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when mio spoke of rice fields, she'd spoken of rolling fields— green in the summer, golden in the fall. she'd spoken of acres that rippled like ocean waves when the breeze rolled by. she'd spoken of rice, spread out on huge mats and left to dry in the sun, and she'd spoken of the grains jumping from the stalks when they were shaken out. she spoke with such fondness that, perhaps, takebo had only really heard the nostalgia without hearing the reality underneath.
it only makes sense that fields have to grow before they get to be the beautiful, idylic sights that mio described. take had never expected her to snap her fingers and will acres of rice paddies into being, because that would be silly, and only a little kid would believe she could actually do that.
still, when mio had said that the paddies were finally ready for planting, take had not expected a giant puddle.
he blinks. he looks from the puddle to mio and back. she's beaming, dirty water dripping from her hem and covering her hands from the elbows down, as if she's showing take the field of their dreams.
he coughs. "this is… the rice paddy?"
"of course it is," mio replies. "it's just one, for now, and this is the nursery paddy— it has to start here, and while it's growing, we'll dig the big one for the rice to grow. i've already gotten hiyakkimaru to agree to help us dig the irrigation ditch."
hiyakkimaru, crouching in the giant puddle with a straw hat cock-eyed on his head, lifts his head when he hears his name. he nods in take's direction. take's not sure why mio says that as if she had to convince him. she could tell hiyakkimaru to eat broken glass and he would do it without so much as a please.
take coughs. "right, yeah, of course," he says. "where's… uh, the rice?"
"growing," mio says. she takes his hand and tows him over to the puddle— the paddy. it's a few inches deep, ringed with thick clay walls. the water is murky. he believes her when she says it's a rice paddy, but he's not sure why she's so thrilled. it's just a puddle until it grows.
"so," he says. "what do we eat in the meantime?"
"we'll plant a garden," she says. she looks out at the lot with her hands on her hips. it's just an empty lot as far as take can see, but mio can see more. "potatoes and cabbage and carrots. eggplant, maybe. yams. peas."
"uh-huh." take nods slowly. "h… how?"
mio taps her chin thoughtfully. "surely somewhere in the town there are some old tools we can use. we'll need shovels, axes, sickles— at least one plow. a horse or ox would be ideal, but, well, baby steps. we're going to have to plow by hand for the forseeable future… i'll teach you and all the others to do what you can. even the little ones can weed— it was one of the first things i learned how to do."
"right, yes," he says. "but this. this is our rice field?"
dororo slaps him on the back. "yeah, take, dont'cha know this's how they start?" he says. "can't just roll out a rice field like you're puttin' down a rug, y'know. not even mio or my bro can do that."
"i-i know that!" take sputters.
"the soil is so fertile here," mio says, crouching and scooping up a handful. "the water flows clean and clear, with fish downstream. there are berries in the forest. despite everything, life flourishes here. i think we will, too."
"'course it does," dororo says matter-of-factly. "know why? 'cause bro got rid of the big demon that lived here. all the evil energy went away and now all that's left is good stuff. plus, since you've got mio, good stuff comes. that's how that works."
mio chuckles. "is it, now?"
"well, if it's not, it should," take decides. he looks across the lot. his eyes settle on the building at one end. "is that where we're gonna live?"
mio's eyes glow with pride. "it is," she says. "there's room enough for all of us, and for hiyakkimaru and dororo to stay when they're back in town. it's not going to be an easy life, take. but it's a life."
"the old priest says no one ever really comes near this place," dororo says. "so the samurai prolly don't know about it, which is a real relief. it could be real bad otherwise."
take nods admittance. "it is a lot more secure," he admits. "well, y'know i trust you, mio. so i'll get the other kids and we'll make it official. even if it's not really the rice fields you talked about."
mio pushes his hair back from his face. "yet," she says. "we need to nurture it for it to grow. i know it just looks like a puddle now, but in another few months, it'll be the first of the paddies we dreamed of."
she smiles at him. "can you be patient until then, take?"
take snorts. "who d'you think i am, some little kid? i can wait for some rice to grow. we waited this long, didn't we?"
"it'll be worth it," mio promises.
"'course," take says. "you told me so. won't be any other way."
dororo nudges him. "look," he says. "the rain's coming."