Various Pairings
By Kaburu
Based off of Harvest Moon.
- - - - Prologue- - - -
The property of the old man wasn't as it used to be. Those were the boy's thoughts as he stepped onto the land. Well, he wasn't a boy, exactly. His age was roughly around twenty-two. His creamy orangey hair was patted down nervously, making it look messier than it usually did, and his usual sparkling sea blue eyes were uneasy as they looked around. He was startled as he saw the fertile dirt dry and crusted, its top only growing bothersome weeds. It was spring! Surely the land should be flourishing with crops now! And the barn…its paint was peeling, and its barn door was wide open, showing its few contents – a small fodder holder, some stalls, and dirty straw strewn around the ground.
"Arf!" the sudden sound startled the boy, and he spun around, only to see a small brown puppy looking up at him, its tail wagging with excitement. It barked again, panting with happiness. A wide grin spread across the boy's face, and he kneeled down, rubbing the pup's head affectionately.
"Hey! Hey you!" an angry voice sounded from behind him. "You can't just meander over here! This is private property!" he looked over to see an old man waving his cane excessively. His eyes were squinted, and a gray beard was growing on his chin, the same color as the hair on his head and the hair on his thick eyebrows.
"Um…" the boy scratched the nape of his neck sheepishly. "Do you know where Mr. Takeshi is? I came to visit. He stopped writing letters to me a while ago, so I wanted to check up on him." He noticed the old man's angry gaze dropped. Instead, a look of repentance and deplore replaced it.
"Oh, my boy…" he took a step forward. "Surely you do know that Mr. Takeshi died six months ago." The words echoed painfully in the boy's mind. He felt dazed and his heart thumped brutally against his chest.
"He…he did?" the words escaped the boy's mouth. The elder nodded slightly.
"I found his will a couple of days ago in his drawer. It said 'I leave my farm to dearest Hamutaro'…now if only I can find this person…" The boy was stunned.
"Hey, that's me!" he exclaimed. The old man stopped his rambling and looked at him.
"Y-you're Hamutaro?" he asked. "But you're a city boy!" Hamutaro noticed that he was looking at his clothes, which had logos and all these pockets in them.
"I can take the job," Hamutaro frowned determinedly. "I'm not just 'some city boy'…"
"What about your parents?" the elder inquired.
Hamutaro blinked. "I'm an adult. I'm on my own, now." He would work it out with his mom when he contacted her. The old man laughed suddenly, making Hamutaro jump.
"You're a fine young man! I could tell!" he laughed. "This place is yours!"
"Thank you, sir-"
"Please, call me Elder Ham. It kinda matches your name, Hamutaro."
"Well, what about this dog?" Hamutaro asked, seeing the excited little puppy chasing its own tail. Elder Ham smiled, watching the dog for a while before turning back to Hamutaro.
"This was a puppy that wandered to this farm a couple of days ago. I fed him, and he's attached to this place. Would it be any trouble if you could take him?" Hamutaro grinned down at the small dog.
"Sure, Elder Ham," he smoothed down the pup's head, picking it up. "Does he have a name?"
"Well, I call him Brandy."
"Brandy…" Hamutaro murmured, rubbing its back. Elder Ham coughed, checking his watch.
"Oh, dear. I must get back to my home. Please visit sometime, it's next to the grocery shop. Meet my grandson, Noppo-kun, sometime. You can usually find him at his library." He hurried off, leaving him with his dog. Not too long after, a tough looking man came onto his farm. He had messy brown hair, and dark toned skin. His arms were rounded with muscles.
"Who are you?" he asked gruffly, his yellow hard hat swiveling on his head. Hamutaro immediately felt intimidated.
"Um…Mr. Takeshi left this farm to me…and, yeah…I'm going to live here, now…" he muttered nervously. The man looked confused.
"He did?" he asked confusedly. Then he let out a booming laugh. "Well, then welcome! I ship your things, if you don't know, so to earn money, just put nice things into that box over there," he pointed a couple of feet away from him. "You know, eggs and milk and stuff."
"Thanks…"
"Taishou," he answered for him. "The name's Taishou. I'll see you tomorrow, all right?" he asked. Hamutaro nodded, seeing that Taishou was kind.
"Well, make Old Man Takeshi proud!" He yelled over his shoulder. Those were the words that got Hamutaro motivated.
- - - End of Chapter - - -
A/N: Well, here I am with a new story, based off of my favorite games, Harvest Moon! I don't really know if I'll continue with City Life. I don't really know where I'm going with it…
Hamutaro – Hamtaro
Ribon – Bijou
Koushi – Oxnard
Taishou – Boss
Noppo – Maxwell
Torahamu-chan – Sandy
Torahamu-kun – Stan
Mafura – Pashmina
Chibimaru – Penelope
Megane – Dexter
Maidou – Howdy
Panda – Panda
Snoozer – Neteru
Cappy – Kaburu
Tongari – Jingle