Disclaimer: I do not own GS or its characters.

Chapter 3

Early friendship

~Blue Periwinkle

Yzak's wonderful and fit-less sleep was chased away by the persistent crowing of the roosters at the farm. He felt cured and he slept peacefully with the help of the warm ball of fur lounging on his growling stomach. He just remembered he hasn't eaten a proper meal since yesterday but his indolence was calling out to him. The bed was perfectly warm and the cool breeze outside permeated the room, making Yzak curl up on his bed.

The sleek black feline's ears perked up. Quickly she jumped from the bed and gracefully landed on the cold wooden floorboards. Walking with an air of importance, she stopped in front of the door and glanced back at Yzak. It seemed it was beckoning him to open the door.

Stretching his dormant muscles, Yzak bended his upper body back and forth on the bed, stretching his arms as he stood up. The floor felt chilly and it jolted him awake, striding towards the waiting cat, he grabbed the door knob and opened the door. He was then startled by the deep set of amethyst eyes that reflected his image. The person broke eye contact and looked down at her feet.

"Isis!" Shiho scolded her cat as it slinked down the stairs. The black cat ignored her. "Good morning, I hope you're feeling better now. I'll be taking the cup and saucer. You should go down, we are having breakfast." She light-heartedly said and excused herself as she went inside the room. "And another thing, before you go downstairs, please arrange your bed." Shiho reminded as she left him alone in his cold room again.

Yzak trailed his eyes at the woman as she left his room and closed the door. He looked at his bed and shrugged his shoulders. Trotting downstairs and into the kitchen, he was still dazed with the early morning conversation with the amethyst eyed woman, he concurred. He was definitely not a morning person, still.

Breakfast was definitely served well. The kitchen was filled with the sweet smell of honey and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Stacked pancakes oozing with maple syrup, freshly baked bread and a plateful of crispy bacon and sunny-side ups filled the wooden table. A bunch of freshly picked buttercups was placed in a glass vase livening up the whole surroundings, giving the kitchen a fresh and sunny look. The windows were all being opened by Leon and the curtains were drawn to let the morning light seep in. Yzak heard Leon say something about Vitamin D is good for the skin. Yzak, you especially need it.

With a loud and strong voice, Leon greeted Yzak a good morning then went on changing the topic to whether or not he was already fine to be out of the bed and moving. Yzak just nodded his head along, not used to the warm atmosphere the family conveying to him. At his own home, he would wake up in his own time, liking and accord. His room will be still, cold and dark. The maids greet him with uncaring voices and served him his breakfast or lunch or dinner in the dining room where he ate alone with the company of a dozen unmanned chairs. Instead of a homey feel, the mansion gave a constricting atmosphere with its large interior and elegant furnish. Unlike now, sitting in the small kitchen, spending the busy morning with a family, he left this was how mornings should be spent.

Shiho, then joined in the kitchen, in her arms was the black cat who accompanied him in his sickness. She placed her down and called her over to a bowl of milk and a bowl of catnips. Sitting beside her father and across Yzak, she poured him a glass of milk. "I heard from the doctor that milk is good for you." Halfway through eating his pancake, he peeked and examined her. Surveying the woman pouring him milk, he began taking notes about her...

First, she did not look and acts like her father.

She had a brown hair, he had black hair. Their eyes were of the color violet but hers were darker. He was strapping and she was slim.

Second, she is not ugly, she was what other people would call plain but not ugly.

Shiho was wearing a beige blouse that seemed to enhance her rich coloring, as well as hug her curves just right not too loose or too tight, along with her comfortable worn out jeans and leather boots. Her long hair was tied with a simple black hair tie located near the end of her hair strands. Her hair reminded him of dark chocolate while her complexion was the perfect color of tan.

Third, her name was Shiho, Shiho Hahnenfuss.

Getting back to eating breakfast, he poured more maple syrup unto his pancakes. The pancakes were fluffy and moist, like the expensive cake he ate at a friend's party without the icing. Taking a gulp of milk, he was stunned. It was warm, weird warm. Shiho suppressed a laugh at his reaction and spoke, "It's fresh."

"What do you mean by 'fresh'?" Yzak asked, eyeing the glass of milk in a suspicious manner.

"Freshly squeezed." Leon said with a straight face.

Yzak made a face which looked like he was going to vomit. Shiho slapped her father's shoulder and reprimanded him. "It's okay, it's fresh cow's milk. It's a lot healthier than what you get from cartons or from powdered milk" Shiho up tightly said as she wished Yzak to not upchuck his breakfast. Leon laughed at the worrying Shiho and the nauseous Yzak.

Luckily Yzak was able to survive drinking his freshly squeezed milk with a little help from Shiho's coaxing. She poured a cup of freshly brewed coffee for her father and got the daily paper on top of the counter. And for her a cup of steaming hot chocolate to boost her energy for the tiring jobs ahead. Leon then left the kitchen taking with him his black coffee and daily paper to read outside in the backyard where a log bench was placed.

*A*

Peeling an apple for Yzak, for his low stamina and his medicine, the brunette left him at the table as she started her chores. Yzak glanced back to see Shiho's back facing him as she busied herself with scrubbing the plates. Looking down on the sliced apples, he silently ate on his own.

Fourth, she was undoubtedly caring and self-less.

Yzak glanced back once again at the busy woman standing in front sink. Her long hair swaying along with her body as she enthusiastically scrubbed the pans to remove their grease.

