The Harvest Incident
Prologue
I come from a small village. Everyone just calls it the human village. I didn't understand why at first in tell I got a little older. From what I here there are demons, and youkai out there in the world. I didn't know much about demons or youkai. Were they hideous monsters? Were they taller than my house I sleep in? Could they steal your soul without you knowing it? I wanted to go find out more but fear kept me from pursuing the matter. Fore many years I have been afraid of the dark. I don't know why I am either. Most people would think it to be natural to be afraid of the dark. But when I think about walking in a dark room, or into our small tool shake we have in the back of the house. I get goose bumps just thinking about the dimly lit entrance. Most of my friends know about my fear. And of course like all good friends, they make fun of me because of it. But not knowing what is out there in the void, it just... creeps me out a little. Now don't get me wrong here. I don't sleep with a night light, or anything like that. I assure you that I'm much to old for that. After all, my 17th birthday is tomorrow. But still it is hard for me to sleep. The only time I can enjoy the night is when there is moonlight seeping threw my window. I look out at the moon and wonder what else is out there. Tomorrow my friends said they had something special event planned for me. I wonder what it could be? Hopefully it is better than last years special event. The thought of it brings back all the screaming. What would you expect when you knock over a bee house? I can still remember hearing the word ?BEES!? in my head from it. With any luck they will wish my a happy birthday and be done with it. But I know better than that. I must be prepared for what tomorrow brings. I closed my eyes and readied my self for the coming day. I slowly drifted asleep and wished for the best.
?Get up Kazuki! wake up, its your birthday! Congratulations you made it to 17!?
?mfmhmm....?
?If you sleep all day you will not get to have your party! Come down stairs mom and dad want to talk to you.?
?mahfm, Rika... get off of me... and get out of my room?
?Aww your no fun, Where having your favorite breakfast so you better be happy. Oh and I left my present for you on your table.?
That was my little sister. She always wants to follow me around. She is a pest, but she can be okay at times. She may not sound like it but she may be smarter than me. She gets good grades in school, I sleep in class and like to skip class to wonder around the village. I get punished for it but I just don't see the point in studying. We are stuck in the village so it isn't like we will explore the world and teach others what we have learned. That's what I want to do, I want to go see what Gensokyo is all about. I hear amazing stories from Keine on how she has fought many youkai who try and attack the village. I never seen any of this, but the stories are interesting to here.
?.... I might as well get up? I looked at the box, she must have made it herself. It was a red boz with a little ribbon on the top of it. I opened the box. there was a small pendent inside it with a card. ?Don't break it!? I put the pendent around my neck and headed down stairs. The pendent seemed to fit my style. She always was a good shopper when it came to these kinda things.
You think I would be happier about today being my birthday. But my friends have a pretty messed up since of humor. I don't know why but they seem to like having me around but at the same time it seems they only want to tease me. I never really feel part of the group. Like I'm suppose to be somewhere else. I'm not sure why they even bother having me around.
?Good morning Kazu-chan, did you take a shower??
?Yep, its the only way I can wake up in the morning, Oh you went all out on breakfast?
On the table was my favorite meal. It was called a skillet because it is made and ate in a skillet. It has cubed potatoes, various meats, cheeses, and on top of it all is scrambled eggs. From the smell I would say that it was my favorite meat to. I'm not quite sure what kinda meat it is but it taste so good. It compliments the rest of the dish perfectly.
?Are you sure you can afford to make such a great meal??
?Oh don't worry about that, you only get one birthday after all. Now no more worrying and enjoy your breakfast. Oh is that pendent form your sister? I nodded and started to eat.
?Wow its delicious, this has to be the best food in Gensokyo!?
?A gentlemen like always Kazu-chan. After breakfast please come see me and your father out in the field okay??
?Sure thing, where is Rika??
?Oh she already ate. You are about an hour late waking up I decided to let you sleep in. see ya in the field.? She left the room. My guess is that she was getting ready for work.
?What really! I gotta hurry!?
I started to scarf down my food. I was suppose to meet my friends in about 30 minutes. Dad likes to give me long speeches so if I hurry up. I might be able to make it in time. I finished eating the skillet it was very tasty. I wish I could have enjoyed it longer. But there is a penalty for being late. It usually is something stupid like being first when playing a game, but it still stinks being late. I headed out to the field. We own the smallest field in the human village area. We have a few cops a year but it seems that our field isn't doing great this year. There has been a lack of rain this year. From what I here it might even be a incident that everyone is talking about all the time. I headed out to the field to meet my dad and mom. Dad was righting down some notes. He seen me heading over to him.
?Ah there's my boy, or should I say man now hahaha.? he patted me on the back.
?Hi dad, how is the field today??
?Well we still are not getting a lot of rain we have been getting water from outside the village to make up for it but its still not as good as rain water. The rain seems to grow the crop a lot better than regular water.? He scratched his head and looked a little frustrated. ?But I bet it will pic up any day now.?
?Is that so? Oh I'm sorry but I'm in a little bit of a hurry.? Remembering about the penalty I needed to speed this along.
?Well I was going to have a man to man talk with you.? He said smiling? but if your in a hurry I guess I'll just give you a present instead?
He handed me a small box. I looked up at him and we waved for me to open it. Mom was standing next to him now she must have been watering the field. I opened the box and saw that he gave me some worker gloves. At first I didn't realized what they where. But they where not just work gloves. The shock of what I seen was overwelming.
?Y-you can't give these to me, I'm not even-?
?You have been with us for 10 years. Your as close to a son as well will ever get. These are yours.?
?Kazu-chan do you remember the story behind the gloves??
?Yes, of course I do mom. But... are you guys sure it's okay??
?Yes, you are 17 years old. It is tradition to give these gloves to the next in line to watch the family farm.?
?But what about Rika, she is your real daughter. Wouldn't she-?
Dad laughed ?She doesn't want anything to do with this farm, she wants to be a merchant. We already talked to her and she seemed happy that you where getting these. She wanted to be here to but she wanted to go hassle some shop owners about prices. Your breakfast was half the price because of her skills in haggling. No more talk about those gloves of yours. I hope you ware them proudly.?
?Am I to old to hug you guys??
?Kazu-chan, your never to old.? mom said smiling happily.
You may be thinking that this is an odd scene. But these gloves have been passed down from generation to generation. And they still look brand new. They say that these gloves help ward off youkai and demons from entering are field. But there is no proof in that. When I was young I found them in the storage room for the family equipment. Dad found me and told me the story about the family ancestor who saved the farm by fighting a youkai. He survived and managed to drive it away. That is why this farm is still here today. So to my family this is the most valuable treasure we have.
I pulled them on. They seemed to fit perfectly, they didn't feel like I am waring them at all. Not to warm not to cold. I wonder what they are made out of? I hugged mom the usual way and I gave dad our little hand shake and a good pat on the back.
?I have to go guys. I'll see ya around dinner time okay??
?Have fun my boy.?
?By Kazu-chan~ take care of yourself?
I ran off to meet my fiend at the edge of town. I wonder what we will be doing today. I hope I'm not last again!
End of Prologue