A/N: Double post today, since I wanted to give it a good head start….Next Chapter will be in a handful of hours…

The Pebbles Underfoot
Chapter 2

A long day in the fields were coming to an end, the day just as tiring as it was rewarding. Life in the village was usually rather quiet, but, there were occasions when ruckus stirred up. Akane watched from her place, rocking her infant son back and forth. The little boy was nodding off, but she paid no mind to that.

Her eyes were focused on watching her trouble making daughters. They were harassing the chickens again.

"They are restless, aren't they?" Shizuru said with a small laugh as she leaned over to prod the evening fire.

"Hmm." Akane agreed. "They can be."

The sun, casting a molten hue in the sky provided very little light. The light from the roaring fire flickered over the faces of those who sat near the circle. The heat licked at all of them, chasing away the cool night air. All of them were villagers that had nothing better to do but to pass the time. "If it is any consolation, it could be worse, I believe."

"How so?" A man to Akane's right -her husband- asked.

Crimson eyes twinkled in amusement. "They could be harassing my father's bull again."

"Ah," the man laughed. "Could be… Could be indeed!"

"That bull's a lucky one…" Akane agreed.

"That old rooster of yours too." Shizuru said while nodding in the direction of the coup.

"Doesn't look too lucky at the moment, though." Reito said from his place, emptying his sake cup. "Ah, the plight of a strapping young man. Always a gaggle of girls to follow them."

"As excitable as they are, it's about time they found themselves tucked into bed for the night." Akane told him, as she handed the boy over to her husband. "Kazuya, take him inside, would you?"

Shizuru righted herself from her place, offering a small bow. "I should be heading home too, really."

"Ah, well if you're to be off, perhaps I should accompany you." Reito said as he too stood up from his place, fixing the swords at his side as he did so.

"It would be an imposition." Shizuru concluded, though she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"It wouldn't be in the slightest." He told her, as they began their walk side by side.

"If you insist…"

"Oh, but I do, and I doubt there's anything you can say to dissuade me."

"I'm sure I can think of quite a few things." Shizuru told him.

They shared a laugh at that.

He was an honest man, tall and slender. As a swordsman, and part of the village guard, he was the kind of respectable young man a person would want to marry. Strangely though, Shizuru had never found herself attracted in such a way to him. Even if he was the most eligible young man she'd ever come across, she thought of Reito as only a good friend and nothing more.

"I enjoy your company very much." Reito replied to her, dark eyes gentle as he glanced to the side.

The two of them rounded the bend in the dirt road that took them into the heart of the village. Shizuru's home was well away from such a place, and their short journey brought them beyond a few trees and plenty of open grass. The local children tended to play there. The hill was a simple one to climb, the stairs swept and tended to every single day. However, once atop the small summit, there was sights to behold from all around.

"Ah, the village seems tranquil from up here." Reito said once they stopped to take a look around.

"Isn't it always?" She asked him, but he merely shook his head.

"To me, less tranquil than most." He gave a happy little smile. "Part of a guard's duty, I suspect." It was still barley season, and he could see the field, where young barley grew green and plentiful. "It's nice to have a moment to ourselves."

"Is anything wrong?" Shizuru asked, placing a hand on his forearm. "You seem troubled, Reito."

"Do I?"

"Very."

He turned to her. "It is not that I am troubled." Reito said then, as he gently took her hand in his. "It is that I'm finally at peace. You ease me greatly, you know. It would be nice if I had your company to myself more often."

Shizuru forced a smile, finding it quite difficult. "Companionship is an easy thing to offer you."

"Has your father decided?" Reito asked as he lifted his hand to gently caressed Shizuru's cheek. He noticed her flinch ever so slightly, and put his hand back down.

"He has not." Shizuru partially hoped that her father would never decide, as Shizuru herself had no desire for a husband. "I am no more promised to you, as I am anyone else in this village surely, so you can understand."

"Ah, say no more." Reito smiled gently, as he brushed away the small twinge of pain he felt. "It was improper of me to show you such attention when you are not even promised to me. It must be hard for you, I apologize."

Shizuru could only sigh. "He means well…"

"I know that he does." Reito murmured as they began to walk once more. "Shizuru…I…" He sighed the words at the tip of his tongue. He nipped on them, chomping them at the bit. It would be too inappropriate to say.

Shizuru merely smiled. "I know, Reito."

They reached the front of Shizuru's home, where they bid each other good night, and she watched as he began to his own home. He had quite a walk, because it was on the other side of the village. He was a good man, a strong one, and she knew she should have no problem being married to him, but something in her gut lurched when she even thought of it.

She sat outside a little while longer, watching as the woman from the bottom of the hill exited her home to draw some drinking water from the well. She did it every night around this time, and every night she scurried back into her home without delay. The home at the bottom of the hill, like most other houses in the area sported a planked roof, with sturdy wooden walls. Even from the distance, she could spot the cooking fire within, setting the small windows aglow.

Knowing it was time for her to go inside as well, Shizuru turned to her own door, one made with matted bamboo. Inside the entry led directly into the main living area, where her mother's own fire warmed the house splendidly.

"Would you like me to tend the fire?" She asked her mother, but the aging woman shook her head.

"It's all right." The woman said as she sat at the table. "Did you enjoy your evening?"

"Akane needed help with the sewing." Shizuru told her mother as she too sat down. "Kazuya tends to be hard on his kosode."

The woman was graying out, her eyes a gentle brown, a color so unlike Shizuru's own crimson. With wisdom that only came of age, the woman shrugged. "That's the way men are." She meandered over to the window to close it. "Speaking of the whims of men, did you know that you've caught the eye of another suitor?"

Shizuru sighed deeply. Of course she had. "Another? That must be so troublesome. No, it never crossed my mind."

"Your father is in his glory." The woman said with a laugh. "You know how he titters on."

"That I do, mother." Shizuru muttered as she eyed the sleeping room door with a frown. "That I do."