"Yzak! After eating, join me here!" Leon yelled as he looked far away into the fields. Yzak was jolted back to reality as he ate his sliced apples.

The farmers were already working to avoid the heat of the late morning sun. Drinking his lukewarm coffee, he remembered a line from Ezaria's letter, Please teach him everything he has to learn about life.

"Uncle, I'm here." Yzak softly said as he stood beside Leon, looking far away as well, seeing the workers tilling the land.

"Here you go! Here in the countryside you have to work, to eat. If you have patience, you will see it bear fruit." With a grin, he started walking back to the back door of the kitchen.

"I don't know how to be farmer! They don't teach that in school!" Yzak ran after Leon and returned the hoe.

"Did you do well in your studies?" Leon inquired with a slight upward motion of his black defined eyebrow.

"Of course, I was the best! Though I was always second place because of Zala..." Yzak whipped his head to avoid seeing Leon's eyes and softly whispered the last few words.

"If you did well in studying, you'll do very well in farming. It's easier than algebra and chemistry, that I can assure you." He gave Yzak the hoe once again and pushed him towards the fields.

"I said I don't know how to work in the fields... I'll do something else!" Throwing the hoe to the ground stubbornly, but before he could escape his so called uncle's company, he had already grabbed unto his arm.

"Are your muscles just for show, boy?" Yzak flushed as he was suddenly asked about his anatomy. "Work, or else you are not going to eat lunch, dinner, snack or breakfast. Pick up that hoe and go to the fields. They will tell you what to do!" With a gruff voice he shooed Yzak to fields. Mumbling to himself like a scolded child, Yzak picked up the fallen hoe and trudged on the moist dirt path to go join the farmers. Kicking rocks as he passed thought the worn path. The mildew from the grass damping his leather branded shoes.

My shoes are going to be ruined.

"Yzak! If you don't pick up the pace the sun will be too hot to bear!" Yzak looked back at Leon and saw him waving his newspaper, his face was showing a big grin.

Slave driver.

Dragging the hoe on the ground, it left a long line on the ground. Facing to see the old men and women, they greeted him with smiles and cheers.

"Well aren't you a very good-looking boy? Leon told us to teach how to plant and care for the crops. Every day you will join us here. If you become lazy we will have to tie you up in that old dead tree in the middle of the field." With a warm smile, Yzak thought whether the old woman was welcoming or sarcastic.

*A*

Tilling the soil was hard work. Yzak had been working for four hours already and it seems his work was not lessened. He had to sow the seeds after tilling the hard soil. Yzak felt his lower back ache, his height was not suitable for farming the ground was too low. His hands had blisters and his clothes were wet. Not damp, it was wet. His hair was, for sure, tousled by the coming and going breezes. It was already sticking on his damp cheeks and nape. It was by far harder than working out in a gym.

Just bear with it. Yzak chanted the four words at himself like a mantra, a good luck charm to make him last, to see reason and not snap at the people working along with him, under the intense heat of the sun. Unlike him, the farmers were chatting with one another, laughing at jokes and singing out of tune, like they were not even feeling the burning heat.

Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, he looked back to the house he was currently living in. Looking at it from far away, it seemed to be rustic and old. Like a wooden cottage that has been beaten by harsh rainfall and slashing winds.

What is that smell? Smells like shit.

Yzak quirked his nose, looking around, he saw the other workers leaving the fields, he was alone.

Don't tell me.

Closing his eyes in irritation, he saw the culprit. He just stepped on crap camouflaging as soil.

"Shit! I am never gonna do this again!"He threw the hoe on the ground, hitting his foot. "Fuck!" Crouching on the soil he nursed his throbbing foot. "I can't do this anymore!" He shouted, running back to the house, ignoring his damaged foot. He felt his arms were sunburned. Kicking his ruined shoes off in frustration before entering the house, he went straight to the bathroom. Taking off his sweaty shirt, he searched for the faucet.

Where's the faucet, shower, where are you?

Looking around the bathroom like a madman, he groaned out loud.

Don't tell me, I have to fetch my water for bathing?

He heard a knock on the door, he looked back at it, it was Shiho. "I'm sorry, but the indoor plumbing in the bathroom is still in progress. If you want to take a bath, you can do it beside the well or pump."

Whoever said living in the countryside is stress-free, I think he was blind, dumb and deaf.

Groaning out loud, he barged out of the bathroom and asked Shiho, "Can I at least have toiletries then?"

Shiho looked up to him, ignoring his state of undress. Her face stoic and unmoving, "There is soap and shampoo in the cabinets inside the bathroom." Pointing towards the old cabinet.

Yzak's eyebrow twitched upwards as he maintained eye contact with Shiho, just when he felt a cold breeze caress his bare back, he remembered he was half naked and in front of him was a woman. Hurriedly he went back inside the bathroom, not wanting to be called a pervert.

Fifth, she seemed unaffected with his physique.

"Mama-chan! We're home!" A chorus of loud footsteps and little voices filled the room. Grabbing a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo, Yzak investigated where the voices came from then he saw two young boys. Twins with black hair and violet eyes, looking at him with curious eyes...

She has children?

The little boys pulled Shiho down and hugged her. "How was school? Did you enjoy your trip? Where did you go?" She tousled their soft tresses and kissed their cheeks.

-to be continued-