"
"Honda-san," Yuki said politely, his back turned from her. "I planted those 'weeds' on purpose."
"Oh!" she exclaimed. Another embarassed flush spread across her cheekbones. "They do look unusual, really! I'm so sorry for mistaking them for weeds-"
"It's alright," the prince nodded at her. "They look unusual because Nepeta Cateria is from North America, not Japan."
"Ne-pi-ta Ca-te-li-a?" she asked, fascinated, "Hmmm... I don't think I remember you telling me about it before!"
"Oh, I..."
"So what is it, Sohma-kun? I mean, what does it do? Haha."
"It..." He stood, rigid. Without meaning to, his hand reached for the pocket where he had put the 'weed' yesterday. "It has many traditional uses," Yuki told her, bending down to gather two cabbages into a basket. "For example, it is an effective meat tenderizer. It is often used as a yellow dye."
"Oh, that's amazing! And what a beautiful plant, too," Honda-san cooed.
Yuki looked at her and couldn't help feeling warmer. At that very moment, the dawn broke open in a downpour of gold.