On my Own
Various Pairings
By Kaburu
Based off of Harvest Moon.
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He collided with the stranger, immediately falling onto his back. Hamutaro choked out the words, "I'm sorry!" immediately. He didn't want to be on the bad side with anyone. He guessed he expected a stream of cursing to come from the person, but not repeated apologies. Yes, the man was on his knees, picking up scattered books, echoing 'sorries' like there was no tomorrow. Hamutaro quickly got up and helped him collect his belongings. Hamutaro just hope he didn't damage anything.
After a couple of minutes, they both stood up. The man was tall, and also skinny. A messy bunch of brown hair rested on his head, while a crooked pair of reading glasses were perched on his nose. "I-I'm sorry," he said breathlessly. His arms were full of books again. Hamutaro felt a bit guilty.
"I hope I didn't damage anything," He looked up. The man looked surprised, but his face grew into one big smile. "Oh...these?" he asked. "Oh, these are old, so they could handle a few more beatings. Not valuable, either. So no harm done." He studied Hamutaro suddenly, making him feel uncomfortable. "Say, I've never seen you before."
"Oh, I took over Mr. Takeshi's farm," Hamutaro said hurriedly. "My name's Hamutaro."
"Hamutaro...hm..well, Takeshi-san was an extremely helpful man. It's just a shame about what happened to him..." his ocean-blue eyes got a faraway look, but then they snapped back to normal. "Oh, I'm Noppo, by the way."
"Noppo?" Hamutaro asked. "Oh, okay."
"Visit me in the library, okay?" Noppo asked cheerfully. "I'll be glad to see you there."
"Okay," Hamutaro gave him a charming smile, then they went their own ways, with Hamutaro heading towards the small flat building, where a homey roof smugly rested over it. A small wooden sign hung from the small stick hanging out of the wall. It was shaped like a fruit basket. He entered. "Hello, welcome to the store, how may I help you?" A voice sounded from inside, The words sounded tired, and like they were repeated many times before. "Hey, dude, I've never seen you here before!" Now they didn't. He came in contact with a handsome boy about Hamutaro's age with sandy yellow hair. He had brown bangs, and he wore a sleeveless green shirt with an apron, along with two black wristbands. His charming cerulean eyes glittered.
"Oh, hi," Hamutaro shrugged, a little intimidated by the boy's arupt statement. "...I'm new."
"Oh, cool! What's your name, Red?"
"Erm, Hamutaro."
"That's awesome!" the boy looked pleased. "I'm Torahamu-kun, by the way!" He turned. "Nee-chan! Sis! We have a new guy in town!" A girl flounced down from the second floor. Her features, to Hamutaro's surprise, was not that different from her brother's. She had the same colored hair that grew to the nape of her neck, but she had mischevious green eyes. Her skin color was a bit more fair than her brother's, but overall, they looked very similar. But in her fist, a long stick was held, a long pink ribbon flowing out of it.
"...are you..."
"Yeah, we're twins!" the girl chirped. "I'm Torahamu-chan! This is my brother."
"Urm, yeah, I could tell," Hamutaro laughed nervously. Torahamu-kun turned to his sister. "His name's Hamutaro, sis."
"Cool! We're in charge here till next week, since, like, out parents are out of town," she smiled. "What do'ya need?"
"Oh...a friend, Mafura-chan, told me that I could buy seeds here..." Torahamu-chan brightened.
"Mafura-chan? Okay, you're, like, now officially a special customer!" she pulled his arm suddenly inside, and ignoring his discomfort, led him to a small wooden table in the front of the room. "Here ya are, Hamutaro-kun!" Several small boxes were placed neatly around the table, many packets filling them up. "It's only Spring, so we have the selections for this season. Cabbage, potato, turnips..." she twirled around some more. She was really energetic. "Take yer pick, like, and take your time! And I think we have strawberries and cucumbers around here, too..." She dug around. "Oh, here."
"Thanks, Torahamu-chan...Torahamu-kun," he added to the drowsy boy behind him. "I'll take these..." he held up a strawberry packet, along with a potato and cucumber. He picked up turnips, too.
"Okay, that totals to..." she added it up quickly in her head. "...750 gold!" Hamutaro shuffled around in his pockets, and found enough. He handed it to her. Ookay. 300 gold left, along with 1200 gold in my box under his bed...I hope I can actually earn a living! he thought worriedly.
"Hey, see ya later, dude..." Torahamu-kun called to him as he headed out. Hamutaro pondered a bit. He seemed so sad...maybe he doesn't like it here. Oh well, have to get to work...He arrived at his (boy, did it feel good to say that) farm soon. He grabbed his hoe and watering can.
And an hour later, Hamutaro was tired. He had conqured ten small squares in a satisfying pattern, but it wasn't enough. If one packet could sustain four squares...sigh. Six more to go.
"Do you need help?"
The voice was soft, like a piece of beautifully flowing music. Hamutaro looked up, surprised. A girl stood there, and by her body shape, she was Hamutaro's age. Her skin was a creamy peach, and her eyes were a sparkling emerald. She had bleached hair, shining and tied neatly into a long ponytail with two silky blue ribbons. The girl wore a comfortable pair of loose jeans and a velvety white tank top. Every inch of her represented kindness.
"Um..." Hamutaro smiled. "You don't need to. I don't want you to get your clothes dirty."
"Oh, these are pretty old," the girl laughed. "I just take good care of my clothes, that is all. Anyway, I insist to help." Hamutaro's smile remained, admiring the girl's determination.
"Okay..."
"Ribon. And you?"
"Hamutaro."
"Okay, Hamutaro-kun, I'll start planting some of your seeds. And you know, the best way is to press your finger slightly through the dirt, and put a few seeds in each small dent."
"How'd you know that?" Hamutaro looked down at her. Ribon gave him a small, sad smile.
"Mr. Takeshi. I came here a lot since I was young," her eyes went slightly cloudy. Like Noppo's, Hamutaro thought. "...he thought me a lot of secret things. Well, like what times most cows like to be fed, and how much you should feed the chickens...and plants, too. He also knew how much sunlight every one of them needed. He was amazing."...here." She stood up, admiring her neat work. Hamutaro envied how she planted.
"I can take it from here, Ribon-chan," Hamutaro smiled. "Thanks a lot for your help. I'm not that used to farm life, yet."
"You will soon...I can feel it," Ribon teased, gathering her messenger bag. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"All right...see you." Then, she left, a small chortling going through her heart, unceasing.
Why did Ribon-chan's heart feel so much warmer after her visit?
- - - A/N: - - -
Sorry if it was too dull/short. I didn't update in a long time, so I decided to stop there. (: I never have much time to update. And I'm still introducing characters, along with Ribon-chan. And by the way, I finally have the fourth Hamutaro movie. It was cute, but it could have been a bit better. And I was disappointed to see that the Mini-hamuzu group did not appear - instead, the main (nerdy) character came out and sang. She didn't sing badly, but the way she moved and looked was pretty weird. But for one part, before the theme (or during), Kaburu-kun and Ribon-chan came out in a bride and groom costume. Pretty funny. Maybe I'll consider writing about that non-canon pairing sometime...but know me, I like practically any pairing in Hamutaro, from MafuraxKoushi to NoppoxRibon.
,and for anyone who knows, is Lapis-chan and Lazuli-chan permenent Hamu-chans? 'Cause I don't really like them...they just don't fit in, and they just don't look...normal as Hamu-chans. oO Probably their hair. Oh well...